Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1378330
P enn State's recently concluded spring practice sessions were the team's most important since James Franklin became head football coach in January 2014. Not only are the Nittany Lions coming o: their 9rst losing season since 2004, they are also set to face what some national analysts have described as one of the three toughest schedules in the Big Ten this fall. It might turn out to be the toughest schedule Penn State has played during Franklin's tenure. The Lions will play three preseason top-20 teams on the road this fall. They'll open at Wisconsin on Sept. 4, then will face Iowa on Oct. 9 and Ohio State on Oct. 30. At home, Penn State will play Mid-American Conference champion Ball State on Sept. 11, while Auburn arrives at Beaver Stadium on Sept. 18 for a prime time game. In Big Ten play, the Lions will welcome Indi- ana on Oct. 2 and Michigan on Nov. 13. One analyst ranked Penn State's sched- ule as the sixth-most-di;cult slate in all of college football for the 2021 sea- son. With such a challenging schedule ahead, PSU is fortunate to return nine players on o:ense who started last year's season 9nale against Illinois: tackles Rasheed Walker and Caedan Wallace, center Mike Miranda (who played guard last year), tight end Brenton Strange, re- ceivers Jahan Dotson, KeAndre Lam- bert-Smith and Parker Washington, quarterback Sean Cli:ord and running back Keyvone Lee. Also returning are running backs Devyn Ford and Noah Cain. Ford started 9ve games last sea- son, while Cain was the team's opening- day starter but was sidelined almost im- mediately by a season-ending injury. He had been Penn State's second-leading rusher in 2019, gaining 448 yards on 84 carries and scoring eight touchdowns, the most in school history by a freshman running back. The situation on defense looks much di:erent. The Nittany Lions return only six starters on this side of the ball: de- fensive tackle P.J. Mustipher, inside linebacker Ellis Brooks, outside line- backer Brandon Smith, cornerbacks Tariq Castro-Fields and Joey Porter Jr. and boundary safety Jaquan Brisker. Replacing graduated players is an in- evitable part of every team's o:-season routine, but the Nittany Lions were fac- ing unique circumstances during the past few months in that six members of Franklin's coaching sta: – Mike Yur- cich, Ty Howle, Anthony Poindexter, Taylor Stubble9eld, Phil Trautwein and John Scott Jr. – were taking part in their 9rst spring practice as assistant coaches at the school. That shows you just how critical these sessions were for the fu- ture of the program. If Penn State hopes to have a realistic chance of challenging Ohio State for the Big Ten East Division title, Cli:ord must perform like he did in the 9rst eight games of the 2019 season, in which he completed 64.5 percent of his passes for 1,931 yards, with 19 touchdowns and only three interceptions. Just as important, Penn State also needs seven or eight players to have breakout seasons. Fortunately for the Lions, a number of promising players appear to have put themselves in posi- tion to do just that. On defense, I believe there are four players who could see their productiv- ity skyrocket this fall: Sam outside linebacker Curtis Jacobs, three-tech- nique defensive tackle/defensive end Hakeem Beamon, strongside defensive end Adisa Isaac and cornerback Joey Porter Jr. With Brandon Smith moving to the Will OLB spot, it was essential for Ja- cobs to show signs this spring that he's ready to become a high-value Sam OLB. It's a crucial position, and as former Penn State and NFL great Jack Ham re- cently explained, the 6-foot-1, 227- pound Jacobs is built for the way the game is played today. "The outside linebacker has to be a lightning [fast] strong safety as well," said Ham, the longtime color analyst on Penn State Sports Network broadcasts. "That's why colleges try to recruit play- ers like Curtis Jacobs, who should have a big year. You have to be like a half-line- PHIL'S CORNER Breakout players must emerge for PSU to reach its potential in 2021 CURTIS JACOBS