Blue White Illustrated

several highly effective vaccines, life has been returning to normal across the na- tion during the past few months. While the proliferation of COVID's more- transmissible Delta variant has given rise to new concerns, particularly in areas with low vaccination rates, the country is opening back up. On June 1, Penn State announced that Beaver Stadium and all the rest of its sports venues would return to full ca- pacity this fall. "Our fans are a true home-field advantage for all our teams," athletic director Sandy Barbour said, "and the 2020-21 season was not the same without them in our venues." The decision means this year's games won't have the ghost town vibe that last year's games did. With any luck, Penn State's seven home dates will go back to being the celebratory occasions they were meant to be. Even before the announcement that the stadium will be at full capacity this fall, players were enjoying the pro- gram's return to a more familiar way of doing business. Stout said during spring practice that players were redis- covering the camaraderie that was ab- sent last year. "Everybody is getting along, everybody is meeting everyone," he said. "It's not like certain groups have to be by themselves. We've been here [on campus], we haven't been home, which is big." The ability to work more closely with each other throughout the off-season should have an impact on every area of the team, both in tangible and intangible ways. It should, for example, help Penn State fix one of its biggest problems on defense last year – a series of break- downs in which players took matters into their own hands rather than focus- ing on their assignments and trusting that the other 10 players on the field would perform their own. "We weren't very accountable last fall," defensive coordinator Brent Pry said. "Guys, too often, were not playing within the framework of the defense. That's on me, that's on the guys, and we're all taking ownership. We're com- mitted to being more accountable with everything right now, not just on that field but with the details off the field and in the classroom, doing the things that are asked of us. I think we're mak- ing big strides there, but all summer long that's going to be a point of em- phasis." One of the intangible improvements that Penn State must make this year will be to show more resilience. In all five of the games that it lost last season, PSU fell behind by double digits in the first half. The Nittany Lions trailed In- diana by 10, Ohio State by 18, Maryland and Nebraska by 21 apiece and Iowa by 17. While they showed some second- half fight in all of those games, the only one in which they came back to take a lead was the one in Bloomington. The Lions had that game all but won, but a mental mistake gave the Hoosiers one last shot, and they won it on a disputed two-point conversion by quarterback Michael Penix Jr. in overtime. The other games slipped out of reach amid a flurry of turnovers and red zone mishaps. Penn State will have to be more re- silient and resourceful this fall. It will have to be better at taking a punch, es- pecially with the schedule set to begin with games against Wisconsin, Mid- American Conference champion Ball State and Auburn. The good news for PSU is that it did show that ability late last season against Michigan State. That game looked like it was following a familiar template, but Penn State outscored the Spartans by 26 points in the second half for a 39-24 victory. As for tangible improvements, cutting down on those turnovers and red zone mishaps would be a good place to start. The Nittany Lions finished 112th in the Football Bowl Subdivision in turnover margin last season and were 107th in red zone success rate. Of the Lions' 17 give- aways, Sean Clifford was responsible for 12 – nine interceptions and three fum- bles. Some of those turnovers weren't Clifford's fault, and the starting quar- terback is always going to lead the team in giveaways simply because he handles the football on nearly every offensive play. But even with those caveats thrown in, that's too many turnovers. If the problem recurs, the Lions may actually be less able to withstand it than they were last year, because neither of their returning backup quarterbacks have the kind of experience that would lead you to believe they are prepared to take over for long stretches the way Will Levis did last season. The red zone shortcomings will need to be addressed, too. Penn State could have left Nebraska with a victory last year, but it ran 11 plays from inside the Cornhuskers' 20-yard line in the final seven minutes and didn't come away with any points in what ended up being a 30-23 loss. For all of their recruiting successes over the past five years – they've finished in the Big Ten's top three in four of those years according to Rivals.com – they're not so far ahead of most teams in the conference that they can afford to leave as many points on the field as they did in 2020. Their new, Mike Yurcich-designed offense will need to find a way to get those tough yards. A solid offensive line and a pair of bruising between-the-tackles runners – 228-pound Keyvone Lee and 237-pound Noah Cain – should help in that regard, assuming Cain has made a full recovery from the injury that knocked him out of action last year. If the Nittany Lions can address those specific problems, they'll have gone a long way toward making the 2021 sea- son a more enjoyable experience for all concerned. But after last year's grim trudge through vacant parking lots and vast expanses of empty bleachers, just seeing the Big Ten's massive stadiums mostly or entirely full will feel like a win in itself. This fall, the Nittany Lions will be headed to Camp Randall, Kinnick Stadium and the Horseshoe, among other destinations. If James Franklin wants to see some hostile welcoming parties as a reminder that college foot- ball has truly returned, that can proba- bly be arranged. ■

• Cover