Blue White Illustrated

tany Lions weren't quite ready for the kind of expectations that were placed on them when they showed up at No. 4 in the 8rst CFP poll. Besides beating Ohio State more o;en and winning at least half of its games against ranked opponents on the road, what must Penn State accomplish on of- fense and defense going forward? O9ensively, Penn State must have more than two 8rst-team All-Big Ten skill players at its disposal. Going into the Lions' game at Ohio State, Hamler and Freiermuth had performed like 8rst- team All-Conference players. Hamler had 46 catches for 791 yards and eight touchdowns, while Freiermuth had 34 catches for 424 yards and seven TDs. In my opinion, Freiermuth has shown the potential to become one of the very best tight ends to ever play at Penn State. With two more regular-season games remaining in his sophomore sea- son, he had already tied Gesicki's total of 15 career touchdown receptions, the most in school history by a tight end. If he keeps up that level of productivity, he'll rival Kyle Brady as the best tight end ever to play for the Nittany Lions. But what Penn State has failed to ac- complish on o9ense has been to 8nd a third consistent wide receiver to com- plement Hamler and Jahan Dotson, the latter having gone into Penn State's game against Ohio State with 22 catches for 412 yards and three touchdowns. Through 10 games, Justin Shorter, Daniel George and Dan Chisena had combined to make only 18 catches for 249 yards, with no touchdown recep- tions. Penn State's o9ense is designed to take what the defense gives it, not to focus on speci8c players. But Hamler and Freiermuth have been the focal points because they've been the ones who have consistently made plays down8eld. That group will need to ex- pand going forward. The Lions have to develop more playmakers in the passing game. The running game also needs to take the next step. It showed great promise at the beginning of the season, but the Lions have never really developed a consistent one-two punch at the run- ning back positions. Journey Brown and Noah Cain have been the most depend- able of the team's four RBs, and at times they've eased some of the pressure on Cli9ord, Hamler and Freiermuth to de- liver big yardage in the passing game; the Lions' nine-minute fourth-quarter drive against Indiana was a case in point. But there's still more work to be done here. On the other side of the ball, Penn State was ranked atop the Big Ten in run defense through 10 games, but the team has been struggling lately against the pass. Going into the Ohio State game, Penn State was ranked 12th in the Big Ten vs. the pass, allowing 240.3 yards per game and 11.5 yards per catch. Minnesota's quarterback, Tanner Morgan, completed 18 of 20 passes for 339 yards and three touchdowns. The following week, Indiana's Peyton Ram- sey was 31 for 41 for 371 yards and a TD. For Penn State, what was most alarm- ing about their success was that the team went into the 2019 season thinking its secondary was a major asset, with John Reid, Tariq Castro-Fields and boundary safety Garrett Taylor boasting legitimate All-Big Ten ability. That just hasn't turned out to be the case, and the pass rush hasn't been as consistent as hoped, either. Penn State had only 33 sacks in its 8rst 10 games – 10 of which came in a single game against Purdue – making it all but impossible for PSU to match its total of 47 sacks last year. The last step is always the most di:- cult one to accomplish. Maybe it won't happen this season for the Nittany Lions, but if they can improve in the areas I've highlighted here, I'm con- vinced that the 2020 season could end up being the one in which they take that 8nal step to become one of the four teams to play in the College Football Playo9. ■

• Cover