As Iowa tried desperately to launch passes downfield at the end of Saturday's game, Josh Hull stood on the sideline, directly behind the Penn State coaching staff and near the bright orange first-down markers in front of him.
Hull was off the field for this last series as the defense used an extra man in the secondary and just two linebackers. But the several black and yellow smears on his helmet from Iowa uniforms told the tale.
Hull, a redshirt sophomore walk-on, played extensively for the first time in his brief career, filling in for the injured Navorro Bowman. And by all accounts, he played very well given the circumstances.
"I definitely say I proved myself a little bit today," Hull said after the game. "As time goes on, I'm going to prove myself by making more big plays and showing that I do deserve to be in the starting lineup."
Wearing No. 43, Hull recorded just two tackles, but his part in limiting Iowa running back Albert Young to 44 yards rushing didn't go unnoticed.
"Josh is a guy that we move around a lot. In all fairness to him, he plays all three linebackers," Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley said. "And he doesn't get a lot of reps at any of them. So he has to be a pretty smart guy, and I thought he did an excellent job."
Throughout the week of practices, Hull looked to fellow linebackers Dan Connor and Sean Lee if he needed any advice. But once the game began, he wasn't asking for help, and Lee and Connor found they didn't have to provide it.
Hull's played on special teams units before, so the speed of the game didn't come as a shock to him. He wished he could have played more, instead of rotating defensive series with fellow linebacker Tyrell Sales.
"Once you're in a game playing every series, you start figuring things out and stuff started slowing down a little bit. Despite that fact, I think I did well for myself," Hull said.
Normally, Hull practices at all three linebacker positions, never knowing which one he might play. But with Bowman out at least two more weeks with a right ankle injury, Bradley said, Hull was moved exclusively to outside linebacker.
Hull got more practice time on the field and also spent last week watching more film than ever before.
"The preparation was a lot different," Hull said.
"The more and more you watch film, the more and more you can dissect things and everything slows down. You can base plays off of formations. You go out and see certain formations and know what plays they're going to run out of those formations."
This type of thinking is the type of smarts Bradley was alluding to. Hull, an environmental systems engineering major, earned a 3.62 grade point average last spring and Academic All-Big Ten honors.
Add in athletic ability and a 6-foot-2, 230-pound frame, and Hull's effort was not so surprising to those who have hung around him since he walked on to the team after an impressive high school career at nearby Penns Valley High School.
"I knew it was matter of time with how hard he worked and the type of athlete that he was," Lee said. "When he first came here, coming on as a walk-on, you don't expect them to be such a good athlete, but when I first saw him I was like, 'This kid, he's going to make it,' and he has."
Still, to others, Hull's presence on the field was more shocking.
"It kind of surprised me, I had looked up and saw him make a tackle," wideout Jordan Norwood said. "But I'm happy for him, for a local guy getting out there. He deserves it."
