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"It was just a special moment that we had together. It's something I've been dreaming about since I was a kid." It's an honor that he earned by showing determination during his first few sea- sons at Penn State, one that he's OK basking in temporarily. But entrenched in his final preseason camp, Garrity seldom finds himself looking back. Instead he's preoccupied with the hotly contested battle for the starting punt return job, in which he's competing with a host of young players who came to PSU on full- rides, and Franklin has upped the ante for all of them. "We need to find dynamic punt returners and kick returners," he said. At 5-foot-10, 165 pounds, Garrity joined Penn State as an All-State wide re- ceiver from North Allegheny in 2013. He had other options, but the Nittany Lions were putting a premium on walk-ons – or "run-ons" in then-coach Bill O'Brien's parlance – in response to the NCAA's scholarship restrictions. Garrity saw an opportunity to follow in his father's foot- steps. He ended up seeing action during his true freshman season, playing in three games and returning one punt for 9 yards. He played in three more games as a soph- omore and five as a junior. By the time Penn State faced Georgia last January in the TaxSlayer Bowl, Garrity was the starting punt returner. Sure-handed and boasting the team's highest vertical jump (37 inches, meas- ured during spring practice), Garrity has the catching ability and first-step explo- sion that can make for an ideal return specialist. They're also good tools for a slot receiver, so although Garrity has only one career reception for 4 yards, the coaching staff saw that he brought scholarship-worthy value in his final season. "Whatever they ask me to do – whether it's receiver, special teams, punt returner – I just try to put this team in the best position to win," Gar- rity said. "Whatever my role is, even if it's practice squad, whatever they're asking me to do, I'm going to give it my full effort, I'm going to have a positive attitude and I'm going to give it my best shot." An added responsibility for Garrity as a senior is to help the newcomers adjust. Many of Franklin's recent three- and four-star signees have proven themselves at the high school level on punt and kick returns. The next step is to make the tran- sition to the college game. That's where Garrity comes in. Al- though he's fighting to maintain his post as Penn State's starting punt returner, he's also open to helping younger athletes who are vying for time, just as he was a few seasons ago. "Absolutely," Garrity said. "Three years being here, you learn certain things, from being coached and from just playing in games. You learn little things that can really help you – whether it's the rotation on the ball, the wind, look- ing up and using your peripheral [vi- sion]. Just little stuff like that. [It] can really give you a slight edge and give you another 5 or 10 yards in punt return. I enjoy teaching the younger guys these special little secrets, if that's what you want to call them." Secret, however, probably isn't the best word, because Garrity openly shares his advice. "You've got 11 guys running after you," he tells them. "You might get a little nervous, a little afraid, but you just have to be smart, you know? Just make sure you catch the ball first and then every- thing after that is just a positive." Once the ball is in hand, Garrity adds, "you don't want to make too many moves laterally. You just want to get up the field, get as many yards as you can. But, yeah, definitely catch the ball first. If you don't catch the ball, you're going to find a quick path to the bench." Because, more than in the past few sea- sons, other options exist. Garrity was called upon in 2013 in part because he was one of only two or three return men whom the coaches felt they could trust to secure a punt. He still has that knack, of course. But others do, too, and now the staff is looking for the kind of yardage that will impact the momentum of a game. To garner such results, Franklin ap- pears willing to plug in some of his best. He's even said that he would consider de- ploying star running back Saquon Barkley in the return game. "We have the depth now that we really feel like we can use some of those players on special teams," Franklin said, "and I think Saquon is a part of that." Others who figure to factor in are safety A mid all the preseason buzz sur- rounding star running backs, quarterback battles, new coordina- tors and blue-chip freshmen, head coach James Franklin wants to make sure someone else gets his due. That is Penn State junior kicker Tyler Davis, who walked away from stardom on the college soccer field to pursue a career in a sport that he had never played in his life. Said Franklin, "We probably don't talk about him enough." Let's start. For an internship this summer, Davis tried his hand in options trad- ing at a firm in Chicago, not far from the Davis family home in St. Charles, Ill. Even though it was his first try, the business studies major appar- ently did pretty well. As he said re- cently, "It was definitely a great experience. I learned a lot and found what I want to do." Hitting it out of the park on his first try – that's nothing new for Davis. He transferred to PSU in January 2015 having never played organized foot- ball at any level. Not peewee, junior A newcomer to football, Davis quickly finds niche

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