Blue White Illustrated

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Beaver Ave s State College, PA 16801 www.The-Phyrst.com 814.234.4406 137 Elmwood St. s State College, PA 16801 www.HappyValleyBeer.com Wood-fire Grill 12 Beers on Tap 200 Year Old Barn 821 Cricklewood Dr. s Toftrees, State College www.AmericanAleHouse.net 814.237.9701 s Piano Bar s Sommelier 814.238.1406 814.234.7700 s 1611 Atherton St. s State College 814.941.7788 s Plank Rd. Exit s Altoona www.ChampsSportsGrill.net s Best Game Bar s Large Groups Welcome c lc e W We s p u o r G e g r a L s a e B m a st G e B s S n S h 1 A 1 6 1 0 0 7 7 4. 3 2 4. 1 8 me co r a l l C S r G s rt o p S s p m a h C . www s t i x . E d k R n a l P s 8 8 7 7 1. 4 9 . 4 1 8 S s . t n S o t r e h t 1 A 1 6 1 s 0 0 7 7 4. 3 2 4. 1 8 t e n . l l i r na o o t l A e g e l l o C e at t S resentative of the greater goal that Franklin was hoping to accomplish heading into his week three matchup. It was George's first game action. Also on the field at the time were fellow true freshman receivers Justin Shorter and Jahan Dotson, tight end Zack Kuntz and offensive tackle Rasheed Walker, all of whom were making their collegiate de- buts. Most of those players are still ex- pected to redshirt, but their presence on the field against Kent State was an illus- tration of what Franklin referred to in the postgame news conference as his "big-picture perspective." With Penn State facing a short week of practice prior to its Friday night visit to Illinois, Franklin went into the Kent State game thinking that he would rest some of his starters in the second half if the Lions were safely ahead. He was hoping to make extensive use of his backups, including a number of fresh- men who hadn't seen action to that point in the season, but he didn't ad- dress the topic publicly, barely acknowl- edged it with his coaches and avoided it altogether with his players. "I don't want the players thinking about that, so as a head coach I'm trying to manage all these things," he said. "We got a lot of guys reps. A lot of guys played for the first time today, which is really important. It creates a healthy locker room. There were a lot of guys who feel like they had a role in the [63- 10 win] and that creates a really healthy locker room. We limited our starters' reps. All this stuff is critical, because we've got a short turnaround." Heading into Penn State's Big Ten opener, 27 first-year players had made their debuts. Fourteen of them were true freshmen, although Franklin's preseason estimate had been that only seven would be full-time "green lights" for the sea- son. All but one saw the field against the Golden Flashes. Defensive end Nick Tarburton played substantially in the first two games of the season. He was thrust into early action as Penn State waited for defensive end Shane Simmons to return from an injury and worked to overcome the loss of Ryan Buchholz following his decision to give up football. Against Kent State, though, Tar- burton didn't see the field. Not because he hadn't played well vs. Appalachian State and Pitt – "We think he has a bright future," Franklin said – but because he might be called upon as a Plan B later in the year. So instead of going in against Kent State, a move that would have left him with only one more game to play be- fore exhausting a year of eligibility, Tar- burton sat out. In his place, Franklin and defensive line coach Sean Spencer went with true freshman Jayson Oweh. "We played Tarburton for two games and we said we were going to shut him down and use Oweh and get him some experience," Franklin said. "Now we're in a situation where we can use Tarbur- ton late in the season to solve some problems with injuries and hopefully maybe still be able to redshirt him. So what we're just trying to do is manage it. The way this season plays out, some- thing is going to be outside of our con- trol. But right now with how things are going, we want to be able to get some guys experience for this year but also for years moving forward." Enter Oweh. In his first appearance, he finished with three tackles, including two sacks. This is only his third season of football, as he played just two years at Blair (N.J.) Prep Academy. Franklin's strategy had been to wait a bit and avoid asking too much too soon, because a player with Oweh's untapped potential requires special handling. Raw is the word that regularly gets tagged to the 6-foot-5, 247-pound Oweh. He showed up this past summer running and jumping like a receiver, but he wasn't ready to be thrown into the fire. So Franklin found a way to ease him in, and his teammates said following his performance vs. Kent State that it was a harbinger of things to come. "He's going to be real good once he puts everything together," Shareef Miller said. Until then, Oweh is going to be eased in according to plan so that if he's needed later this season, he can step in again and be a solid Plan B. Or, eventually, he could develop into a class of his own. ■

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