Does Penn State have what it takes to compete for another Big Ten title?
Bruce Feldman @brucefeldmancfb Apr 19, 2017 at 8:39a ET
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Penn State’s stunning turnaround to win the Big Ten by way of the conference’s East division—the toughest in college football—proved to be one of the biggest stories in the sport in 2016. A team that was one of the youngest in the country and one that didn’t register one single voting point in either preseason poll (51 other programs appeared at least once on Coaches Poll ballots) went 11-3 and finished No. 7 in the nation.
It marked the Nittany Lions first outright Big Ten title in 22 seasons. It seemed to be quite the 180 about the vibe around the program after Penn State defeated No. 2 Ohio State – a win that quieted a bunch of skeptics who were ready to put coach James Franklin on the hot seat. Keep in mind Franklin was only in his third season there and had taken over a program that had been rocked by hefty NCAA sanctions that gutted PSU’s scholarship numbers. Plus, it wasn’t like Franklin hadn’t already shown that he knew what he was doing. He led Vandy to back-to-back Top 25 finishes and over his last 20 games at Vanderbilt, the only team that had a better record in the SEC was Alabama.
I got to spend some time up close around the Nittany Lions program last week and have some takeaways...
One big challenge for Franklin and his staff is handling the success of 2016, especially with a team that is still pretty young.
“It’s how do we use the experiences we had last year — the Rose Bowl, the Big Ten Championship game — without losing our identity? How do we use those experiences for growth, not lose our identity, not start focusing on things that don’t matter,” Franklin said.
What does Franklin see as that identity?
“It’s about get back to what I think Penn State is: 'blue-collar, hard-nosed; no names on the jersey. You’re a part of something bigger than yourself.'
Franklin’s plan is rooted in sticking with what got the team there last year: "Let’s start from Day 1, do the spring install of how we call the plays and what are our alignments as if they’ve never heard them before. Let's force ourselves to go through the process and build this team from the beginning all over again. I know everybody says that but over time you start to take things for granted."
This will be Year Four of the Franklin regime officially, but he views is more as essentially Year Two -- because they just got back to being at 85 scholarships.
"How do you compare and contrast when you’re not on a level playing field?” Franklin said. "That was our first year at a level playing field. We did capitalize on some opportunities and we have some special players and have a great staff.
"It’s kinda cool when I meet with recruits and show them our power-point and the last slide is our vision for them — the degree, the Big Ten championship, the national championship and the NFL. Forever, I’ve been talking to the recruits and saying, ‘Look, you’re gonna help us get this Big Ten championship.' Now, I’m talking to the recruits and say ‘Look we’ve done that. You’re the guys who are gonna help us get to that next level and win that national championship.' It’s different now. There’s no doubt.”
The players I spoke to said that win over Ohio State did wonders for the team’s confidence.
"Everyone else might’ve thought it was some fluke win, but we know. We watched the film,” says star running back Saquon Barkley. "We were right with them every step of the way. That just gave us more confidence, and a confident team is a scary team. I think that’s a reason why we were able to be so successful especially in the second half. We could have a slow start, be
down but we are so confident in the coaches and in each other that we know it’s gonna click at some point and we’re gonna get it right."
Barkley arrived in State College with plenty of hype and continues to bust his tail to fulfill that potential. He told me he arrived at Penn State at around 213 pounds and ran a 4.48 40. This offseason he clocked a 4.33 at 228 pounds.
"All credit to our strength coaches,” he said. "They’ve done a good job of challenging me.”
Earlier last month, Barkley saw that former PSU D-lineman Anthony Zettel had the Nittany Lions power clean record at 390 pounds and said, ‘Let me shoot for that,’ and got it.
I asked offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead what’s the most impressive thing about Barkley. His answer: "The intangible aspect. Meet the kid. There’s zero entitlement. Smile on his face. Humble. Incredible hard worker. Great teammate. It’s a rare combination of on the field and off the field. People love him. Obviously, he knows how good he is but there’s not a hint of arrogance about him. He’s very down to Earth.”
I’ll have more on Barkley down the road. He’s an impressive kid both in terms of athleticism but also character. Barkley burst onto the season as a true freshman in 2015.
The big revelation last year was Trace McSorley, thei Nittany Lions' first-year starting QB. McSorley had a 29-8 TD-INT ratio and produced almost 4,000 yards of total offense. He isn’t the biggest quarterback at about 6-0, 200 pounds but he’s an ideal fit for Moorhead’s system.
"He’s a playmaker,” says Franklin. "In today’s world of college football, things always aren’t going to go perfect and you need a guy that when things break down, can do something for you and he’s one of those guys. I was in Green Bay the year we drafted Aaron (Rodgers). Looking at his career, the thing he does better than anybody is create and Trace has got a lot of that in him.
"He does everything right. In meetings, he’s a student of the game, watching film, taking notes, asking questions. He throws extra with the guys. He’s great in school. Even with the little things. Like mom and dad before every game at the hotel, she brings some type of regionally specific snack for the O-linemen. It seems like a small thing but it shows up. Cupcakes because at that town, that place is famous for them, or it’s cookies from a different town. It’s thoughtful. All of those little things matter. He gets that. If you study, best practice. Why is Marriott (hotels) so successful? It’s because they do the little things better than the other companies.”
The bond between coach and quarterback is pretty strong. Many schools offered McSorley but as a safety. "For me it was how much he believed in me as a Q,” McSorley said. "He was very adamant in me as a quarterback that I could be a leader and a QB.”
They also both seem to have pretty sizable chips on their shoulder.
"We do kinda connect on that and I think that was something he liked about me,” McSorley said. "He said when I got here make sure that I keep that chip on my shoulder, and he’s got one too. All the people who said he can’t do it and middle of the season with people saying whether he keeps his job. The chip on his shoulder just grew a little bit.”
The biggest area Moorhead wants McSorley to work on this offseason is quieting his feet in the pocket and keep improving on his run reads. And they keep stressing to be aggressive without being reckless.
Other guys who are turning heads this spring...
Remember the name Juwan Johnson. Pretty much every person I spoke around the program was buzzing about the 6-4, 225-pound wideout with 4.5 speed. A third-year sophomore, Johnson made Academic All-Big Ten last year but was primarily Chris Godwin’s backup and a special teamer.
“Juwan has had a phenomenal spring,” says Moorhead. “He has size and speed. He’s done an unbelievable job working on his ball skills. Tall, physical guy. (Wide receivers) Coach (Josh) Gattis has done a phenomenal job with him. (Johnson) wasn’t consistent before. But he hasn’t dropped three footballs this entire spring. He’s brimming with confidence. Part of that might be with the departure of Chris, he knows the opportunity is there.”
The position that Johnson will play, that boundary outside receiver is traditionally a big weapon in Moorhead’s offense.
Johnson isn’t the only big receiver that caught my eye at practice. Irvin Charles is almost the exact same size only his arms look even longer. He, too, has had a good spring as he works to become more consistent. Saeed Blacknall’s got experience and he’s about 6-3, 215. They make 6-1, 205-pound senior DaeSean Hamilton (161 career catches) seem almost small. Then, there’s freakish Mike Gesicki, a 6-6, 252-pound tight end who set school position records with 48 receptions for 679 yards. Gesicki is a matchup nightmare for linebackers.
"He runs his routes like a receiver,” says Penn State defensive coordinator Brent Pry. “He does a great job stemming guys and shaking guys. His catch radius is amazing. He’s got great ball skills. He can really jump.”
Manny Bowen started 12 games last year bouncing around a beleaguered linebackers corps. He also made Academic All Big Ten. The 6-1, 220-pound junior could be the next impact guy for Linebacker U.
"He’s probably our most explosive guy,” Pry said. "He’s aggressive, a good blitzer. We moved him over to the boundary. It really benefits him."
The other linebacker who is having a big spring is Koa Farmer, a guy who had yo-yoed between safety and linebacker for much of his career.
"He’s finally comfortable for the first time,” said Pry. "He’s developing more right now as a football player than he did in the previous three years combined. He was a safety. Then, he was a linebacker. Then, he was a safety. He wasn’t physical but he is now. He’s learned to strike and put hands on people. His temperament has come around.”
The Nittany Lions lost their two most productive pass-rushers from last season in Garrett Sickels and Evan Schwan, who combined for 12 sacks. Third-year sophomore Shareef Miller (5.5 TFLs in 2016) is a guy that coaches and players are fired up about.
This is key since their defensive coordinator said the two areas of concern for him are strong safety and defensive end. "I’m excited about Shareef Miller,” Pry said of the 6-5, 255-pounder. "He’s long can run, got a motor. He’s aggressive.”
Says Barkley: "I think he can be special. He’s fast, has a high motor and he’s really hard to block on the edge. He’s very hungry and it’s time for him to step up.”
Bruce Feldman @brucefeldmancfb Apr 19, 2017 at 8:39a ET
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Penn State’s stunning turnaround to win the Big Ten by way of the conference’s East division—the toughest in college football—proved to be one of the biggest stories in the sport in 2016. A team that was one of the youngest in the country and one that didn’t register one single voting point in either preseason poll (51 other programs appeared at least once on Coaches Poll ballots) went 11-3 and finished No. 7 in the nation.
It marked the Nittany Lions first outright Big Ten title in 22 seasons. It seemed to be quite the 180 about the vibe around the program after Penn State defeated No. 2 Ohio State – a win that quieted a bunch of skeptics who were ready to put coach James Franklin on the hot seat. Keep in mind Franklin was only in his third season there and had taken over a program that had been rocked by hefty NCAA sanctions that gutted PSU’s scholarship numbers. Plus, it wasn’t like Franklin hadn’t already shown that he knew what he was doing. He led Vandy to back-to-back Top 25 finishes and over his last 20 games at Vanderbilt, the only team that had a better record in the SEC was Alabama.
I got to spend some time up close around the Nittany Lions program last week and have some takeaways...
One big challenge for Franklin and his staff is handling the success of 2016, especially with a team that is still pretty young.
“It’s how do we use the experiences we had last year — the Rose Bowl, the Big Ten Championship game — without losing our identity? How do we use those experiences for growth, not lose our identity, not start focusing on things that don’t matter,” Franklin said.
What does Franklin see as that identity?
“It’s about get back to what I think Penn State is: 'blue-collar, hard-nosed; no names on the jersey. You’re a part of something bigger than yourself.'
Franklin’s plan is rooted in sticking with what got the team there last year: "Let’s start from Day 1, do the spring install of how we call the plays and what are our alignments as if they’ve never heard them before. Let's force ourselves to go through the process and build this team from the beginning all over again. I know everybody says that but over time you start to take things for granted."
This will be Year Four of the Franklin regime officially, but he views is more as essentially Year Two -- because they just got back to being at 85 scholarships.
"How do you compare and contrast when you’re not on a level playing field?” Franklin said. "That was our first year at a level playing field. We did capitalize on some opportunities and we have some special players and have a great staff.
"It’s kinda cool when I meet with recruits and show them our power-point and the last slide is our vision for them — the degree, the Big Ten championship, the national championship and the NFL. Forever, I’ve been talking to the recruits and saying, ‘Look, you’re gonna help us get this Big Ten championship.' Now, I’m talking to the recruits and say ‘Look we’ve done that. You’re the guys who are gonna help us get to that next level and win that national championship.' It’s different now. There’s no doubt.”
The players I spoke to said that win over Ohio State did wonders for the team’s confidence.
"Everyone else might’ve thought it was some fluke win, but we know. We watched the film,” says star running back Saquon Barkley. "We were right with them every step of the way. That just gave us more confidence, and a confident team is a scary team. I think that’s a reason why we were able to be so successful especially in the second half. We could have a slow start, be
down but we are so confident in the coaches and in each other that we know it’s gonna click at some point and we’re gonna get it right."
Barkley arrived in State College with plenty of hype and continues to bust his tail to fulfill that potential. He told me he arrived at Penn State at around 213 pounds and ran a 4.48 40. This offseason he clocked a 4.33 at 228 pounds.
"All credit to our strength coaches,” he said. "They’ve done a good job of challenging me.”
Earlier last month, Barkley saw that former PSU D-lineman Anthony Zettel had the Nittany Lions power clean record at 390 pounds and said, ‘Let me shoot for that,’ and got it.
I asked offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead what’s the most impressive thing about Barkley. His answer: "The intangible aspect. Meet the kid. There’s zero entitlement. Smile on his face. Humble. Incredible hard worker. Great teammate. It’s a rare combination of on the field and off the field. People love him. Obviously, he knows how good he is but there’s not a hint of arrogance about him. He’s very down to Earth.”
I’ll have more on Barkley down the road. He’s an impressive kid both in terms of athleticism but also character. Barkley burst onto the season as a true freshman in 2015.
The big revelation last year was Trace McSorley, thei Nittany Lions' first-year starting QB. McSorley had a 29-8 TD-INT ratio and produced almost 4,000 yards of total offense. He isn’t the biggest quarterback at about 6-0, 200 pounds but he’s an ideal fit for Moorhead’s system.
"He’s a playmaker,” says Franklin. "In today’s world of college football, things always aren’t going to go perfect and you need a guy that when things break down, can do something for you and he’s one of those guys. I was in Green Bay the year we drafted Aaron (Rodgers). Looking at his career, the thing he does better than anybody is create and Trace has got a lot of that in him.
"He does everything right. In meetings, he’s a student of the game, watching film, taking notes, asking questions. He throws extra with the guys. He’s great in school. Even with the little things. Like mom and dad before every game at the hotel, she brings some type of regionally specific snack for the O-linemen. It seems like a small thing but it shows up. Cupcakes because at that town, that place is famous for them, or it’s cookies from a different town. It’s thoughtful. All of those little things matter. He gets that. If you study, best practice. Why is Marriott (hotels) so successful? It’s because they do the little things better than the other companies.”
The bond between coach and quarterback is pretty strong. Many schools offered McSorley but as a safety. "For me it was how much he believed in me as a Q,” McSorley said. "He was very adamant in me as a quarterback that I could be a leader and a QB.”
They also both seem to have pretty sizable chips on their shoulder.
"We do kinda connect on that and I think that was something he liked about me,” McSorley said. "He said when I got here make sure that I keep that chip on my shoulder, and he’s got one too. All the people who said he can’t do it and middle of the season with people saying whether he keeps his job. The chip on his shoulder just grew a little bit.”
The biggest area Moorhead wants McSorley to work on this offseason is quieting his feet in the pocket and keep improving on his run reads. And they keep stressing to be aggressive without being reckless.
Other guys who are turning heads this spring...
Remember the name Juwan Johnson. Pretty much every person I spoke around the program was buzzing about the 6-4, 225-pound wideout with 4.5 speed. A third-year sophomore, Johnson made Academic All-Big Ten last year but was primarily Chris Godwin’s backup and a special teamer.
“Juwan has had a phenomenal spring,” says Moorhead. “He has size and speed. He’s done an unbelievable job working on his ball skills. Tall, physical guy. (Wide receivers) Coach (Josh) Gattis has done a phenomenal job with him. (Johnson) wasn’t consistent before. But he hasn’t dropped three footballs this entire spring. He’s brimming with confidence. Part of that might be with the departure of Chris, he knows the opportunity is there.”
The position that Johnson will play, that boundary outside receiver is traditionally a big weapon in Moorhead’s offense.
Johnson isn’t the only big receiver that caught my eye at practice. Irvin Charles is almost the exact same size only his arms look even longer. He, too, has had a good spring as he works to become more consistent. Saeed Blacknall’s got experience and he’s about 6-3, 215. They make 6-1, 205-pound senior DaeSean Hamilton (161 career catches) seem almost small. Then, there’s freakish Mike Gesicki, a 6-6, 252-pound tight end who set school position records with 48 receptions for 679 yards. Gesicki is a matchup nightmare for linebackers.
"He runs his routes like a receiver,” says Penn State defensive coordinator Brent Pry. “He does a great job stemming guys and shaking guys. His catch radius is amazing. He’s got great ball skills. He can really jump.”
Manny Bowen started 12 games last year bouncing around a beleaguered linebackers corps. He also made Academic All Big Ten. The 6-1, 220-pound junior could be the next impact guy for Linebacker U.
"He’s probably our most explosive guy,” Pry said. "He’s aggressive, a good blitzer. We moved him over to the boundary. It really benefits him."
The other linebacker who is having a big spring is Koa Farmer, a guy who had yo-yoed between safety and linebacker for much of his career.
"He’s finally comfortable for the first time,” said Pry. "He’s developing more right now as a football player than he did in the previous three years combined. He was a safety. Then, he was a linebacker. Then, he was a safety. He wasn’t physical but he is now. He’s learned to strike and put hands on people. His temperament has come around.”
The Nittany Lions lost their two most productive pass-rushers from last season in Garrett Sickels and Evan Schwan, who combined for 12 sacks. Third-year sophomore Shareef Miller (5.5 TFLs in 2016) is a guy that coaches and players are fired up about.
This is key since their defensive coordinator said the two areas of concern for him are strong safety and defensive end. "I’m excited about Shareef Miller,” Pry said of the 6-5, 255-pounder. "He’s long can run, got a motor. He’s aggressive.”
Says Barkley: "I think he can be special. He’s fast, has a high motor and he’s really hard to block on the edge. He’s very hungry and it’s time for him to step up.”
