It didn’t take long for Kevin Givens to stand out in Saturday’s Blue-White Game.
One play, in fact.
On the very first play from the line of scrimmage, Givens swooped in from his spot as a Blue team defensive tackle and grabbed the leg of White running back Andre Robinson.
Robinson tried to wriggle free in the White backfield. But Givens held on, and with the help of defensive end Evan Schwan he tackled Robinson for a two-yard loss.
It was the half portion of Givens’ team-high 3.5 tackles for a loss on the day (20 yards in all). He added two sacks for another 17 yards of losses, as he finished with six tackles to help lead the Blue squad to a 37-0 win over the White in Beaver Stadium.
Even if Robinson didn’t, we saw Givens’ performance coming a mile away. He was the talk of spring drills, and a regular staple of James Franklin’s Wednesday post-practice sessions throughout March and early April.
NO MISGIVINGS
This is what defensive line coach Sean Spencer had to say back on Oct. 1, 2015 about Givens, all of 238 pounds as a redshirt freshman last season: ‘We’re very, very excited about Kevin Givens in the future of our program. The guy is so explosive. He’s really a ball of muscle. We found a home for him at D-end.”
Fast forward to the days leading up to the TaxSlayer Bowl in late December, when cornerback coach Terry Smith had this to say about Givens:
‘We’re really excited about him,” Smith said. “He’s really explosive and powerful. He could be a similar-type player as an Aaron Donald (a Pitt grad now with the L.A. Rams)… He has that type of pop and explosion. He clearly he has some work to do to close that ground, but he’s going to be fun to watch.”
Givens was certainly fun to watch on Saturday. Lining up inside along the defensive front of the Nittany Lions’ first unit, Givens used a blurring blend of quickness and technique to spend a good bit of his time in the White backfield. Givens was clearly at home, and not just because he wears the number of a fullback (30), a position he played – along with linebacker and defensive end — at Altoona High School.
Givens, who has bulked up from 238 to over 270 pounds in the seven months since last October, is in some ways a natural for the position. Defensive coordinator Brent Pry credits Franklin for figuring that out before anyone else.
“Kevin has a bright future here. He was very raw coming out of high school,” Pry said on Saturday. “ He was a talented, big athlete who was explosive. But where was he going to play? When he first came here he thought he was still going to be a linebacker. We knew he would at least put his hand in the dirt. Coach Franklin, to be honest, was the one who kept saying, ‘I think he can be a 3 technique. I think he can move inside. I think he’s going to be big enough.’ ”
SIZING UP GIVENS
Givens has literally grown into the position.
“He kept on putting on the weight,” Pry said. “His thighs and his bottom kept on getting bigger. All of a sudden, we’re saying, ‘This guy has got to get new clothes. He’s growing like crazy.’ He’s 272, 273 right now.”
Pry credits Givens for playing with maturity and moxie beyond his years – actually, months – at the defensive tackle position.
“Kevin understands leverage really well,” Pry said. “He has great instincts inside. It’s a different position, but he has some of the uncanniness that Brandon Bell has. He understands the game. He gets it. He understands blocking schemes. He’s a smart football player. He doesn’t say a whole lot. He’s been a real pleasant surprise and we’re really fortunate to have him. He’s gotten big enough to move in there. He’s not done growing yet.”
“How big can you get?” Givens was asked on Saturday.
“I have no idea,” he said, then thought for a second. “I want to try to get to 280, but we’ll see.”
ALTOONA AGAIN
According to veteran beat writer Neil Rudel of The Mirror n Altoona, Givens is the first Altoona High School football player to receive a full football scholarship from Penn State straight out of high school since Brad Benson in 1974. Givens helped the Mountain Lions reach their first state playoff game as a member of the WPIAL. He also earned first-team all-state (AAAA) Pennsylvania Football News honors as a senior and was named to PFN’s #TeamPA Defensive All-Star Team. Givens was ranked as the 16th-best prospect in the state by 247Sports.com
He had originally committed to Pitt, but flipped to Penn State in the days leading up to the February 2015 signing date after Pitt head coach Paul Chryst left for Wisconsin and was succeeded by Pat Narduzzi.
The day after Chryst departed, Spencer made the drive to Altoona to tell Givens that Penn State was interested in him.
“He told me to keep my options open,” Givens recalled on Saturday. “It meant a lot. Penn State was always my No. 1 school.”
On Saturday, to no one’s surprise at this point, he played like it.
