Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/717693
tience, noting that any evaluation of the program must take into account the im- pact of the scholarship penalties that have le/ the Lions with a freshman- and sophomore-dominated roster this fall. Speaking to a small group of reporters that included BWI's Nate Bauer, Barbour said she believes that "given some of the restrictions, given some of the chal- lenges, what we've done on the football -eld is pretty darn good." But she also made a distinction be- tween short-term realities and long- term ambitions, and with that in mind, she said, Penn State can't a.ord to think of seven-win seasons as the new nor- mal. Said Barbour, "I wouldn't have come here if I felt that I, or we as a com- munity, were going to feel that that was acceptable." Barbour added that Franklin "wants to win a national championship, and I be- lieve that we're going to have the oppor- tunity to do that. Is it going to be this year? Probably not. But that's why you play it. That's not the expectation this year. The expectation is: Are we building to that? Are we showing progress? Are we making progress toward being a Big Ten and then ultimately national cham- pionship contender?" Barbour said that her benchmark for success will be whether the program is showing on--eld improvement, not whether it wins a predetermined num- ber of games. That is a realistic and sen- sible approach for a team that is only now starting to emerge from the shadow of the sanctions. But woven into her comment is an undercurrent of opti- mism that shows she has embraced that familiar Penn State mindset. That's why you play it. Sounds famil- iar, does it not? You play it because, deep down, there's a part of every Penn State fan that wants to forget about what the preseason magazines have predicted, what the BTN and ESPN analysts have concluded, and focus on the best-case scenario. Right now, the best-case scenario is that the young o.ensive linemen jell quickly, the new quarterback adapts to Moorhead's o.ense, the defense -nds a few high-quality tackles in the sizeable talent pool that position coach Sean Spencer has amassed, everyone stays healthy and the rebuilding projects at Ohio State and Michigan State don't go as smoothly as expected. If all that were to happen, nine or maybe even 10 wins wouldn't be out of the question. But let's be realistic: Some of those things aren't going to happen. There are going to be some injuries, some disap- pointments. Ohio State is going to bounce back from its staggering person- nel losses. It always does. So a certain amount of additional pa- tience is probably going to be required in year three of Franklin's tenure. But year four? Year -ve? Year six? You might want to stick around to see what devel- ops. Good things o/en come to those who wait. ■ FANTASTIC CUISINE EXCEP TIONAL ATMOSPHERE Voted Best Fine Dining V o o t e d B e s t F i n e Dining Dining i n i n g College & Cato W ve Av . College & Cato carnegieinnandspa.com | 814.234.2424 Corner of C Corner of Cricklewood Dr. and Toftrees Ave. carnegieinnandspa.com | 814.234.2424 . College & Cato W. 814.861.3463 gigisdining.com RN RN ABLE ABLE TA T ve Av . College & Cato 814.861.3463 gigisdining.com