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Asked where Penn State's offense needs to improve most, tight end Jesse James began with a simple explanation. "We just need to execute better," he said. He went on to vouch for the coaches' preparation, before next identifying what perhaps has been Penn State's biggest, most glaring concern through- out the first three games of the season. "You know, running the ball and every- thing," James continued in his response. "We just need to execute the game plan a little bit better. I think if we do that in the run game, and some in the pass game, we'll improve." Through three games, Penn State has totaled just 227 rushing yards for an av- erage of 75.7 per game. That ranks as the second-lowest in the Big Ten. Much of Penn State's struggles begin when the game does. In the first half alone, senior running backs Bill Belton and Zach Zwinak have combined for a grand total of only 20 yards. As a whole, the pair has 157 combined yards this season. Not their typical num- bers, either, but the first two quarters have definitely skewed their stat line. Both have seen their yards-per-carry av- erage drop by about 2 yards from last sea- son, too. With four new starters along the offen- sive line, including two freshmen, it's not as though the early results, or lack thereof, should come as a surprise. "We have one [starter] with game expe- rience from last year and we have some guys making the switch to come over to offense," Belton said. "Whenever you have guys like that, it's going to take time to build chemistry and stuff like that. We're just continuing to work out the kinks. It's going to take a little bit to get that chemistry down and for everyone to get comfortable with playing with each other. I think we're very, very close to getting that running game going." Coaches, too, expect the wrinkles to be ironed out as the season progresses. Sim- ilar to how rushing totals have grown in the third and fourth quarters, James Franklin believes the offensive line will continue to develop as the season goes along. "It's going to take some time," he said. "We've got to do it in practice over and over and over and over again. They have to trust one another and they have got to be willing to communicate and work to- gether and make sure that that informa- tion gets communicated from the frontside tight end all the way to the backside tight end or tackle, de- pending on the formation." Relaying a message across the offensive line proved especially difficult at Rutgers Saturday. But it wasn't only because of the crowd noise. There was a void in command, Franklin said. He saw reservation from the starters, a hesitation that stemmed from a fear of making the wrong call or read. He was looking for one or some of his offensive linemen to step up and di- rect everybody to be on the same wave- length. "I want them to make a decision," Franklin urged. "If we make a mistake, we learn from it. No different than the head coach calling a quick kick that probably wasn't a right decision. You learn from it, you man up to it, you own it, and move forward and you learn from the situation. I want our guys to take the same ap- proach. And I think they understand that." Also, there has been added emphasis on finishing blocks and sticking to their de- fender until the whistle blows. Franklin made sure to point out how the the run- blocking deficiencies and communica- tion issues, however, aren't attributed strictly to the offensive linemen. The coaching staff is looking for a stronger performance from the tight ends as well. "Everybody gets so caught up in catches and yards, but that really hasn't been our focus," Franklin said. "Our focus with them since the day we arrived on campus was their impact in the run- ning game and that area still needs to im- prove." Part of which, Franklin added, is the need for the tight end unit to build a stronger rapport with the offensive line. Cohesion and chemistry are key. James, the leader of the tight end group, agreed. "We need to work with each other as much as possible [in order] to get the run game going," he said. S E P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 4 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 11 CARRYING ON Belton is con- fident that the ground game will improve as the season progresses. Communication is key to improving PSU's rushing attack T I M   O W E N | O W E N . T I M . B W I @ G M A I L . C O M Steve Manuel

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