Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1276571
2019 RECORD 11-2, 7-2 Big Ten COACH James Franklin (56-23 in six seasons at Penn State; career record: 80- 38) OFFENSE The Nittany Lions are com- ing o? a season in which they >nished second in the Big Ten in scoring o?ense at 35.8 points per game. Impressive, yes. But they averaged 30.1 points in confer- ence play and topped 30 points only once in their last seven regu- lar-season games. So new o?ensive coordi- nator Kirk Ciarrocca is sure to >nd areas in which improvement will be required if the Lions are to vie for the Big Ten title. Quarterback Sean Cli?ord will certainly be looking to improve on his completion rate of 59.2 percent. A year ago, Ciar- rocca helped Minnesota's Tanner Mor- gan put together a very impressive statistical portfolio that included a 66 percent completion rate, so he's got just the sort of QB whisperer pedigree that Penn State needs. The Lions also need some receivers to step up following K.J. Hamler's exit. Junior Jahan Dotson is the only wideout with extensive experi- ence, so it will be crucial for Daniel George, Cam Sullivan-Brown and/or a sizeable cast of freshmen to emerge as down>eld playmakers. Otherwise, though, Penn State appears stacked on this side of the ball. Pat Freiermuth is an elite tight end, the o?ensive line is ex- perienced and is getting deeper, and the back>eld, headlined by Journey Brown and Noah Cain, is one of the best in the country. DEFENSE Penn State has some vacan- cies to >ll on this side of the ball with six starters having departed, including NFL Dra@ picks Yetur Gross-Matos, John Reid, Cam Brown and Robert Windsor. Ordinarily, that would be cause for con- cern. But the Nittany Lions may actually be better on defense this coming season than they were a year ago when they al- lowed only 16 points per game to rank third in the Big Ten and were one of only two opponents to hold Ohio State under 30 points. Micah Parsons is back a@er >nishing his sophomore year as a con- sensus All-American, and the Lions have a number of rising stars joining him in the linebacker corps, including Bran- don Smith, Lance Dixon, Jesse Luketa and Ellis Brooks. The defensive line loses two starters but has blue-chip replace- ments lined up in Jayson Oweh at end and P.J. Mustipher at the three-tech- nique tackle spot. In the secondary, a squadron of underclassman cornerbacks stand ready to join returning starter Tariq Castro-Fields, while hard-hitting safety Jaquan Brisker is returning to his more natural boundary position, where he will complement Lamont Wade, a re- turning starter at the >eld safety spot. This should be a very good defense. SPECIAL TEAMS Jake Pinegar and Jor- dan Stout are both back a@er combining to hit 13 of 15 >eld goal attempts last year. Stout will also be handling kicko?s again, and he's set to replace four-year starter Blake Gillikin at punter. The Lions have lost a dangerous all-purpose return man in Hamler, but Dotson has returned punts, while the Lions have a number of promising candidates for the kick-return job, including true freshman running back Caziah Holmes. OUTLOOK This was shaping up to be Penn State's year. The Lions are loaded at a lot of spots, and except possibly for the receiver corps, they have answers at all the position groups where questions loom. It didn't hurt that they were set to face their most vexing opponent, 2. PENN STATE TOP RETURNEES PASSING Sean Cli/ord 189 of 319 | 2,654 yds. | 23 TD | 7 int. RUSHING Journey Brown 129 att. | 890 yds. | 12 TD RECEIVING Pat Freiermuth 43 rec. | 507 yds. | 7 TD TACKLING Micah Parsons 52 solo | 57 asst. | 109 total SACKS Shaka Toney 6.5 sacks | 45 yds. CLIFFORD second- and fourth-leading tacklers, re- spectively, last season. The secondary is Ohio State's biggest concern on defense. O?-the->eld problems and another tal- ent raid by the NFL have depleted its numbers. SPECIAL TEAMS Specialists Blake Haubeil and Drue Chrisman both return. Haubeil hit 13 of 15 >eld goal attempts last season, while Chrisman averaged 44.3 yards per punt. OUTLOOK Remember last summer when a lot of people thought that Ohio State might be vulnerable because Urban Meyer was gone and there were concerns about how well Fields was adapting to his new o?ense? Good times. The Buckeyes turned out to be even more dominant than ever, at least until they ran into Clemson in the Col- lege Football Playo?. With Fields lead- ing the way, they've seemingly got an excellent chance of returning to the CFP this season, if there is one. Yes, they've lost some great players, but four of their past >ve recruiting classes have ranked in the Rivals.com top >ve, so they've got the talent. It's just a question of how quickly the new starters in the back- >eld, the defensive line and the second- ary mature. Based on past experience, we're going to guess that they'll mature pretty quickly. ■