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a State College townie who abandoned a full-ride scholarship at a smaller Divi- sion I university in favor of paying his own way at Penn State. He's like the other former walk-ons who will be honored before the game: Jordan Dudas, Jack Haffner, Albert Hall, Colin Harrop, Charles Idemudia, Brandon Johnson, Dominic Salomone and, of course, Carl Nassib, players who passed up other opportunities to walk – or run – on with the Nittany Lions when there was a premium put on non- scholarship players. While most have never started a game, their presence on the team has helped maintain a baseline competitiveness on the practice field and in the weight room to help keep driving the bottom line. "That's all I cared about," Baney said. "I'm a team- first guy. Whatever I can do to help the team – whether it's scout team, run- ning second string [or] watching the linebacker play during the game," he'll do it. Then there's Zettel, who spurned o3ers from home-state Michigan and Michi- gan State to become an All-Big Ten line- man for the Nittany Lions. He'll also be honored Saturday, along with Kyle Carter, Ben Kline, Angelo Mangiro and Matt Zanellato, as the 1nal recruits to commit and then play (as redshirting freshmen) for Joe Paterno. They have played for three head coaches since then and seen 1rsthand, from start to near- 1nish, the full e3ects of the NCAA penalties. But, Zettel said, "I wouldn't change a thing." Thirdly, there was Hackenberg, a symbol of all those highly rated recruits who made a commitment to Penn State amid and after the university's darkest hour and signed on to endure some of the worst punishments a college sports team had ever received. Even if Hack- enberg does return next season – "I'm just focusing on one week at a time," he said – that's something to celebrate twice. Di3erent ages, di3erent circumstances, all leaving di3erent legacies. "This senior day is probably more im- portant than any that I've been around because of what these seniors have done for this program," Franklin said. "I think it is so dramatic. These seniors in four to 1ve years have been through what most programs probably go through in 20. You can list it out: Five di3erent head coaches [including interims] in 27 months. You think about the sanctions. You think about the bowl [ban]. You think about the loss of coaches. You think about the loss of personnel and teammates. You just think about everything that these guys have been through, and they're kind of the glue. They're the glue that kept this program together." And even a4er the graduation of those battle-tested upperclassmen, whether it was last year, this year or next, their im- pact will continue to live on through the underclassmen. Every Friday night in the fall before a game, the players take part in a team- building exercise called "Shares." A cou- ple of the older players go to the front of the room and discuss a personal story from the past, and o4entimes the narra- tives are centered upon the turmoil at Penn State, speci1cally, during the 2011 and '12 seasons. "It's de1nitely something that a lot of the guys re2ect on," sophomore Jason Cabinda said. "You kind of look back and see what some of these guys have gone through between the Paterno stu3 and coaching changes, sanctions and all that kind of stu3. Guys have really seen the program go on this roller coaster. Now we've seen that we're coming up on the rebirth." As an ode of thanks, Cabinda is taking leadership of his fellow underclassmen, encouraging them to o3er everything they have this weekend against the Wolverines. It is, a4er all, the send-o3 for someone like Baney, who has toiled on the scout team throughout his career to ful1ll a childhood dream, for someone like Zettel, who has stuck through it for the entirety, and for someone like Hacken- berg, who showed enough faith to choose Penn State over every other college in the country, paving a road for other blue- chip recruits to follow. Said Cabinda, "I think it would be huge to send them out with a win, the way they deserve to go out. It's de1nitely a special day, considering how much those seniors have done for our pro- gram." NATE BAUER RECORD 9-1 Penn State's offensive line isn't equipped to deal with Michigan's front seven consistently, and Saquon Barkley and Christian Hackenberg are likely to pay the price for those deficiencies. Meanwhile, Jake Rudock is mature and the Wolverines are finally clicking on offense, which might be an even bigger problem for the Lions' D. MICHIGAN 33, PENN STATE 20 PHIL GROSZ RECORD 7-3 Penn State had one of its worst per- formances of the season against Northwestern and now must face the best defense in the Big Ten. Even with an off week, Penn State's offense will be stretched to the limit to put more than 17 points on the scoreboard against the Wolverines. This could very well be another disappointing loss. MICHIGAN 20, PENN STATE 17 MATT HERB RECORD 7-3 The Nittany Lions will probably have to hit a few big pass plays to hang in there with Michigan. They did that against Maryland. I'm not so sure they'll be able to do it against the Wolverines. MICHIGAN 24, PENN STATE 13 TIM OWEN RECORD 8-2 Before the season started I picked PSU to finish with an 8-4 record and I'm sticking to it. At home after a bye week, this is the more winnable of the Lions' remaining two games. PENN STATE 24, MICHIGAN 23 RYAN SNYDER RECORD 8-2 The Nittany Lions have been at their best at home during Big Ten play, and I expect that to continue Saturday. Penn State will get its signature win before the season ends. PENN STATE 21, MICHIGAN 17 BWI'S FORECAST

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