Blue White Illustrated

In the pages that follow, Blue White Il- lustrated will size up each position unit and preview the storylines that will play out over the 15 practice sessions that lead up to the Blue-White Game on April 12. Even aAer spring practice ends, the depth chart won't be carved in stone. Franklin said the o@cial depth chart that is released to the public will be based on seniority and will not necessarily re>ect the true lineup progression. "I want to make sure we create an envi- ronment where everybody knows you're going to have to wake up every morning and compete like crazy for your job," he said. Here's a closer look at how that com- petition is shaping up with spring practice under way. QUARTERBACK KEY PERSONNEL Christian Hackenberg (So.), Michael O'Connor (Fr.) LOSSES Tyler Ferguson THE GOOD With a redshirt year available to him, Hackenberg could have transferred without losing a season of eligibility had he disapproved of Penn State's moves fol- lowing Bill O'Brien's departure. That he chose to stay was one of the =rst big vic- tories of the Franklin era. As a true fresh- man, Hackenberg broke 11 school records and =nished third in the Big Ten in passing yards per game (246.2). Elevating the Lions' quarterback situation even further is the January arrival of Michael O'Connor. A four-star prospect from Canada (by way of IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.), O'Connor will have eight months to get acclimated to Penn State – a luxury that Hackenberg didn't have during his true freshman season. THE BAD Even with O'Connor in the mix, the Lions are thin at quarterback this spring. Freshman Trace McSorley won't arrive until the summer, meaning that Hackenberg and O'Connor are the only scholarship quarterbacks on the current roster. Penn State does, however, have three nonscholarship quarterbacks coming back in D.J. Crook, Jack Seymour and Austin Whipple. All three are redshirt freshmen. SPRING STORYLINE Hackenberg has to learn a new playbook, but he certainly proved himself last season to be a quick study. The coaches have said they're going to play to their strengths, and right now, Penn State's primary strength is that it has an All-America-caliber drop-back passer under center. You can bet that Franklin and new o?ensive coordinator John Donovan will put him in a position to succeed. In their =nal season at Van- derbilt, Franklin, Donovan and quarter- backs coach Ricky Rahne helped =rst- year starter Austyn Carta-Samuels =nish second in the Southeastern Conference with a completion rate of 68.7 percent. It was the best percentage by a Vanderbilt quarterback since the 1950s, and making it even more impressive is the fact that Carta-Samuels played the last month of the regular season with a torn ACL. So Hackenberg certainly looks to be in good hands. As for O'Connor, Penn State's plans are cloudier. Franklin said on signing day that all 25 members of the 2014 recruiting class are going to play this season, and maybe that will be the case. But he also said he plans to use the two-way standout McSorley at quarterback rather than safety. Barring an injury to Hackenberg, it seems likely that Penn State would prefer to red- shirt one of those backup QBs rather than spending a year of eligibility for a handful of snaps. RUNNING BACK KEY PERSONNEL Bill Belton (Sr.), Akeel Lynch (R-So.), Zach Zwinak (R-Sr.) LOSSES Pat Zerbe THE GOOD This is one area in which the Nittany Lions will survive graduation day virtually unscathed. Belton, Zwinak and Lynch are all back aAer combining for 2,150 yards and 18 touchdowns on 427 carries last season, and all were looking healthy heading into spring practice. Zerbe was the only true fullback on the roster last year, but he was used sparingly and didn't have any carries. THE BAD Nothing much to report here. The Lions certainly have some questions to address regarding the state of their running game, but most of them involve the o?ensive line. SPRING STORYLINE Who's the starter? It would be premature to hazard a guess, and it may not even matter all that much. Penn State has two guys with starting experience who have proven they can keep the o?ense moving, and both will almost certainly play a lot next fall. The Lions used a rotation last year, in part because both Zwinak and Belton su?ered from ball-security issues but also because O'Brien didn't feel any need to establish a clear-cut No. 1 tailback. He just gave the ball to whichever guy was moving the sticks. His approach seems to align with the one that Vanderbilt used last season. Jerron Seymour was the Com- modores' leading rusher with 716 yards on 164 carries, but two other backs – Wesley Tate and Brian Kimbrow – saw plenty of action, too, combining for 171 carries. WIDE RECEIVER KEY PERSONNEL Richy Anderson (So.), DeaSean Hamilton (R-Fr.), Eugene Lewis (R-So.), De'Andre Thompkins (Fr.), Matt Zanellato (R-Jr.) LOSSES Brandon Felder, Alex Kenney, Allen Robinson THE GOOD An old football truism – that the farther your position is from the ball, the easier it is to step in and play right away – o?ers a bit of comfort as Penn State tries to =gure out how it's going to replace Robinson. The Nittany Lions have plenty of wideouts; they've signed six in their past two recruiting classes. While four of them won't arrive till the summer and another one (Hamilton) is recovering from a wrist injury, the coaches will have S P R I N G F O O T B A L L R E P O R T EDITOR'S NOTE Lists of key personnel include only players who are on campus this spring. Incoming freshmen are not listed.

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