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P E N N S T A T E F O O T B A L L >> Nittany Lions fans no doubt will grieve the loss of dazzling running back Saquon Barkley, but those who are truly forward thinking will be more concerned about the departure of offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead, who took the top job at Mississippi State. Barkley was amazing, but it was Moorhead's scheme and – more important – his ability to make outstanding halftime adjustments that trig- gered Penn State's rise to prominence. It will be interesting to see how the pro- gram survives his absence. One outstanding key to damage control is quarterback Trace McSorley, who is back for his senior year. McSorley is one of the nation's most exciting players and thrives in all sorts of settings, including broken-play chaos. ATHLON SPORTS The offense should continue to be strong, even with coordinator Joe Moorhead leaving to become the head coach at Mississippi State. New coordinator Ricky Rahne got his feet wet in a Fiesta Bowl victory over Washington, and he will look to have the same pedal-to-the-metal approach. Penn State's hopes of winning the Big Ten East might depend on that offense. LINDY'S SPORTS The Nittany Lions might be the most inexperienced of the Big Ten East con- tenders, though the recent past has shown that age does not necessarily preclude a talented team from being in the College Football Playoff discussion. Ohio State went to the playoff two years ago with the youngest roster in the country, and Penn State believes it has a special group of freshmen and sophomores. If Franklin's young players arrive ahead of schedule, Penn State will be in the mix come November. STREET & SMITH'S After struggling in his first two seasons as Penn State's coach, James Franklin has guided the Nittany Lions to 11-win seasons and New Year's Six bowl appear- ances in back-to-back seasons. Now the real work begins, as Penn State will have to replace Barkley, offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead (now Mississippi State's head coach) and eight defensive starters. Passing-game coordinator Ricky Rahne took over playcalling duties and had an impressive debut in a 35-28 win over Washington in the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl. Moorhead also snagged running backs coach Charles Huff, whom Franklin replaced with Florida's Ja'Juan Seider. The Nittany Lions might rely on quarterback Trace McSorley even more next season, and he'll be one of the top Heisman Trophy candidates if he delivers. Penn State's schedule gets a little more difficult with games against Iowa, Michi- gan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Wisconsin, but the Nittany Lions will play all but the Wolverines in Happy Valley. ESPN.COM The Nittany Lions were four points away from an undefeated season in 2017. James Franklin continues to build through recruiting. Penn State, however, must deal with the loss of Saquon Barkley. But new offensive coordinator Ricky Rahne called a great game in the Nittany Lions' Fiesta Bowl win. How will that affect quarterback Trace McSorley going forward? THE SPORTING NEWS W H A T T H E Y ' R E S A Y I N G quarterback, Christian Hackenberg, never really boiled over. It just kind of simmered, leaving fans to read between the lines of a farewell announcement in which Hackenberg thanked virtually everyone except his head coach. Unlike Hackenberg, who had been signed by Bill O'Brien, the players on Penn State's 2018 roster all responded to Franklin's recruiting pitch and were brought in to operate his system. The Nittany Lions will need those players to be fully bought-in this fall as the staff works to rebuild a roster that was hit harder by graduation than in any of the fifth-year coach's previous seasons. On offense, they lost their career leaders in all-purpose yards (Barkley), catches (DaeSean Hamilton) and catches by a tight end (Mike Gesicki). On defense, they must replace seven of last season's top eight tacklers. The Lions must also replace last year's second-leading scorer, Tyler Davis. Davis's exit has been brought up less frequently than the team's other gradu- ation losses because he had a tough sen- ior season in which his success rate on field goals plunged to 52.9 percent. But he did set a single-season school record for most PATs (71) and left as Penn State's sixth-leading career scorer with 261 points. When preseason camp begins in a few weeks, one of the contenders for at least some portion of Davis's kicking duties could be Gillikin. He was a place kicker during his senior year in high school, and a good one, hitting 16 of 26 at- tempts, including three from beyond 50 yards. Using an All-Big Ten punter as a place kicker might not be Franklin's pre- ferred option, but if it gives Penn State its best chance to vie for a champi- onship, the coach will likely embrace that approach. As for Gillikin, he will definitely em- brace that approach – not just because it would give him more to do but because he's in favor of any move that might bol- ster the Lions' championship hopes. "I love being on a winning team," he said. "It's a helluva lot more fun than being on a losing team, I'll tell you that." ■

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