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easy playing safety at 6-foot-2 at a time when targeting penalties and ejections have become a point of emphasis for of- ficials. Low is the way to go. GRADE B SPECIAL TEAMS Penn State's special teams have been better in nearly every way this season. That's not to say that the Nittany Lions have been great in every facet of the kicking game; in some facets, they've merely been adequate, ranking 10th in the Big Ten in kick-return average and 12th in punt-return average. But ad- equacy is itself an improvement after the Lions finished at or near the bottom of the conference in multiple statistical cat- egories in 2014 and '15. During the first half of the season, the Nittany Lions didn't miss a field goal or PAT. They improved their net punting average over last year and got a few nice punt returns from Reid. And although he didn't break any big ones, Miles Sanders showed some potential as a kick returner, provided his ball-security concerns don't persist. The star of the first six games was Tyler Davis, who remained perfect in his college career, hitting 10 of 10 field goal attempts, including his most pressure- packed kick to date, a 30-yarder that sent the Minnesota game to overtime. Meanwhile, the Lions' other kicker, Joey Julius, made an impact in every sense of the word. Twenty-one of his first 37 kickoffs were not returned, and on two of his kicks that were brought back, the opposing return specialists probably wished they had just taken a knee in the end zone, as Julius flattened them. Suf- fice it to say, he's a bit more aggressive than your typical kicker. Another standout has been freshman punter Blake Gillikin, whose average of 42.3 yards per attempt has solidified one of Penn State's big weaknesses the past two years. That's all to the good, and there's even better news in that the Nittany Lions re- turn all of their major contributors next season. Davis is a redshirt junior, Julius and Reid are sophomores, and Sanders is a freshman. So while things haven't gone perfectly, Penn State is definitely trend- ing up in this department. GRADE B T H E M O N T H I N . . . So far this season, Franklin has shown he deserves to continue in 2017. He con- stantly referred to this team as the second-youngest in the nation in 2014, the second-youngest in the Big Ten in 2015 and, again, the second-youngest in the country in 2016. That excuse expires next season; that's when Franklin's Lions really need to beat one of the Big Three. But, for now, Franklin says he feels "pretty good" about where Penn State stands. And after back-to-back wins against Minnesota and Maryland, it's hard to disagree that the program is in bet- ter shape now than it was last year or the year before. JOSH MOYER ESPN.COM Penn State has played just one team with a losing record and has managed to get to 4-2. The o7ense has displayed its 6exibility, passing for 335 yards against Minnesota and running for 372 yards the next week against Maryland. It needs to cut down on turnovers and penalties. The defense needs to improve its tackling, but it has dealt with a rash of injuries. The second half of the season doesn't ap- pear as daunting as it once did. RICH SCARCELLA READING EAGLE Outsiders claiming that Franklin's job should be in jeopardy don't understand Penn State's complicated situation; fans doing so might have hot-tempered expectations. Considering where he began, Franklin should get at least four years of his six-year deal simply to mend the foundation. MARK WOGENRICH ALLENTOWN MORNING CALL On average, the sixth-place Big Ten [basketball] team will make the NCAAs more often than not. That's not an outrageous goal for Penn State because graduation losses were substantial in the middle of the league standings. Northwestern lost its two biggest contributors in Alex Olah and Trey Demps (though Vic Law re- turns from injury). Iowa lost its entire starting five except for Peter Jok. Mary- land, like PSU, is bringing in a heralded freshman class but loses four double-digit scorers in Diamond Stone, Robert Carter, Jake Layman and Rasheed Sulaimon. There's an opportunity there to beat teams that are rebuilding, and Penn State has to do it. To be in the middle, you gotta beat the middle. Not ex- actly a catchy slogan, just the truth. DAVID JONES PENNLIVE.COM O P I N I O N S !

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