Blue White Illustrated

P E N N S T A T E F O O T B A L L >> couldn't keep the Buckeyes out of the backfield. Trapped behind the line with no escape route, Sanders was tackled for a loss in one of the biggest plays of the season. Needless to say, the Lions are going to have to make big plays in clutch situations against highly ranked opponents for this to be considered an elite offensive line. They'll certainly have their chance to do that in the coming weeks. FRANKLIN SAYS "We feel like we've got six starters in [Ryan] Bates and [Steven] Gonzalez and [Michal] Menet and [Con- nor] McGovern and Fries and Chasz Wright. We look at all those guys as starters because they've all played a lot of football for us. We've gotten bigger, we've gotten stronger. We've gained a lot of experience over the past couple of years. Aside from Michal Menet, those guys have all played a lot of football for us. And Michal has been in the program for a number of years now, and he un- derstands the expectations and the standards." SUMMARY The Lions were second in the Big Ten in rushing with an average of 251.8 yards per game through six games. So far, the ground attack has been one of the most improved facets of Penn State's team, as the Lions have upped their average by 80 yards per game over last season. Of course, the schedule is only going to get tougher from here on out, with Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin coming up. So by the time Maryland vis- its Beaver Stadium for senior day, we'll have a much better picture of just how much improvement this unit has made. For now…..............................GRADE B DEFENSIVE LINE THE GOOD The Lions have been effec- tive at getting to the quarterback, rank- ing third in the Big Ten with an average of 3.2 sacks per game through six games. That number is especially impressive when you consider that during the past year, they've lost two starters to career- ending injuries (Torrence Brown, Ryan Buchholz) and were without rising star Shane Simmons for the first five games this season due to an injury. Starting defen- sive tackles Kevin Givens and Robert Windsor have also been solid. The effect that the 6-foot-1, 285-pound Givens can have on Penn State's defense was evident after the Pitt game, in which he returned to action following a one- game suspension and made a career- high seven tackles. As a team, the Lions gave up only 300 yards against the run- oriented Panthers, 151 fewer than they surrendered to Appalachian State a week earlier. THE BAD The depth behind Givens and Windsor is clearly not where the coach- ing staff wants it to be. Penn State's starters were on the field for more plays than usual against Ohio State, a calcu- lated risk that paid off for three quarters but proved costly in the fourth, as the Buckeyes rallied to win. One indication that the coaches aren't satisfied with their depth in the middle was their deci- sion to move redshirt freshman offen- sive guard C.J. Thorpe to defensive tackle prior to the Ohio State game. Thorpe, who was a second-teamer on offense before making the switch, got on the field ahead of some of the team's more experienced tackles, even though he had been practicing at the position for only about a week. The concerns here only got worse when second-team defensive tackle Fred Hansard left the Michigan State game with a leg injury. It was unknown as of this writing how long Hansard will be out of action. RISING STAR Pat Freiermuth catches a touchdown pass in the second half of Penn State's game against Ohio State. The freshman tight end has been seeing more action for the Lions as the season has gone on. Photo by Steve Manuel

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