Blue White Illustrated

E arlier this month, James Franklin was named national Coach of the Year by The Sporting News, about a week a8er he had been named Big Ten Coach of the Year by a panel of media members who cover the conference. When Franklin was interviewed on the Big Ten Network about his selection, his re- sponse was to focus on the role of his as- sistant coaches, a group he labeled the best in the country. It was hard to argue with the sentiment. Without the contri- butions of the entire sta7, including newcomers Joe Moorhead, Matt Limegrover and Tim Banks, Penn State would have never been able to win the conference championship, post an 11-2 record and receive an invitation to play in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 2 against Southern California. "I'm honored and humbled, but this is a team award, "Franklin said. "This is a sta7 award. We've got the best sta7 in the country. I love our locker room. We appreciate it, and we're humbled and honored, but it's all about our team. This is a sta7 award for us, and it represents what our players do for us day in and day out." There are many who believe that when Franklin hired Moorhead as o7ensive coordinator, Limegrover as o7ensive line coach and Banks as safeties coach and co-defensive coordinator following the 2015 season, he laid the groundwork for what would become a stunning break- through in 2016, one that would include a nine-game winning streak and a return to national prominence. I've written numerous times during the course of the season that Moor- head's system was the perfect 6t for the skill players on Penn State's o7ense. The numbers bear out that contention. Dur- ing the 6nal 6ve weeks of the regular season, the Nittany Lions averaged 46.4 points and 506.2 yards per game and 7.3 yards per play. Compare their output during that span to their performance in 2015, a season in which they averaged 23.2 points and 348.4 yards per game and only 5.5 yards per play. Sometimes statistics lie, but not in this case. Penn State's performance in the 6nal 6ve reg- ular-season games clearly demonstrates the dramatic impact that Moorhead has had in his 6rst year with the program. You also can't overlook the e7ect Limegrover has had on the o7ensive line. In October and November, Penn State lost o7ensive tackles Andrew Nel- son, Brendan Mahon and Paris Palmer to injuries. For most of November, the Nit- tany Lions 6elded an o7ensive line that included three 6rst-year players. Red- shirt freshman Ryan Bates was moved from his starting le8 guard position to le8 tackle. Bates' classmate Steven Gon- zalez took over at le8 guard, and true freshman Connor McGovern continued to start at right guard. I believe that you would be hard- pressed to name another Big Ten cham- pionship team with three freshmen on its starting o7ensive line. The fact that Penn State was able to overcome those losses clearly illustrates the outstanding coaching job that Limegrover did. Franklin called the line's resilience "probably one of the biggest stories of our team this year." No argument here. Making the coaching performances all the more impressive is the fact that Penn State is one of the younger teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision. More than 60 players on the current scholarship roster have either freshman or sopho- more eligibility. Eighteen redshirt and true freshmen made signi6cant contri- butions this fall for Penn State, and it's unlikely that the Lions would have posted 11 wins without their help. On o7ense, the freshman who's had the biggest impact on the team is Bates. He was the team's starter at le8 guard in its 6rst 10 games. When he took over the le8 tackle position early in the Indiana game – a game in which Palmer suf- fered a knee injury on Penn State's ini- tial o7ensive series – I'm not sure Limegrover or Franklin had a good feel for how the redshirt freshman would perform. "Bates hadn't taken a rep at tackle since he got here," Franklin said at his Nov. 16 news conference. "We moved him out last week, and he really did a nice job for us. Freshmen play key roles in helping PSU claim Big Ten championship PHIL'S CORNER FRESHMAN CONTRIBUTORS OFFENSE G/T Ryan Bates (6-4, 305, R-Fr.) WR Irvin Charles* (6-4, 219, R-Fr.) G Steven Gonzalez (6-4, 334, R-Fr.) TE Jonathan Holland* (6-4, 245, R-Fr.) WR Juwan Johnson* (6-4, 218, R-Fr.) G Connor McGovern (6-5, 310, Fr.) RB Andre Robinson (5-9, 216, R-Fr.) RB Miles Sanders* (5-11, 195, Fr.) QB Tommy Stevens (6-4, 218, R-Fr.) DEFENSE OLB Cameron Brown* (6-5, 215, Fr.) DT/DE Ryan Buchholz (6-6, 270, R-Fr.) DT Kevin Givens (6-1, 282, R-Fr.) DE Shareef Miller (6-5, 255, R-Fr.) DT Robert Windsor (6-4, 305, R-Fr.) SPECIAL TEAMS P Blake Gillikin (6-2, 182, Fr.) LB/SS Jarvis Miller (6-2, 205, R-Fr.) Saf. Ayron Monroe (5-11, 204, R-Fr.) CB Garrett Taylor (6-0, 193, R-Fr.) * Also played on special teams

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