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it could even include a trip to the Big Ten Championship Game if they get a bit of help. But none of those rosy scenarios will come to pass if they don't beat the Scarlet Knights this week in Piscataway, so Franklin is using every tool at his dis- posal to keep players focused on the task at hand. "These big-picture things, what's going on in college football, or what's going on around the country, how crazy it all is… we're going to focus on the things that we can control," he said. "That's not one of them. Our focus in our locker room is making good corrections from [last] Saturday and then moving on to Rutgers." Of the games (and potential games) re- maining on the Nittany Lions' schedule, this is the one in which they will be most heavily favored. The Scarlet Knights are having some major transitional difficul- ties under first-year head coach Chris Ash. They've lost eight of their first 10 games, including all seven of their Big Ten games to date, and are fielding the league's lowest-scoring offense (17.5 points per game) and its second-most- generous defense (38.0 ppg). At times, the Knights have looked com- pletely hapless. They've been shut out in three games, losing to Ohio State, Michi- gan and Michigan State by a combined margin of 185-0. But they've also risen up and challenged opponents from the conference's next tier down, falling to Iowa, Indiana and Minnesota by a touch- down or less. Ash, who served as defensive coordi- nator at Wisconsin, Arkansas and Ohio State before being hired by Rutgers last December, is hoping that those latter games are more indicative of the Knights' potential than its lopsided run- ins with the conference's traditional powers. "Have we been competitive in some games and had a chance to win some games in the fourth quarter? Absolutely we have," he said. "We haven't gotten it done. That's the disappointing part. But nobody's down on what we're building. Nobody's giving up hope on what we're trying to do here, the players and/or coaches. And it's a positive environment when you walk in this building. Sundays are tough. Whenever you lose, Sundays are tough. But we get it out of our system. We move on." There have been problems all over the field, but the main ones have been a de- fense that can't stop the run and an of- fense that has struggled to move the ball through the air. Rutgers is allowing 251.3 rushing yards per game, worst in the Big Ten and 124th out of 128 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision. In its 49-0 rout last week, Michigan State ran for 277 yards and three touchdowns against the Knights. They will be facing a wounded Penn State offensive front, with tackle Paris Palmer out for the season and the status of two other key players – tackle Brendan Mahon and guard Connor McGovern – N O V E M B E R 1 6 , 2 0 1 6 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 2

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