Blue White Illustrated

P O S T S E A S O N P R E V I E W >> P E N N S T A T E onships, but it's not a bad foundation on which to build. That the Lions were able to get to the Citrus Bowl in a year of sub- stantial personnel turnover is a positive sign for the future. It also bears mentioning that Penn State is trying to get to a place that few programs have reached despite the spending spree that has occurred throughout the Power Five conferences. Rather than helping to democratize the sport by giving more teams a chance at the national championship, the College Football Playo= appears to have played a role in concentrating power in the hands of a very small number of super-elite programs. Or maybe its arrival just hap- pened to coincide with the rise of that super-elite class. Either way, the playo= has been dominated by the top teams in the Southeastern and Atlantic Coast conferences. This year's playo= will be the ;?h since the format was launched in 2014, and there have been four teams every year, which means that 20 invitations have been extended. Those 20 berths have been ;lled by only 10 teams. Ala- bama has quali;ed ;ve times, Clemson four times, Oklahoma three times and Ohio State twice. The one-time partici- pants have been Georgia, Florida State, Michigan State, Oregon and Washing- ton, and Notre Dame will make its ;rst appearance this year. Those one-timers have put together a combined 2-4 record to date, with only the Bulldogs and Ducks managing to get beyond the semi;nals. An even more telling indicator of the emergence of a super-elite class is that only five active coaches have ever won national championships in the Football Bowl Subdivision. One of those coaches – Ohio State's Urban Meyer – will be stepping down after the Rose Bowl. One of the others – North Carolina's re- cently hired Mack Brown – claimed his title more than a decade ago while at Texas and will have his work cut out for him if he hopes to add to that total dur- ing his second stint with the Tar Heels. None of those coaches have been able to keep pace with Alabama's Nick Saban. With six national champi- onships and a seventh possibly in the offing this year, Saban has as many ti- tles as the other four championship- winning coaches put together. As Franklin works to join that group, one fact that bears mentioning is that the Citrus Bowl has, over the years, served as a springboard to vault rising teams into the title mix the following season. For proof, one need only look back to last year's game, in which Notre Dame edged LSU, 21-17. Both of those teams have gone on to do big things this year. The Tigers are getting set to face UCF in the Fiesta Bowl, while the Irish will meet Clemson in a CFP semifinal. The Nittany Lions would love to follow Notre Dame's lead, and while they will lose McSorley, they have an heir appar- ent at quarterback in Tommy Stevens. In addition, 35 other members of their reg- ular-season-ending two-deep will still have eligibility in 2019. Even if a few of those players opt to leave early – god- speed, Shareef Miller – this should be a pretty good team on both sides of the ball. When they face Kentucky on Jan. 1, the Lions will be looking to start the year o= right. It may be the last game of the 2018 season, but with so much of their depth chart returning, it could also be consid- ered the ;rst game of the 2019 season. In that respect, it's going to be a very dif- ferent kind of week. Franklin's team may only be playing one game, but it will have a chance to go 2-0. ■ Senior cornerback Amani Oruwariye and sophomore defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos led Penn State's All-Big Ten contingent, with both players earning ;rst-team honors. Oruwariye was a ;rst-team choice by the coaches and media, while Gross-Matos was selected ;rst team by the media and third team by the coaches. Joining Oruwariye and Gross-Matos on the All-Big Ten defensive team were junior defensive end Shareef Miller (third team – coaches and media), junior safety Garrett Taylor (honorable mention – coaches and media), junior defen- sive tackle Robert Windsor (honorable mention – coaches and media), junior cornerback John Reid (honorable mention – coaches and media), senior safety Nick Scott (honorable mention – media) and freshman linebacker Micah Par- sons (honorable mention – media). Senior quarterback Trace McSorley collected his third consecutive second- team All-Big Ten honor to headline the list of Nittany Lion o=ensive All-Con- ference selections. He became the ;rst Penn State quarterback to earn three career All-Big Ten accolades. Also earning second-team recognition was junior running back Miles Sanders. Joining McSorley and Sanders on the All-Big Ten o=ensive team were junior o=ensive linemen Connor McGovern (third team – coaches and media) and Ryan Bates (third team – coaches and media), freshman wide receiver K.J. Hamler (honorable mention – coaches and media), freshman tight end Pat Freiermuth (honorable mention – coaches and media) and junior o=ensive lineman Steven Gonzalez (honorable mention - coaches and media). On special teams, Hamler was an honorable mention choice by both the coaches and media. Freiermuth, Hamler and Parsons also received Freshman All-America recog- nition from The Athletic. Penn State's three selections were the most of any school. ■ A W A R D W A T C H

• Cover