Blue White Illustrated

T H E 2 0 1 5 S E A S O N – that's what is damaging to the defenses. "Very rarely in college football will you see a guy necessarily be wide open. To be able to make the catch, regardless of whether it's a slant, a hitch or a go route, and come down with those plays – I think Chris has shown that [ability] throughout the year. … He has great ball skills. He understands how to track a football and he really has got a go-for-it-all mentality. When that ball is in the air, there's nobody on this field who believes they're going to make it more than Chris Godwin. That's hard to go against when you're a defender. You think you might have a chance to make a play on the ball, but a guy just wills himself to make it." Despite Godwin's success individually, the Nittany Lions' passing game has post- ed modest numbers this season. They may have lit up a Maryland defense that Y ou never know when your moment is going to arrive, so you'd better be ready when it does. That's the attitude redshirt sophomore DaeSean Hamilton is taking, as are his fellow receivers, some of whom have seen their numbers decline from a year ago. "Every week you just try and do the things you always do," Hamilton said. "You try to make sure the guys aren't getting too down on themselves or are thinking, 'Since I didn't get that many opportunities this week, it's going to be like that all season.' It could be any of us having a great game. As long as we have that mindset every Saturday, we can ap- proach it as an opportunity to have one of our better games." With 31 catches for 426 yards and five touchdowns through 10 games, Hamil- ton is well off of the blistering pace he set during his redshirt freshman season when he led the Big Ten with 82 recep- tions. In addition, last season's second- leading pass-catcher, Geno Lewis, has also seen his numbers fall substantially. Lewis caught 55 passes as a redshirt sophomore, but through the first 10 games of his junior season, he had 11 catches for 122 yards and two TDs. There are a number of factors that help explain those disparities. Sophomore Chris Godwin has developed into the team's main deep threat after playing only a supporting role last year. Saquon Barkley has made a sensational debut in the backfield, making the handoff a more tempting play call than it was a year ago. And the team's pass-protection issues, a problem throughout the 2014 season, have resurfaced at times. But even with all the inconsistency, the pass-catchers have had their moments. They were especially effective in Penn State's 31-30 victory over Maryland on Oct. 24, capitalizing on the Terrapins' high-pressure defensive scheme by to- taling 315 receiving yards. Godwin, Hamilton and Lewis all had touchdown catches, and Lewis's grab was particu- larly impressive, as he out-jumped Maryland defensive back Sean Davis in the end zone and came away with the ball. James Franklin said Lewis's catch was indicative of his potential, but the Nit- tany Lions' head coach wants to see more consistency. "He does some things that are really, really special," Franklin said. "We can all think back to a couple of catches he had against Central Florida [last season]. You think about some of the plays he had at the bowl game [against Boston College]. You think about obviously the [Maryland] game. But it's all about con- sistency in practice and it's consistency in games. He's got a lot of ability, he re- ally does. He's a big, strong guy with a great catch radius, tremendous leaping ability, but it's consistency. We love Geno, we're excited about him, but there are some areas that he needs to continue to work on, just like a lot of our guys." With the regular season nearly com- plete, the Nittany Lions have only a few more chances to continue their devel- opment. They know they'll be wrapping up the Big Ten campaign against Michi- gan State, but they won't know their postseason destination until December. Of course, in some respects, the desti- nation and matchup don't matter. "It's not always about [the opponent], it's more about us," Hamilton said. "We just need to execute the game plan and put an emphasis on getting separation. That's our mindset week in and week out." – M.H. Receiver corps maintains confidence YARDS AFTER CATCH Hamil- ton pulls in a pass against In- diana. The red- shirt sophomore has not caught as many passes as he did during a breakout de- but season, but he likes the of- fense's poten- tial. "We just need to execute the game plan," he said. Photo by Steve Manuel

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