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Penn State is home to the fourth- largest stadium in the world, and the Nittany Lions are accustomed to filling it, or at least coming close, on their football game days. But Beaver Sta- dium's 106,572 seats might be mostly or entirely empty if that's what will be required in order to have a football season this coming fall. After months of uncertainty following the imposition of vari- ous stay-at-home orders throughout the country aimed at slowing the spread of COVID- 19, momentum appeared to be building nationally in late May toward playing a season of some sort in the fall. There was still plenty of uncertainty heading into June. Will the season con- sist of 12 games? Will most or all of the 65 teams in the Power Five conferences be able to safely resume football activities this summer? Will the teams that are able to restart be in position to welcome fans to their stadiums come September or Oc- tober? Those questions and more remain unanswered with less than three months to go before the originally scheduled opening weekend. But as to the question of whether there should be a season of some kind, even if extensive compromises would be re- quired in order to keep players, coaches, fans and support staff safe, the answer within the sport increasingly seems to be that college football ought to be played during the upcoming academic year. That is certainly James Franklin's view. The seventh-year Penn State coach said recently that with the right precautions in place to protect participants, the sea- son should proceed. "I'm just open and flexible to doing whatever we possibly can to make it work," he said. "Because if we don't make it work, there are going to be major impacts across the board. Even if we get to the scenario that's as extreme as not having fans, I do think allowing people to watch Penn State football – not just Penn State, but all these programs across the country – [requires] you to be flexi- ble and open to any of these things, any of these scenarios. Because at the end of the day, we've got to find a way to make it work if we can, as long as everyone is going to be safe and healthy. That could be a shortened season. It could be a full season. It could be a full season with no | F O O T B A L L Franklin on 2020 season: 'We've got to find a way to make it work if we can' NEWS & NOTES WEIGHING THE OPTIONS Franklin said he believes that football should be played in 2020, even if it means not having fans in the stadium. Photo by Ryan Snyder

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