Blue White Illustrated

that few programs have ever had to cope with the kind of obstacles that Penn State has been facing since 2012. But one point of agreement heading into the current season was that it was time for the Lions to begin showing signs of on- 7eld progress. Athletic director Sandy Barbour was reluctant to specify what exactly those signs would look like, but as she said in August, "You know it when you see it." Flash forward three months, and those signs are looking as every bit as conspic- uous as the LED-encrusted Nittany Lion logos on either end of Beaver Stadium. Barbour couldn't have missed them on the weekend of the Ohio State game, be- cause she was standing in the center of the postgame melee alongside Franklin, both of them with 7sts raised tri- umphantly. Franklin's phone was already starting to 7ll up with congratulatory text messages. There were 348 when he 7nally got around to checking it, neces- sitating a lot of two-word replies, a "Thanks, brother" here, an "Appreciate it" there. "I copied and pasted that to every- body," Franklin said, "men, women, coaches, neighbors, cousins, everybody. "I got home at like 2:30 and laid in bed talking to my wife till 3:30. It was cool. But you know, we were back in the o9ce the next morning watching the tape, and then we had recruits at my house for brunch a:er that. So it wasn't a whole lot of time. We've moved on." If Franklin has moved on, so too has the conversation about Penn State foot- ball. No one's talking anymore about the need for a "signature" win or about the sta8's future. Those issue were put to rest with the team's performance in Oc- tober. The victory over Ohio State was the Nittany Lions' third in a row over a previously unbeaten opponent, and when they followed it up with decisive wins over Purdue and Iowa, they put themselves back in the national spot- light, jumping into the upper half of the AP Top 25 for the 7rst time since 2011 and climbing to No. 10 in the College Football Playo8 rankings as of this writ- ing thanks to their success against an early-season schedule that was tougher than a lot of people thought. And that win streak isn't the only rea- son to get excited. Looking at the makeup of Penn State's roster, you can't help but think that the team's recent successes are only a starting point. Of the 22 o8ensive and defensive players who started against Iowa, only 7ve are graduating seniors. Of the 44 players on the two-deep for that game, 36 are set to return next year, and 21 will still have el- igibility in 2018. The Lions will also re- turn their punter, their place kicker, their kicko8 specialist and 7ve of the six return specialists listed on the depth chart. And one of the two departing sen- iors on the starting o8ensive line – S I T E L I N E S • B W I . R I V A L S . C O M R E A D E R S D I S C U S S P S U ' S P R O G R E S S The "difference maker" is the guy Matt Millen referred to repeatedly [in BTN's broadcast of the Iowa game]: Trace McSorley. When McSorley started running the ball this season, THAT'S when everything else took off, especially Barkley. McSorley's legs opened up a world of options for Penn State and also, more importantly, dic- tated to the defense JUST how they would have to play PSU. The safeties got off the line of scrimmage, Barkley started running wild, and the wide re- ceivers were suddenly open all over the place. SJLuvsLions We need to enjoy the ride while it's happening. There is nothing as fun as when your team has a season where they exceed the expectations so much. Next year we return everyone and ex- pectations will be through the roof, which is great, too. There's nothing like it, though, when you have a "season of wow." Let's enjoy the ride! CKSmith45 I have always rooted for Franklin and hoped he was the right guy. That said, I wasn't sure he was ready for the big time as a head guy. He has proven he is, and I believe he is the Man and will lead us where we want to go. Love the backup QB jet sweep wrinkle! SS24PSU What I love is that they have gone from a team afraid to make a mistake, to a team on a mission. Somewhere in there, CJF woke up and realized he had to bring some fire, too. He has been a different coach the past few games. The multiple developments of this team have been incredible to watch! garw I disagree with your comment con- cerning CJF. His coaching is no differ- ent. What is different is that our offense is now in sync with our OC. Our young players are playing like veterans. Our deep skill is catching up with the sys- tem, and our system is using our deep skill set the way it should be used. We have lots of skill. … Wish we had that [Pitt] game back. rag195 I'm so excited just thinking about the ways Moorhead can work Stevens and Sanders into the offense. Different packages and schemes... this will really open things up and give defenses a lot to juggle. Pclancy1990 Obviously Barkley is the straw that stirs the drink, but what a luxury to have [Andre Robinson and Miles Sanders] backing him up. Finally, when 26 comes out of the game, opponents have to respect the guys coming in as runners and not just blockers. As far as the "suspect line" goes, at what point do we say that this line is pretty decent? We've run for 300-plus yards two of the last four games and 200-plus in three of four. It's pieced together, duct taped after injuries, but the kids keep performing. The frosh guards have been doing a nice job, but a

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