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short huddle as an opportunity to catch their breath? Doesn't seem too friendly to a 300-pounder. As Andrew Nelson ac- knowledged after the scrimmage, the new pace of play was one of the spring's biggest changes. "Was it hard for us to adjust to it in the beginning?" asked the junior offensive tackle. "Yes, certainly. The tempo was even hard for us offensive guys [during the game]. "But it really works and that's what's awesome about it." Nelson and his linemates point to the simplicity of the system, saying it will help take a load off and allow them to play a little faster. While the pace has in- creased, the complexity hasn't, and block- ing permutations are kept to a minimum. At times last season, the linemen would find themselves hindered by debate – call it paralysis by analysis – as they tried to identify who to block. The new approach is more streamlined. "We have base rules for plays, and no matter what the defense does, we're not going to change the rules for that play," senior offensive tackle Paris Palmer said. "Last year we had a lot of checks. If this happens, then we have to change it to this and this and that. Now it's such a fast pace that there's not really a lot of thinking that needs to be done at the line of scrimmage. Sometimes [in 2015] we had to have full-length conversations at the line of scrimmage before we could actually snap the ball because the defense was showing us so many different looks and we'd have to adjust. Now it's just so fast-paced. It's just, OK stay calm. Boom, let's go. It's not anything we have to sit and dissect. It's way simpler than last year." And that approach, the thinking goes, will help Penn State's offense by forcing the opposing defense's hand. The benefits are two-fold: If the pace is increased, the opponent will have a smaller window in which to get itself aligned for the offensive formation presented. Also, when the of- fense is firing on all cylinders, the defensive coordinator will have more difficulty mak- ing substitutions. In theory, the system will wear down opponents over the course of a game by forcing increasingly fatigued defensive linemen to match up against an O-line that has grown accustomed to the rhythm of play. "The more plays we run faster, the harder it is for them to get fresh guys in, or they can't call their complicated blitzes and stuff like that because they have to get the call in fast," senior center Brian Gaia said. "It just gives us a more standard look to every play so we know what to expect." The approach is intended to provide another advantage to the offense by forc- ing the defense to stick to its base con- cepts much of the time. If that happens, the offense will be able to maintain its momentum, calling plays on a quicker cadence and determining blocking as- signments without an excess of delib- eration. "It's a lot simpler [to communicate] be- cause the defense has to be in a simpler look," Gaia said. "We're not looking at so many possible situations that the defense can give us, so it's usually just one or two things [to figure out] and then we're ready to snap the ball. We have more time at the line, since we don't huddle, so it makes everything a lot easier to call and talk to each other. We have more time to make sure we're on the same page." A large part of the system's success hinges on the players' stamina, and that's where strength and conditioning coach Dwight Galt comes into play. Although T he first real mention came during the Nittany Lions' bowl preview press conferences. Following another regular season full of inconsistent play by Penn State's of- fensive line, head coach James Franklin was asked to update the progress of some of the redshirting players. Im- mediately, the second-year coach picked out interior lineman Ryan Bates, and the reviews were generally optimistic. "There was actually a time there when we were thinking about maybe burning his redshirt," Franklin said. "He's done some really nice things in one-on-one sessions. He's done some really nice things in team periods, in competitive periods, against Austin Johnson and Anthony Zettel." Strength coach Dwight Galt echoed Franklin's words at the conclusion of winter workouts, noting that Bates boasted "some really strong physical attributes" and that he was one of the freshman linemen who had helped "bridge the gap" as winter workouts wrapped. Then, when spring practice began, redshirt junior right tackle Andrew Nelson offered what might have been the most effusive endorsement yet of the Warminster, Pa., resident. Asked who had stood out or impressed him the most in spring practice, Nelson paused for a few moments before pointing to Bates. "I think Bates was in a spot to really step up and do well and contribute to the offensive line, and he's done it," Bates earns rave reviews for performance this spring |

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