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brought back 52-yard kicko: returns at key moments in games against Ap- palachian State and Kent State. He was sixth in the conference with a 24.4-yard kick-return average and has been a major reason why Penn State's return game is better than at any point in the past decade. Franklin recently praised Hamler at his weekly press conference, stating that the young wideout belonged on the list of great receivers with whom he's worked during his coaching career. That list in- cludes Hamilton, Jordan Matthews at Vanderbilt, Torrey Smith at Maryland and Donald Driver with the Green Bay Packers. "K.J. is right up there," Franklin said. "No doubt about it. He's an energy giver, in addition to his production. His ability to make meetings, practice and the locker room fun is undervalued. "Around the country, you see a lot of examples of positive leadership, and then distractions. K.J. is what is great about college football. Great parents. Never does he ask for the ball. The op- portunities he gets, he makes the most of them. He's had a positive impact on coaches, players and the community. Could not be more proud. He's doing great." Another player on o:ense who has lived up to the high hopes that greeted his arrival has been freshman tight end Pat Freiermuth. It took just 9ve games for Freiermuth to win the starting job. "The thing that we noticed pretty quickly is that the stage just isn't too big for him," Franklin said. "It hasn't been [too big] in the weight room. It hasn't been in practice. It hasn't been in meet- ings. You never know when the [sta- dium] lights come on, but it hasn't seemed to be [too big] there as well." Through six games, Freiermuth had 10 catches for 121 yards and two touch- downs. Against Ohio State, he caught three passes for 43 yards, including a one-handed grab in the end zone that gave Penn State a 20-14 fourth-quarter lead. Late in the game, he began Penn State's 9nal drive with a 27-yard recep- tion. Three days later, he became the team's starting tight end. "He's physical. That's something that we have shown the team – examples of big runs and big plays that he's had where he's pancaked people," Franklin said. "He's playing really well right now." Defensively, there were 9ve players who really stood out to me in the Nittany Lions' 9rst six games: middle linebacker Jan Johnson, safety Garrett Taylor, de- fensive tackle Robert Windsor and de- fensive ends Yetur Gross-Matos and Shareef Miller. Miller was leading the defense with 8.5 tackles for loss and four sacks, while Gross-Matos was next with 6.5 tackles for loss. He also had 9ve quarterback hurries and had done an e:ective job of replacing Ryan Buchholz, who an- nounced in August that he was giving up football due to recurring back problems. Windsor's play has been steady from the get-go. Going into the Indiana game, he had 17 tackles, four tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. The Ohio State game was probably the best of his career, as he 9n- ished with 9ve tackles, including a tackle for loss and an assisted sack. I don't think anyone could have ex- pected Johnson to lead the Penn State defense with 34 tackles in his 9rst six games. And the same can be said of Tay- lor. Going into the Indiana game, he was Penn State's No. 2 tackler with 33 stops. He also had interceptions against Ohio State and Michigan State. What those performances say to me is that Franklin's recruiting has put Penn State in a reloading mode in which it has capable players ready to step into the lineup when great players like Barkley, Gesicki and Hamilton depart. The next step is for the Nittany Lions to get to an elite level in which they are in con- tention on a yearly basis for the Big Ten Championship Game and maybe even the College Football Playo:. ■

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