Blue White Illustrated

"Everybody in the country is working hard," he said. "What are we doing to di@erentiate ourselves? Are we working smarter? Are we working better? Are we working with a purpose? Are we coming out there every single day to work with a purpose to get better individually and collectively as a program? Everyone is working hard. Working hard is not enough. That's the minimum of what we're supposed to do. What are you go- ing to do more than the programs that we're trying to compete with?" These are all good questions as the Nittany Lions prepare for their >rst sea- son under Franklin – a season that >g- ures to be even more challenging than the past two. Bill O'Brien may have guided Penn State to 15 victories during a period of unprecedented upheaval. But the veteran players who spearheaded those back-to-back winning seasons – Matt McGloin, Michael Mauti, Allen Robinson, John Urschel, DaQuan Jones – are now gone. In some cases, they've been replaced by players with stratos- pherically high ceilings, Christian Hack- enberg being only the most obvious ex- ample. But in other cases, the transition is going to be a bit bumpier. S T A F F P R E D I C T I O N S NATE BAUER WEBSITE EDITOR Call me a broken record. Penn State's success this season – like the two sea- sons immediately before it – depends on overall team health. Maybe more than any other team in the country, the Nit- tany Lions need to stay injury-free. Although an in?ux of 25 new scholar- ship players this spring and summer provides a desperately needed tourni- quet, a scary picture remains. Penn State returns only 23 combined scholarship juniors and seniors, many of whom proj- ect as starters this year, meaning that one or two injuries could make the dif- ference between a competitive year and a struggle to survive. It is diAcult to en- vision this team overcoming any key in- jury, let alone several. On a squad that will undoubtedly need to rely on some of its talented newcom- ers, an early-season schedule featuring the likes of bottom-feeders Akron and Massachusetts helps. Still, even if games at Michigan and against Ohio State and Michigan State at home are the most likely sure->re losses on the schedule, there are at least seven toss-up games leB by my count. I'm giving the Nittany Lions' frontline talent the edge in many of those games, but the realities of Penn State's roster disadvantages (with or without injuries) will lead to an unex- pected loss or two. PREDICTION 7-5 PHIL GROSZ BWI PUBLISHER If Penn State can stay healthy along the offensive line and at linebacker, I believe there is an excellent chance it will head into October with a 5-0 record. For that to happen, the Nittany Lions will have to win a toss-up game against UCF to kick off the season and defeat Akron, Rutgers, Massachusetts and Northwestern on successive week- ends. That's an attainable goal, as Penn State is likely to be favored over the Zips, Scarlet Knights, Minutemen and Wildcats. Then, when you consider the fact that Temple is the Lions' only remaining nonconference opponent, it should be a disappointment to James Franklin and his staff if this team doesn't go 4-0 against their nonconference rivals this fall. If Penn State does indeed go unde- feated in nonconference play, all it would have to do is post a 4-4 confer- ence record to finish the season at 8-4. I definitely believe that's doable, with projected conference victories over Rutgers, Northwestern, Maryland and Illinois. So, I think eight wins are likely, and nine are possible if Franklin and his staff can find a way to keep Indiana from scoring 30-plus points on Penn State's defense. PREDICTION 8-4 MATT HERB MAGAZINE EDITOR If everything goes right – if the guys who are expected to excel this season do in fact excel, if the freshmen make the kind of impact that James Franklin has envisioned, if all the key players stay healthy – I could see Penn State winning eight, maybe even nine games. But how often does everything go right? Somebody's probably going to get hurt. Somebody's not going to come along as quickly as the coaches had hoped. Then what? Does this team have enough depth to withstand the sort of personnel problems that, if his- tory is any guide, it is all but certain to encounter? Maybe at some positions it does (running back, tight end, defen- sive end), but not at many others. A se- rious injury on the offensive line or at quarterback would be devastating. Skimming the Lions' schedule, I see only >ve games in which they look to be prohibitive favorites: Akron, Rutgers, Massachusetts, Temple and Illinois. I see three in which they look to be prohibitive underdogs: Michigan, Ohio State and Michigan State. That leaves four toss- ups: UCF, Northwestern, Maryland and Indiana. A split in those games gets them to 7-5, which seems like a reasonable ex- pectation for a program that may be on the way back up but has certainly not yet arrived. PREDICTION 7-5

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