Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1276571
James Franklin has led the Nittany Lions to 11 wins three times in the past four seasons, and there are no signs of slowing down for the fast-talking, charismatic head coach who recruits with fury. It seems only a matter of time before they punch a ticket to the play- o0s. This could be the year, with Franklin having snatched o0ensive co- ordinator Kirk Ciarrocca from Min- nesota. LINDY'S SPORTS It is no coincidence that Penn State's only win against Ohio State during the past eight seasons led to the program's only Big Ten title since realignment. Franklin has recruited well enough to make his team a major player. With the Buckeyes coming to Happy Valley this year, there may be no time like the pres- ent for the Lions to take control of the East. STREET & SMITH'S James Franklin's Nittany Lions boast maybe the best defensive player in the country in linebacker Micah Parsons, and with three high-caliber running backs (led by Journey Brown) and a vet- eran o0ensive line, they could have their most e1cient run game since Larry Johnson was donning the white helmet. And Ciarrocca, who arrives as o0ensive coordinator a2er helming a physical, top-10-caliber Minnesota o0ense, will know what to do with said run game. In Tyler Johnson and Rashod Bateman, however, he had a couple of unbelievable wide receivers at Minnesota. That does- n't appear to be a luxury Penn State can o0er. ESPN.COM If the Lions are going to take the next step, they will need to do better in the passing game – on both sides of the ball. They will need to throw and catch more consistently a2er /nishing eighth in the Big Ten in passing o0ense last year, and they will need to stop opponents from gouging their secondary, as happened in their loss to Minnesota and even in a few wins. ATHLON SPORTS >> A W A R D W A T C H W H A T T H E Y ' R E S A Y I N G So many watch lists, so little time. In spite of the massive disruption in American life that the pandemic has caused, college football award com- mittees have been putting out watch lists at their usual prodigious rate this summer. As of this writing, eight Penn State players have been included in various lists, and several players, such as Micah Parsons, Pat Freiermuth and Journey Brown, are under considera- tion for multiple awards. Once the season begins – if it begins – there will be less time than usual to determine the most deserving recipi- ents of the game's many individual honors. One of the consequences of the pandemic has been that everyone's sea- son is going to be a little (or a lot) shorter. But whether there will be enough games with which to pick winners is a question for another day. In the meantime, here are the Nittany Lions' watch-listers: NAME POS WATCH LISTS Journey Brown RB Doak Walker Award, Hornung Award, Maxwell Award Noah Cain RB Doak Walker Award Sean Cli0ord QB Davey O'Brien Award, Manning Award, Wuer0el Trophy Pat Freiermuth TE Biletniko0 Award, Mackey Award Micah Parsons OLB Bednarik Award, Butkus Award, Lott IMPACT Trophy, Maxwell Award, Nagurski Trophy Jake Pinegar PK Lou Groza Award Shaka Toney DE Nagurski Trophy Lamont Wade Saf. Thorpe Award JOURNEY BROWN Steve Manuel