Blue White Illustrated

P E N N S T A T E F O O T B A L L >> tended the White Out camp at the sta- dium; he was looking at me and looking around. That was prior to him earning a scholarship," Franklin said. "But to this day, he just continues to make huge plays for us in that same sta- dium." Many of those plays have been critical to the team's success this season. He started out as a third-teamer behind starter Jonathan Holland and Danny Dalton. But Dalton was injured in the second week of the season against Pitt, and Freiermuth began moving up. He made his first career reception in the fourth quarter of Penn State's 51-6 vic- tory over the Panthers, then split time in subsequent games against Kent State and Illinois, catching two passes for 35 yards against the Golden Flashes and pulling in a 5-yard touchdown catch against the Illini. By the time the Nittany Lions wel- comed Ohio State to Beaver Stadium for their Big Ten home opener, Freiermuth was their starting tight end. Making the most of the opportunity, he pulled in a 2-yard touchdown reception and also a 27-yarder and finished the game with a career-high three catches. In the process, Freiermuth gained the approval and trust of McSorley. Hail- ing the tight end's atypical physicality as a true freshman at a position that demands it, McSorley said the early performances demonstrated Freier- muth's fearlessness. "That was something that Pat bought into right away, and since then that was kind of his identity that he developed early on. He was going to go out and he was going to throw his face in there and he was going to hit you when he was blocking, and then he's continued to grow and get more com- fortable," McSorley said. "You've seen him develop in the passing game and show off his athletic ability as far as being able to go up and attack a ball, make contested catches when guys are draped all over him, being able to use his size." Showing no traces of the hesitancy that often slows down true freshmen at the beginning of their careers, Freier- muth has continued to "handle himself like a vet," Franklin said. Heading into Penn State's visit to Rutgers on Nov. 17, he was third on the team with 19 catches for 256 yards and four touchdowns. His TD total was sec- ond among receivers, trailing only K.J. Hamler, who had caught five scoring passes. Freiermuth has become a constant presence for a Penn State offense that has suffered from a rash of dropped passes by its receivers. He had only been tabbed with two drops through the sea- son's first 10 games, the lowest total among the starters. As far as Franklin is concerned, Freiermuth's numbers indi- cate that he will be an integral part of Penn State's future at the position. The coach said that Freiermuth "is having a lot of success right now, and he's going to be able to learn from it. That's the thing I try to express to our guys all the time: It's a journey. No different than life and no different than football, it's not always smooth. I see our guys grow- ing and I see our team growing. Not as fast I would like at times, but overall, I see us getting better individually and collectively, and I think Pat is a really good example of that." With three more years of eligibility remaining after Penn State wraps up its current season, Freiermuth figures to see his role continue to expand. He was one of McSorley's favorite targets throughout the team's first seven Big Ten games, and while the fifth-year senior quarterback has only a few games left with the true freshman tight end, he has helped Freiermuth set the stage for even bigger things to come. "He's just continued to grow in his confidence and his abilities now that he's out there playing, and you can see that," McSorley said. "He's not think- ing so much. He's lining up and going, and that's something that you love to see out of a freshman, when they get that sense of confidence and they're not thinking anymore, they're just playing, and playing fast and being ag- gressive." ■

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