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P E N N S T A T E F O O T B A L L > > "an elite player in this league at his posi- tion." And as for James Franklin, well, let's just say the Nittany Lions' head coach wishes – in the most literal way possible – that he had another Godwin or two on his team. "I saw his family here [on cam- pus] recently and was trying to convince them to have more children," Franklin said, "maybe send them on a romantic vacation to the Poconos or Atlantic City or something like that, because he is a sharp, sharp kid." Godwin has been building on a promising freshman season in which he emerged as a major contributor late in the year. He showed flashes of potential throughout the season, catching two passes in his college debut against UCF and three in Penn State's Big Ten opener at Rutgers. But it wasn't until the postseason that he really broke out. In the Nittany Lions' Pinstripe Bowl victory over Boston College, he had seven catches for 140 yards, in- cluding a 72-yard touchdown catch that is tied for the longest in the school's post- season history. Gattis said that when the coaching staff examined the films from last year, Godwin graded out as Penn State's top receiver, even though his totals – 25 catches for 321 yards and two touchdowns – were well below those of DaeSean Hamilton and Geno Lewis, the team's two leading pass-catchers. "A lot of people don't look at the overall picture of football," Gattis said. "They only look at your production numbers, so he didn't have some of the touches and some of the catches that he does have this year. But he graded out extremely high. He's a mature kid. He does everything you want, and does it the way you want it done. I'm really happy for him. I think all his hard work is paying off. I think people are starting to see the type of playmaker he is and player he is." What they are seeing is a player who may lack sprinter speed but has the dex- terity to win more than his share of jump-ball competitions and the power to churn for extra yardage after making the catch. Godwin said that his success "comes down to focus, just things that we work on, that the receivers work on every day with Coach Gattis. We do ball drills before and after practice, so things like that allow you to be able to make the 50-50 catches when they present themselves." Gattis said Godwin's affinity for those jump-ball battles is what makes him an elite wideout. "It's easy to make the free- access catches when somebody is not on you," he said. "To have the focus, the con- centration and the ball skills and the belief in yourself to make those contested catches JOSH GATTIS PSU RECEIVERS COACH When that ball is in the air, there's nobody on this field who believes they're going to [catch] it more than Chris Godwin. That's hard to go against when you're a defender." " Steve Manuel

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