Blue White Illustrated

26|BILL O'BRIEN Q&A The second-year coach talks about PSU's preparations for the 2013 season. 30|CHRISTIAN HACKENBERG Preseason practice hasn't started yet, but the freshman quarterback is deep into preparations for his first season with the Nittany Lions. 30-57|TEAM BREAKDOWN Blue White Illustrated takes a position-by-position look at the Lions as they prepare for the 2013 season. 42|JOHN URSCHEL With his success both on the field and in the classroom, the senior offensive lineman has become the public face of Penn State's football program. 59|THE SCHEDULE BWI scouts Penn State's upcoming opponents game by game. 64|BIG TEN HISTORY Two decades ago, the Big Ten era began with a contentious season that planted the seeds of future greatness. tany Lions' potential kickoff returnees, Anderson could, in fact, be the first one to handle the football when Penn State opens its season Aug. 31 against Syracuse. This, needless to say, is not how things were supposed to go for the Lions following the imposition of major sanctions last summer. Hadn't the NCAA reduced Penn State to rubble, leaving behind a residue of radioactivity that would linger for years and scare off the likes Anderson and any other recruit with an opportunity to go somewhere else? Of course it had. That was the whole idea. The sanctions were "corrective and punitive," to use the NCAA's description, and punitive punishments are supposed to hurt. A lot. The or- NATE BAUER It's all about the quarterback at Penn State this season. Well, that and the linebackers, defensive line and staying completely healthy at nearly every position. Best-case scenario: The second year of Bill O'Brien's tenure at Penn State will be marked by competent quarterback play from either Christian Hackenberg or Tyler Ferguson. If either can pick up the system, all of the other necessary pieces – from offensive line to wideouts, tight ends and running backs – are there for success. Defensively, John Butler's unit simply must stay healthy, especially at linebacker. Any dent in the armor could spell doom for a unit that won't be expected to carry the burden it would have carried three or four years ago. More realistically, thanks to sanctiondiminished depth and uncertain QB play, this is a team likely to win half its Big Ten games and might trip up once in the nonconference portion of the schedule. RECORD 7-5 ganization's refusal to impose a TV ban might have given Bill O'Brien's program a small reprieve, but that was a formality meant to protect opponents who hadn't done anything wrong and didn't deserve to be swept up in the wave of collateral damage. Surely no one was actually going to watch Penn State, and that was because no one of any stature was going to play for it. So went the conventional wisdom, anyway. It seemed inconceivable that Penn State might continue to be nationally relevant in the face of the historic sanctions levied last July. For confirmation, look no further than the tweets that followed Mark Emmert's news conference, some of which were from nationally known PHIL GROSZ A lot of people will probably disagree with my projected record, but I'm convinced it's achievable if two important things take place. First, Penn State must receive credible production at quarterback. Second, the team has to stay healthy, especially at linebacker and defensive end. The offensive talent surrounding the quarterback position is the best it's been at Penn State since 2008. Penn State has depth and superior talent at the skill positions on offense, and the line has the potential to be physically dominant for the first time in five or six years, with John Urschel and Donovan Smith being legitimate All-Big Ten candidates. On defense, the secondary is the best it's been in close to a decade. However, even if the defense stays healthy, for this team to reach its full potential, the offense will have to score points. That means the quarterback must, at the very least, play credible offense. RECORD 9-3

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