Penn State deals with greater expectations for this fall
After a Big Ten title and a Rose Bowl berth, the bar is much higher. But this is a confident team.
The enthusiasm in spring practice appears to be much higher for Penn State this time around. The Nittany Lions know now what it takes to be a Big Ten champion and a contender for the College Football Playoff, and their goal is to surpass last year's achievements.
Then again, the Lions raised the bar for themselves considerably higher than they did earlier in James Franklin's head coaching tenure which saw them finish 7-6 in each of his first two years. To exceed what they accomplished last season will take quite a bit of hard work, excellent execution and more than a little bit of luck.
But they're ready.
"I feel that we have the right mind-set to duplicate, if not exceed, what we did last year," said defensive tackle Curtis Cothran, who starred at Council Rock North High School, "especially with the way that I saw the guys work in the offseason, the team camaraderie, the team companionship and everybody being on the same page."
The Nittany Lions, who prepare to conclude their spring drills with Saturday's Blue-White Game at Beaver Stadium, lost few starters - one on offense, four on defense - from last year's 11-3 team that won the Big Ten and lost the Rose Bowl on a field goal at the final gun.
Franklin has been more than pleased with the competition he has seen this spring, and the depth that his team has built.
"You're still trying to kind of find out what your best 11 is on each side of the ball," he said last week. "There's a lot of competition going on. You've got some new faces coming in, mid-semester grads, whatever it may be, and how much are those guys going to factor in as well as true freshmen coming in.
"We had an identity last year on offense, defense and special teams. Our identity probably will be a little different this year, it always is. But again, I think we've got a really good foundation to build on."
There's more depth on the offensive line, an area bolstered even more by the arrival in January of incoming freshman Mike Miranda, who has been singled out for attention by Franklin. That should bode well for the two Heisman Trophy candidates, running back Saquon Barkley and quarterback Trace McSorley, who will be playing behind that line.
The defense took a hit with the knee injury suffered by cornerback John Reid earlier this month, but senior Christian Campbell should step in after he "had the best offseason he's ever had," according to Franklin. George Washington High product Shareef Miller and Torrence Brown appear ready to step in as the starting defensive ends, replacing the departed Garrett Sickels and Evan Schwan.
About the only area of uncertainty at this point is in the kicking game. Tyler Davis is 30 of 32 in his two years as the Lions' field-goal kicker, but he will work this season with a new snapper and a new holder. Senior Kyle Vasey has the upper hand as the snapper and the holder will be either punter Blake Gillikin or backup quarterback Billy Fessler.
"I think it's just going to come down to a comfort thing," said Davis, a fifth-year senior, "getting thousands of reps with those guys and just getting more and more comfortable."
That's not an insurmountable task. But Franklin has been keen on saying that nothing transfers over from last season and that everything will be new again in 2017.
"The programs that we want to compete with, they've been having those types of years consistently over the last five to 10 years," Franklin said. "For us, we had a nice year last year but we still have a long ways to go in every area. That's just how we're approaching it."
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