Blue White Illustrated

LAST WORD D A V I D E C K E R T | D A V I D E C K E R T 9 8 @ G M A I L . C O M t seemed like Parker Washington had made the kind of mistake that has been Penn State's undoing so often this season. With the Nittany Lions up 7-0 on Michigan in the first quarter, playing well on both sides of the ball, the true freshman wide receiver put the ball on the ground after making a catch for a short gain. The Wolverines pounced on it, and brought it back to the end zone. Replay ruled that Washington was down before the Wolverines jarred the ball loose. James Franklin and just about everyone else of a blue-and-white per- suasion was spared from a definitive "Here we go again" moment. Still, it was the kind of close call that might have glued Washington's back- side to the bench for the foreseeable fu- ture. But Franklin and the rest of the Penn State coaching staff chose a dif- ferent path. Three plays later, there was Washing- ton again, hauling in a pass from Sean Clifford and scampering for an 8-yard gain. A game changing play? Hardly. Part of a sequence that should define the rest of Penn State's season? Absolutely. With a losing record and almost every goal set before the season already well out of reach, the mission statement for the season's stretch run should be as follows: Play the kids. What is there to lose that hasn't al- ready been lost? To be clear, this is not a column argu- ing in favor of trotting out young play- ers who aren't physically ready for Big Ten football, nor is it making the case for supplanting veterans who have given much to the program with inexperience as their careers wind down. Simply put, what the Nittany Lions did with Washington after his mistake against the Wolverines was outstand- ing. They should do it some more. "One of the things that I've been proud of over six years is that we've won all different ways," Franklin said follow- ing the Nittany Lions' 27-17 victory. "We've won pretty. We've won ugly. We've made comebacks. We've won by a bunch of points. And we haven't done that this year. To see some young guys who were forced into significant roles figure it out today and make plays and do some of the dirty work and play win- ning football, it was great to see." Washington, who carried on after that play, which might have ended his game under a different coaching staff in dif- ferent circumstances, finished the game with nine catches for 93 yards, helping offset an unusually quiet game by lead- ing receiver Jahan Dotson. True freshman running back Keyvone Lee carried the ball 22 times for 134 yards and a touchdown, injecting life into a Penn State backfield that has lacked electricity over the course of the season. Elsewhere, true freshman tight end Theo Johnson played 31 snaps. Redshirt freshman offensive lineman Caedan Wallace played 59 snaps. Redshirt freshman cornerback Joey Porter Jr. played more snaps than any other de- fensive player. The list continues on, but Franklin's point remains: Penn State leaned heav- ily on inexperienced players against Michigan, and came away with its first win of the season as a reward. "I think it just kind of goes to show the quality of guys that we have com- ing into the program at this point," senior offensive lineman Michal Menet said. "They've all stepped up since they got here, and since they stepped on campus they've been preparing like starters. They've been doing every- thing they can to put themselves in the best position. So for all those guys, it doesn't surprise me. I think it just speaks to the quality of talent we have on this team." Those players will make mistakes. There will be bumps in the road. Not everything will be rosy all across the field as it seemed in Ann Arbor. The errors might not be as costly as the one that Washington so nearly made against the Wolverines. It's pretty hard to make a costlier mistake than one that denies your team a chance to score and awards six points to your op- ponent at the same time. An eye un- trained in the details and specifics of football and the way Penn State plays it might not even pick out the mistakes when they come. But when they do, the response should be the same: Mess up? Get back out there and do your best to fix it. Because while players like Lee and Johnson can win games for the Nittany Lions now, giving them the chance to learn and grow from the field – not the bench – will win games for Penn State in the future. The final games of Penn State's season will be an important exercise in saving face, for the sake of recruiting, for the sake of fan investment, and for the sake of the team's confidence moving into 2021, when college football will hope- fully look a little bit more normal. But there is more to be gained – more to be learned – by the players who will carry Penn State's program forward and try to ensure that a season like this one never happens again. They just need a little leeway. ■ Youth movement I

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