Blue White Illustrated

time, Franklin and his o:ensive coaches had only seven scholarship linemen ready to play. Players had to practice at two or three positions each week during the season because they never knew when they might be needed somewhere else. But when preseason practice began this past August, Penn State had 15 scholarship o:ensive linemen on its ros- ter, including several highly rated players from the classes of 2015 and '16, players such as Ryan Bates, Connor McGovern, Michal Menet and Will Fries. Bates won the starting le< guard spot, and by the fourth game of the season McGovern was the starting right guard. The emergence of those young players allowed Mahon, Nelson and Brian Gaia to practice at their natural positions every day throughout September. The o:ensive line was able to develop some consistency and cohesiveness, and that set the stage for the o:ensive outburst that took place in October. On the opposite side of the ball, young players such as Antoine White, Robert Windsor and Kevin Givens joined juco transfer Tyrell Chavis to give Pry plenty of depth at defensive tackle. And at de- fensive end, Torrence Brown, Shareef Miller and Ryan Buchholz were backing up starters Garrett Sickels and Evan Schwan, giving Penn State a strong 9ve- man rotation. Underclassmen emerged wherever they were needed to 9ll holes on o:ense and defense. At linebacker, sophomore Manny Bowen became one of the best pure tacklers on the team. Coming out of the win over Iowa, Bowen was Penn State's third-leading tackler with 50 stops and was second in tackles for loss with six. Elsewhere, sophomore John Reid has matured into Penn State's best cover cornerback. Heading into the Indiana game, he was leading the secondary in passes broken up (seven) and passes de- fended (eight). Plus, you can't forget the job that true freshman Blake Gillikin has done on special teams, averaging 41.4 yards per punt. Then, 9nally, there's McSorley. Only a redshirt sophomore, he has been very impressive in his 9rst season as a starter, having completed 134 of 241 passes for 2,058 yards with 14 touchdown passes and just three interceptions through nine games, while also ranking second on the team in rushing with 291 yards and 9ve TDs. He's only been running the Lions' o:ense under game conditions for three months, but already, McSorley has shown a real a;nity for Moorhead's system. The hiring of Moorhead and Limegrover and the decision to promote Pry to the defensive coordinator posi- tion were among the crucial factors that produced Penn State's remarkable 9ve- game winning streak. But you can't overlook the contributions of players in the classes of 2015 and '16. Without their help, Penn State's October surprise would never have become a reality. ■ Lions' bowl outlook in flux as finale nears With two games remaining on Penn State's schedule as of Blue White Illus- trated's November deadline, there were any number of plausible postseason sce- narios involving the Nittany Lions. Sev- eral analysts had them playing in the Cotton Bowl against either Western Michigan or San Diego State. But head- ing into the Rutgers game on Nov. 19, Penn State still had a path to the Big Ten Championship Game, and possibly the Rose Bowl, thanks to Iowa's upset of Michigan on Nov. 12. All of those scenarios require victories over the Scarlet Knights and Michigan State. And to reserve a spot in Indi- anapolis on Dec. 3, the Nittany Lions would also need Ohio State to defeat Michigan on Nov. 26 in Columbus. So the Lions' outlook could change sub- stantially before the end of the regular season, if it hasn't already. No matter where they end up, BWI will preview the Lions' bowl matchup in the December edition. In the meantime, for breaking news on Penn State's bowl out- look, visit bwi.rivals.com.

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