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stacked the box and dared them to pass deep, but the Lions were ninth in the Big Ten as of mid-November with an average of only 207.4 passing yards per game. That's partially due to the development of the running game and the coaches' understandable desire to get the ball into Saquon Barkley's hands as frequently as possible. But other factors have come into play as well: the team's ongoing pass-protection issues, dropped passes and Hackenberg's occasional bouts of inaccuracy on short passes. For all the problems, though, Godwin said players aren't frustrated, just eager to fulfill their potential. "We understand the type of offense that we can be," he said. "It's just up to us to go ahead and execute. We have to continue to work hard in practice each and every week and follow the game plan that our coaching staff puts together and just go from there and execute when it comes to game day. The only people that we can blame for it is ourselves. We have to go out and execute and put in the hard work to make it hap- pen." Gattis said Godwin still has plenty of room for improvement, noting that "you're just staring to see him come into his own as a receiver." But he is confident that the Middletown, Del., native's maturity and perfectionism will lead to even more suc- cess. "He really cares about how he performs and how he practices," Gattis said. "He wants to be perfect at every little thing that he does. If you tell him one detail, it doesn't take you twice to tell him. What- ever you coach him up on at one point, he's going to go out there and do it the next, and do it exactly the way you want. "So I love him as a kid, I love him as a player and as a person. Chris is a very mature guy. He has his own personality. He rides around on his [scooter], which is interesting, but that's who he is. He owns it. He's on it all throughout the day and he doesn't shy away from what people think about him, just like he doesn't shy away as a player. He is who he is, and he's a very, very good football player with a bright future for us." ■ P E N N S T A T E F O O T B A L L > > W hen Penn State gave the "green light" to four true freshmen prior to its season opener, wide receiver Juwan Johnson was among them. Since then, Saquon Barkley, Brandon Polk and John Reid – the three others who were given the go-ahead to play right away – have had a significant impact. Johnson, however, hasn't played a snap. In October, wide receivers coach Josh Gattis said that Johnson's status had gone from green to yellow. He said the downgrade had more to do with the Nittany Lions' depth at wideout than with any dissatisfac- tion concerning Johnson's perform- ance. "It's just [a matter of] trying to bal- ance out our numbers," Gattis said. "It's a little hard in the situation we have right now in balancing out play- ing time with so many of the re- ceivers we do have." The Nittany Lions have had six re- ceivers in their rotation throughout the season, Gattis said, making it dif- ficult to add another wideout such as Johnson. "You don't want to burn a redshirt of a guy and only play him five plays a game because it does nothing for him, and you want to make sure you put each and every player in posi- tion to succeed – not just for one year but for the four or five years of the career that they're here," Gattis said. "[Johnson] is a guy we contin- ue to work with each and every day. He's a guy who has a bright future and... we're just as excited about him [now] as we were in August. What is his position right now? He's a yellow, and that can change at any point." Johnson has been seen throughout the season practicing with both the scout team and second-team offense. Other true freshmen who have not seen the field, such as tight end Nick Bowers and offensive guard Steven Gonzalez, have been practicing in a similar fashion. Johnson's fellow four-star receiver Irvin Charles is predominately with the scout team and has been rou- tinely making plays against the first-team defense. When the media watches practice for a few minutes each week, it seems as though Charles makes at least one catch al- most every time. Gattis said Charles, too, has shown the potential to contribute to the of- fense if needed. For now, though, he's in the same category as Johnson. "They're both coming along really, really good," Gattis said. "Those two guys are exciting. Could those guys be out there playing for us right now? Yes. Is it in the best interest of the team? We have a lot of different op- tions. "I just think our room is talented, and you always want to put your freshmen in the best position for them to succeed. We're playing a number of different guys. We're playing six wide receivers right now. I think [Johnson and Charles] are go- ing to have a very bright future here – I know they are. If you ask anyone in our program, the sky is the limit for those guys. They have huge upside. I've been really, really happy with the steps they've taken forward." Johnson's light changes; redshirt now appears likely |

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