Blue White Illustrated

O ne of the longest, strangest and most tumultuous off-seasons in Big Ten history appears set to end later this month, with the conference aim- ing to begin an abbreviated nine-game football season on the weekend of Oct. 23-24. Nothing is certain, of course, even with the targeted start date only weeks away. Given how quickly the front lines have been shifting in the battle to contain the novel coron- avirus, it's possible that games will have to be can- celed. It's also possible, though increasingly un- likely, that the league will have to retreat to its fall- back position of playing over the winter or sometime next spring or not at all. But as of this writ- ing, Penn State and its Big Ten brethren were set to enter the chase for the Col- lege Football Playoff, joining the South- eastern Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference and Big 12, all of which opened their seasons in September. It's been a couple of months since BWI last previewed the 2020 season, and the schedule isn't the only thing that's changed in significant ways. So, too, has the Nittany Lions' outlook at certain positions. One of their best players has an- nounced that he'll forgo his final season to prepare for the NFL Draft, and there have been some other happenings CATCHING UP PSU had some ups and downs during the weeks in which Big Ten football was on hold. Here's a recap | team and in the overall population. If a team's positive rate is over 5 percent and the population rate is over 7.5 percent, that team must halt practice and won't be allowed to play for at least a week. In addition, the Big Ten announced that it is establishing a cardiac registry in an effort to learn more about the ef- fects of COVID-19 on athletes. It's a tacit acknowledgement that we don't know a lot about the lingering problems that the virus can cause, even in some of the healthiest people in the world. Despite all those concerns and un- knowns, the conference is pressing on. There had been talk of opening the sea- son in early January, then late Novem- ber. But when testing improvements began to make a fall season seem realis- tic, the Big Ten opted to join the South- eastern and Atlantic Coast conferences, as well as the Big 12, in the chase for the College Football Playoff. League officials sound confident that the benefits of playing this fall will outweigh the risks. "It's an opportunity for our guys to play for a Big Ten championship, and it's an opportunity to play… for a national championship, to interface with CFP," Barbour said. "Those things have been front and center. Is it going to be more lucrative from a financial standpoint than a spring season? We don't know that. We've declared as a conference that there will be no fans, other than trying to [admit] families of student- athletes and staff members. All of us are going to have to work with our local health department authorities in order to do that. So I think it goes back to the opportunity to play for championships, and for our student-athletes to play the game they love, and frankly, to give our community something to rally around, even if it's only on TV." It won't be a normal season – not for Franklin or his players or for any of those fans who will be tailgating on their pa- tios and watching the Nittany Lions from their living rooms. But it will be a season. Given everything that's hap- pened over the past eight months, that ought to be enough. ■ IT'S PAT Freiermuth gave the Nit- tany Lions a lift when he confirmed in September that he plans on playing this fall. Photo by Steve Manuel

• Cover