Penn State season preview: Back on equal footing
James Franklin realizes that expectations are part of the job description as Penn State's head coach. And for his first two years in Happy Valley, the fact that the Nittany Lions played with a reduced number of scholarships compared with their opponents took very little weight - if any - off those expectations.
James Franklin realizes that expectations are part of the job description as Penn State's head coach. And for his first two years in Happy Valley, the fact that the Nittany Lions played with a reduced number of scholarships compared with their opponents took very little weight - if any - off those expectations.
In rolling back its 2012 sanctions on the football program two years ago, the NCAA allowed the Nittany Lions to return to the maximum 85 scholarships last season. But they couldn't get to that number, with Franklin saying on more than one occasion that they played with 75 in 2015.
Even with more scholarships than the 65 of Franklin's first season of 2014, the Lions again went 7-6, losing their last four games. Their finish did nothing to ease the discontent of the members of Nittany Nation, who also grumbled loudly as the Big Ten elite - Ohio State, Michigan, and Michigan State - went 3-0 against the Lions and outscored them 121-42.
For Franklin, however, some expectations of his first two years haven't been totally fair.
"If Penn State played those other teams and they all had 65 scholarships as well, or 75 scholarships, then it's a fair argument," he said at Big Ten media day in July. "But we're not comparing apples to apples.
"I get it - everybody's looking for that type of win, those types of signature points. This is our first year in a similar situation to everybody else in the country, and I think it's fair to start making those comparisons now."
Penn State starts 2016 at the maximum for scholarships, or close to it. Franklin has spoken of competition and depth at every position on the roster. Instead of having nine scholarship offensive linemen, as he did when he took over in 2014, the Lions began training camp this month with 17 such players on the line.
Whether being on an equal footing with their opponents translates to solid improvement remains to be seen. But the usually upbeat Franklin is rather optimistic.
"There's very high expectations at Penn State, and there should be," he said. "I also would say that there's very few programs that would have been able to come through what we've come through with the type of success that we've had - two bowl games in a row, never had a losing season through the challenges.
"So there's positives to build on. There's no doubt about it. But I think progress is going to come in every area."
Even with the maximum number of scholarships, Penn State remains a young team. The roster contains only 12 seniors compared with 35 redshirt freshmen and true freshmen on scholarship.
Franklin appointed two new coordinators, hiring Joe Moorhead to replace John Donovan on offense and promoting Brent Pry on defense after Bob Shoop left for Tennessee. Matt Limegrover came in as the coach of an offensive line that allowed 82 sacks in the previous two seasons.
Moorhead brought in a high-tempo, no-huddle offense from his time as head coach at Fordham. To run the attack, Franklin named redshirt sophomore Trace McSorley as the Lions' first new starting quarterback since Christian Hackenberg took over in 2013 as a true freshman.
McSorley has some excellent skill players to work with. Sophomore Saquon Barkley set a Penn State freshman record last year with 1,076 rushing yards. He will be backed up by freshman Miles Sanders, the consensus No. 1 high school prospect in Pennsylvania last year. Chris Godwin (69 catches, 1,101 yards last season) leads a deep group of wide receivers.
Of course, for McSorley to get the football to his playmakers, the line must take a giant step forward while learning a faster-paced offense. Four returning starters from last year, anchored by senior center Brian Gaia, are likely to be joined by redshirt freshman guard Ryan Bates (Archbishop Wood).
Limegrover loves the group he's working with.
"They are willing to put the work in," he said. "There has not been a single day [that they haven't], and I've been around groups where you've had to pull teeth. A guy like Brian Gaia, who's been through so much, basically wills these guys to go every day and they follow him, and I love that about him."
The question on defense is a line that lost three players (Austin Johnson, Carl Nassib, Anthony Zettel) to the NFL and has a number of promising but inexperienced players waiting to play. The Nittany Lions have a talented and versatile trio of starting linebackers, where Nyeem Wartman-White is trying to return to the form he showed before tearing his ACL in last year's season opener against Temple.
The secondary is deep and talented, led by John Reid (St. Joseph's Prep) and Grant Haley at the corners. Franklin brought in two freshmen specialists, punter Blake Gilliken and kicker Alex Barbir, on scholarship in an attempt to get the Lions' special teams up to speed.
Penn State has depth at all positions for the first time since the 2012 NCAA sanctions. The resulting competition has made this the most interesting training camp of the Franklin regime, one that has gradually seen an experienced two-deep roster take shape. Now it's a matter of executing in a tough opening month that includes games at archrival Pittsburgh and at Michigan and a rematch at home against Temple.
"I don't think there's any doubt that the team is dramatically better," Franklin said. "If you had to rank it 1 through 105, it's dramatically better. We have more depth. The challenge is, obviously, the team that we put on the field has to be dramatically better. But we're able to practice better. Now we've got to get to the point where our starters and our two-deep that we play in the game are significantly better."
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