Blue White Illustrated

A T T H E 2 0 1 9 N I T T A N Y L I O N S have to pick their spots with Shorter. There wasn't much point in blowing his redshirt in 2018 after he missed so many of the team's early-season games with an injury, but that won't be a consideration going forward, so he should be a much more integral part of the passing game in 2019. Will that be enough to get the passing game back up to speed next fall under new receivers coach Gerad Parker? That will be one of the biggest questions of the off- season. While the Lions appear to have amassed their share of talent, Hamler and Dotson are the only returnees who have ever caught more than 10 passes in a sea- son. That means some of the young up- and-comers will have to play major roles. STAFF SAYS Franklin, on the perform- ance of the wide receiver group: "We've got a decent amount of youth there, but so far so good. And then we've got some veterans who are working through some things. So hopefully we'll get those guys back, and now we've gained some expe- rience for some young players, which is going to pay dividends for us not only the rest of the season but also next year." TIGHT END KEY RETURNEES Nick Bowers, Danny Dalton, Pat Freiermuth, Jonathan Hol- land, Zack Kuntz KEY LOSSES None NEWCOMER Brenton Strange OUTLOOK Freiermuth enjoyed a break- through season, finishing second on the team in catches with 26 for 368 yards. He season, Penn State will get its first true road test in Kinnick Stadium. Quarter- back Nate Stanley returns for his senior season after leading the Hawkeyes to a 9-4 finish, but he will need to find new receiving targets, as two of his three leading pass-catchers from this past fall are gone, including tight end Noah Fant, who declared early for the NFL. (Another star tight end, T.J. Hockenson, had not said as of press time whether he, too, would leave early.) Kirk Ferentz is also tasked with rebuilding a defense that loses its four leading tacklers, plus tow- ering defensive line- man Anthony Nelson, another early NFL Draft entrant. MICHIGAN Oct. 19 | This series has been dominated by the home team recently. The average margin of victory in the past three games has been 34.3 points, with Michi- gan winning in Ann Arbor in 2016 and '18, and the Nittany Lions romping at Beaver Stadium in 2017. The Lions will get Michi- gan at home next fall for what is likely to be a White Out game. Jim Harbaugh returns quarter- back Shea Patterson and his leading receivers from last year's 10-win roster, but he loses All-Big Ten running back Karan Higdon and a couple of All-Big Ten players from a stout defense. One addition that raised some eyebrows among Penn State followers: Josh Gattis, PSU's former re- ceivers coach, who was hired as offensive coordinator in January. @ MICHIGAN STATE Oct. 26 | Only once has James Franklin defeated Mark Danto- nio, and the past two losses have both been heartbreakers. Franklin is looking for his first win in East Lansing against a team that finished only one game above .500 in 2018 and stole one from him at home. The Spartans are expected to say goodbye to only a few starters on each side of the ball, and quarter- back Brian Lewerke will be back for his fourth year as a starter, along with four of his five leading receivers. @ MINNESOTA Nov. 9 | It was a second-half comeback against the Golden Gophers in week five of the 2016 season that sent Penn State on its way to a Big Ten champi- onship. This time, the Nittany Lions must travel to Minneapolis to face the Gophers and their third-year head coach, P.J. Fleck. Minnesota won five of its seven home games last year and went 7-6 overall. The majority of that young squad will return in 2019. INDIANA Nov. 16 | The Hoosiers have finished 5-7 in each of the past four reg- ular seasons. They've yet to beat Penn State during Franklin's tenure, but third-year head coach Tom Allen will be aiming to reverse that trend in 2019. He'll be working with a new offensive coordinator and a revamped offensive line. The defense loses nearly half of its major contributors. @ OHIO STATE Nov. 23 | The past three games in this series have been decided by a combined margin of five points, so this figures to be another nail-biter as Franklin goes in search of his first win in Columbus. Could it come in 2019 with Ohio State breaking in both a new head coach (Ryan Day) and a new quarter- back? Anything is possible, but the Buckeyes, who went 13-1 in their final season under Urban Meyer, can never be counted out. That's especially true after Day hired an all-star staff of assistants and landed a key transfer in former five- star QB prospect Justin Fields. As of this writing, Fields was awaiting a ruling from the NCAA on his request to be able to play immediately. RUTGERS Nov. 30 | Rutgers won only one game last season, and the outlook for 2019 is murky, as more than half of the starting defense graduates. As coach Chris Ash begins preparing for his fourth season, the Scarlet Knight pro- gram remains a work in progress. Get- ting the Nittany Lions on their senior day isn't necessarily the best spot for them. ■ JIM HARBAUGH Bryan Fuller/ MGoBlog

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