Blue White Illustrated

It's difficult to set a proper bar for James Franklin's Penn State football program at the moment. The Nittany Lions have been one of the most undeniably strong programs in the country in recent years, winning 11 games three times from 2016 to '19 and twice finishing sixth in SP+. Their defense has been consistently ex- cellent, and the offense bounced back last fall from a shaky 2018. They have all the pieces they need to play at a top-10 level again in 2020. The nation's top pro- grams are creating a glass ceiling of sorts, however. Clemson, Alabama and, most importantly, division rival Ohio State have all seemingly crafted fully oper- ational Death Stars, and Georgia's not that far behind. After a tight loss to Ohio State two years ago, Franklin said, "We're a great program. We lost to an elite program. And we're that close." That is true, but it's hard to immediately figure out how to get closer. BILL CONNELLY ESPN.COM [Jonathan] Sutherland is now in his second year of captainship, an honor that has not often been given in the history of the program. He is a special teams playmaker, with the ability to provide crucial depth on the backend for Brent Pry's defense at the same time. But what makes Sutherland the perfect candi- date for this new [jersey No. 0] tradition is the way he handles himself around the program and the Penn State community. The redshirt junior safety is very respected by his fellow players and coaches — and for good reason. Aside from being a hard worker and a dependable player to turn to on the field, Sutherland is a born leader who has a positive outlook on life that brings out the best of those around him. JUSTIN MORGANSTEIN THE DAILY COLLEGIAN The challenges have never been greater than they are right now across college athletics. Penn State faces the ever present threat of furloughs, the athletic department forging its way through a pandemic and the subsequent fallout of lost attendance revenues. Dreams of a new Beaver Stadium are all but impossi- ble now, and programs hoping for a bigger slice of the pie will be hard pressed to see money thrown anywhere but towards the breadwinner of the family. Football will continue to reign supreme and the disparity between the haves and have-nots in State College is unlikely to shrink. For basketball the chal- lenges are nearly endless. Penn State will have to retain a roster of talented players that had bought into Chambers' style of play and personality. If it moves past Jim Ferry in an interim role it will have to find a coach willing to do the hardest job in the Big Ten for likely the least amount of money. For what- ever Chambers' faults might have been, he was giving Penn State results at a bargain price. BEN JONES STATECOLLEGE.COM As you can imagine, that was difficult news for [players] to hear. Coach Cham- bers has many current and former players who have been glowing in their praise of him, and our current players, many of them have very good relationships with him. He's the one who gave them this opportunity, and so they are in a lit- tle bit of shock and they're very disappointed. SANDY BARBOUR T H E M O N T H I N . . . O P I N I O N S Q U O T E S in the Big Ten's 10-man Preseason Play- ers to Watch list announced Oct. 16. PATCH CELEBRATES DIVERSITY Penn State's traditional uniforms have under- gone a change this year. The Nittany Lions are wearing "Penn State United" patches and helmet stickers. The em- blems feature interlocking black and white hands superimposed over an out- line of the state of Pennsylvania. "Our goal is to construct a culture of respect, appreciation and empathy for all di2er- ences," Penn State said in a statement revealing the logo. "We are a country, state and institution rooted in diversity, shared experience and hope." James Franklin said the design arose from discussions between players and coaches throughout the o2-season. He said one of the team's priorities was to cra3 an inclusive message. "The last thing you want to do is take part in things that are divisive," he said. "So we've taken an approach that is about bringing everybody together. Bring everybody together at Penn State, bring everybody together in Centre County, bring everybody together in the state of Pennsylvania and hopefully be a leader in our country on this topic. I'm really excited about what our players and our program and sta2 came up with." SAFETY GETS NEW NUMBER Jonathan Sutherland has a new number this sea- son. A3er wearing jersey No. 26 in his 1rst three years at Penn State, the red- shirt junior safety is now donning No. 0. When the NCAA changed its rules, al- lowing players to wear No. 0 beginning this season, Penn State's coaching sta2 decided to award the number to a special teams standout. Sutherland has been excelling on punt and kicko2 coverage since 2018. Last year, he blocked two punts in the opener against Idaho. "It's an honor," Sutherland said. "There are de1nitely many guys who are quali1ed on the team for it. I just appre- ciate… my teammates ultimately choos- ing me. It's a great honor, and I'm really appreciative of it." ■

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