Blue White Illustrated

T H E 2 0 1 8 S E A S O N big and strong physically as they need to be." The other advantage of a slower ap- prenticeship is that it provides time to learn the scheme and build camaraderie with one's fellow linemen. Bates may have won Freshman All-America honors, but looking back on his first season of ac- tion makes him cringe. "I've come a long way," he said. "When I watch film from my redshirt freshman year to now, it's like, what the heck was I doing? Why am I doing that? You know, repetition, practice [are important]. Practice makes perfect. I'm a heavy be- liever in that." Bates is now a redshirt junior and a third-year starter, and he's surrounded by players who likewise have ample starting experience. McGovern and fel- low guard Steven Gonzalez are both starting for the third consecutive season, while Fries is in his second starting sea- son. Fries' backup at left tackle, fifth- year senior Chasz Wright, has started 15 games in his career. "We feel like we've got six starters," Franklin said. "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 last 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 understands the expectations and the standards." Bates is the most vocal of this year's linemen, and as such, he has emerged as a leader. "When things are down, he's the guy who gets people going," Fries said. "He leads by example, his work ethic on the field." He had to grow up in a hurry, as his first game coming off a redshirt year – a 33-13 victory over Kent State in 2016 – was also his first game as a starter. Bates started at left guard alongside Gaia at center, Dowrey at right guard, Brendan Mahon at left tackle and Andrew Nelson at right tackle. Those players had a big hand in bringing him along, he said. "When I was a young guy, those guys re- ally helped me develop as an offensive lineman and as a football player in general, just expanding my knowledge of the game and my knowledge of the offensive line," he said. "I think that's one of the biggest things that has helped me personally." Now that he's one of the unit's elders, he's paying it forward by helping teach the game to the younger players who will succeed him. There have been some growing pains along the way. The Nittany Lions couldn't get Miles Sanders going against Ohio State, and his last carry of the game was a 2-yard loss on a fourth-and-5 play that ended any hope of a comeback victory over the Buckeyes. But even in defeat, there were indica- tions that Penn State's line is better equipped to open up holes in opposing defenses. Sanders may have only man- aged 43 yards, but McSorley rushed for 175, the most by a quarterback in Penn State's modern era. As a team, the Lions gained 206 yards on the ground. It was their best rushing total against the Buck- eyes since gaining 239 yards in 2011. With nearly half a season remaining, the Nittany Lions' offensive linemen are confident they can continue to open up running room. As far as they're con- cerned, it doesn't matter who's got the ball. All that matters is that they con- tinue to work as a team to create oppor- tunities. Said Bates, "With Miles and Trace in the backfield, I think we can ac- complish anything." ■ N ews of the move :rst surfaced in practice leading up to the Ohio State game. It was con:rmed during pregame warmups that Saturday, as C.J. Thorpe came onto the :eld along with the defensive tackles. Following Penn State's bye week, which gave him more time to transition from his former spot at o;ensive guard, the redshirt freshman is looking like he will be a regular in the ro- tation for the second half of the season. Explaining the ra- tionale for Thorpe's move from the o;en- sive line, where he had been the sec- ond-team right guard behind Connor McGovern, defensive coordinator Brent Pry said he was looking to create depth behind Kevin Givens and Robert Windsor. In the Ohio State game, the Lions' starting defensive tackles were on the :eld for 86 and 81 percent of the snaps, respectively. "When you evaluate C.J. Thorpe as a football player – mentality, physical- ity, size, all those things – he would certainly… have a chance to be one of the better [defensive tackles] in that group, a possible guy who could bring some production and also some physi- cality to the position," Pry said. "Kevin Givens and Rob Windsor played a lot of snaps [against Ohio State]. We've always done a good job of rolling guys inside, and we have to be able to do that. Antonio Shelton has shown im- provement, but we've got a group of guys right there, and we felt like C.J. would compete with them and have a chance to come out of it being one of the guys that we'll count on." Against Ohio State, the busiest of the backup defensive tackles was red- shirt freshman Fred Hansard, who was on the :eld for 10 plays. Shelton, a sophomore, saw action on eight plays, and Thorpe saw action on two in his :rst game as a defensive player. Thorpe's move could help enable defensive line to build needed depth | THORPE SEE THORPE PAGE 66

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