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to the Lions' depth issues, which afforded him an opportunity that a lot of true freshmen don't get. It was also due to his physical abilities. Said Franklin, "He's a 230-pound guy with good feet." And there's another aspect of his skill set that has gotten less attention but has made a difference for a Penn State team that has tended to find itself in the kind of games in which every yard matters: When he's tackled, Lee always falls forward. "That's something that a lot of times goes unnoticed," Franklin said, "but when you can always fall forward, you're talking about another yard-and-a-half or two yards on every run. "We've needed the ability to be able to grind things out. We haven't, at this point, had the ability to make the free guy miss and go 80. We need to do that more. But we at least need to be able to break tackles and fall forward and stay on schedule as much as we possibly can. He's been able to do that. I think for a guy who's 230 pounds, he's got really good feet. He's got really good vision. To be honest with you, he's handled the mo- ments pretty well for a true freshman. It hasn't been too big for him." The coaches are hopeful that some of their other young players are going to be ready when their moments arrive. Penn State hasn't gotten Meiga on the field yet, but Stubblefield has touted the physical ability of the 6-4, 198-pound Quebec resident. "You just look at Malick's size: big shoulders, long arms, he can run, is fairly quick. Obviously, there's an adjust- ment from Canadian ball to American ball," Stubblefield said. "But the ingredi- ents are there. He's just young, so it's about developing, trying to make sure that we can get him better." Likewise, Penn State is eager to see more of its young tight ends. Johnson, a four-star prospect from Windsor, On- tario, had been considered a possible freshman contributor, but like Meiga, he was transitioning from Canadian foot- ball with its bigger field and more pass- oriented offensive concepts. It was thought that his blocking would need some refinement, but that didn't turn out to be the case after he was called on to play a much bigger role following Freiermuth's injury. Johnson and red- shirt freshman Brenton Strange "have done a really good job of being physical with defensive ends and linebackers, doing it in situations where everybody in the stadium, on a bad weather day or in a four-minute offense, knows we're going to run the ball," Franklin said. "They're sticking their nose in there and running their feet, and they're really two fairly young players. That's been really important to us." Back in December 2019, at his news conference on the first day of the early signing period, Franklin called attention to how little drama there had been as the letters of intent had arrived at the Lasch Building that morning. All of the 27 ver- bally committed players in Penn State's class had signed as expected, and that was very much appreciated. "The older I get," Franklin said, "the more I want to avoid drama at all costs." As it turned out, Franklin spoke too soon. The months that followed were filled with nothing but drama. Most of it was unrelated to football and was spec- tacularly bad. But some of it was good, and Penn State's 2020 recruiting class was responsible for more than its share. It will most likely be responsible for a lot more in the years to come. ■ Seniors bid Penn State an ambiguous farewell J ust as a contingent of promising fresh- men were arriving at Penn State in 2020, another group of impact players were getting set to play their final sea- son. Or were they? Because of the unique circumstances under which the season has been con- tested, the NCAA has frozen all players' eligibility clocks and will allow those who were slated to graduate after the 2020 season to return in 2021 if they want. Penn State saluted 12 seniors prior to its regular-season finale Dec. 12 against visiting Michigan State: defensive line- men Antonio Shelton, Shane Simmons and Shaka Toney; offensive linemen Will Fries and Michal Menet; safeties Jaquan Brisker and Lamont Wade; wide re- ceivers Isaac Lutz and Benjamin Wilson; cornerback Tariq Castro-Fields; kicker/punter Carson Landis; and tight end Trevor Baker. The participation of those players in Senior Day would seemingly indicate that they don't plan to return. But they do have the option of coming back for what would amount to a second senior season, one that would likely be more like a normal season than the abbrevi- ated, virtually spectator-free campaign that is now concluding. James Franklin said prior to the Michigan State game that the coaching staff would be dis- cussing players' options in the days and weeks ahead. "There are a lot of conversations that we always have at the end of seasons with the young men and their families about their futures," Franklin said. "This year, a lot of the things that are going on and some of the decisions that the NCAA made and the Big Ten made are making those conversations a little bit different. This season has had an impact on that, as well. "So there are some conversations that we are going to need to have. I've also encouraged our assistants to start hav- ing these conversations – not just about their futures, but just in general, making sure that we're talking to our guys enough, during a time where these con- versations are probably more valuable than ever. They're always important, but right now more than ever." –M.H.

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