Blue White Illustrated

B L U E - W H I T E G A M E P R E V I E W nly minutes before sitting down for his first official interview as a Nittany Lion, Pat Freiermuth completed his program-man- dated media training. The basics involve, for on-camera interviews, repeating the question in the answer, and more generally, being positive toward teammates and coaches. And, of course, not giving away too much information. For most of Penn State's true freshmen, there's no real rush to go through the training. Among last year's incoming class, for instance, only seven true freshmen burned their redshirts by appearing in more than four games. The other 13 played sparingly in 2018. Freiermuth isn't like most of his classmates, though. Appearing in all 13 games at tight end, he fin- ished second on the team in receptions (26) and receiving yards (368), and maybe most impor- tant, first in receiving touchdowns. Scoring eight TDs through the air, he had an undeniable impact on the scoreboard. "I just love the red zone," Freiermuth said. "I had shown that I was an option in the red zone in camp, and as the season progressed, the coaches found ways to get me the ball in the red zone. The game plans benefitted me, and it was fun catching all the touchdowns and celebrating. It was fun." It was also a season Freiermuth had long awaited. During his freshman and sophomore years at Pentucket Regional High School just outside of Boston, he excelled both as a quarterback and as a forward on the basketball team. Those per- formances created opportunities for him in both sports, but he preferred the physicality of foot- ball, so he decided to join head coach Patrick Foley at the Brooks School and repeated the 10th grade in the process. Although the decision would come to frustrate him in his final months of prep school, thwarting his hopes of enrolling early at Penn State, it ulti- mately worked to his benefit. Physically and mentally, Freiermuth was a bit more advanced than the typical incoming college freshman. He was 19 years old when he enrolled at PSU and turned 20 before the end of his first season. Head coach James Franklin and tight ends as- sistant Tyler Bowen quickly identified Freier- muth as a player who was poised to contribute immediately. "He was a very mature player, being a postgrad guy out of high school," Bowen said last year. "He's done what we ask of all our guys – just get better every week. He continues to do that every week. We can ask him to do a little bit more, and he's handled that well. Nothing's been too big so far, and he's continued to get better throughout the season." That progression was evident statistically, as well as in the increasing impact Freiermuth made on Penn State's offensive success. He caught the first pass of his career against Pittsburgh in the second week of the season, had two more recep- tions the next week against Kent State and caught his first touchdown pass in the Big Ten opener at Illinois. When Ohio State visited Beaver Stadium on Sept. 29, he earned his first start and caught a touchdown pass, adding to what would become a 12-game streak with at least one reception. Freiermuth's freshman highlight reel included O EARLY RISER Freiermuth won honorable mention All-Big Ten honors after a freshman season in which he led the Nittany Lions with eight touch- down receptions. He caught at least one pass for PSU in 12 consecutive games. Photo by Steve Manuel SEEING RED C O V E R S T O R Y Pat Freiermuth had a knack for finding the end zone as a true freshman tight end. He's got even bigger goals as he prepares for his sophomore season |

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