POSTSEASON PREVIEW >> PENN STATE VS. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
A lot of things changed during the o=-
season. Three assistant coaches joined
the
sta=, a new o=ense was installed by
incoming coordinator Joe Moorhead,
and there was a major personnel over-
haul on the defensive front. But if that
TaxSlayer Bowl culties that
O'Brien's teams faced: a lack of depth in
critical areas, a dearth of experience,
and a conference lineup that stacked the
schedule
with powerhouse programs
that didn't have to deal with any of the
impediments
Penn State was facing.
Still, as evidenced by come-from-be-
hind victories over UCF, Boston College
and Maryland, and a near-miss against
Ohio State, the Lions had plenty of
;ghting spirit.
"My ;rst year, we were at 65 scholar-
ships," Franklin said. "My second year,
we were at 75 scholarships. On top of
that, we had a bunch of guys transfer
out, so we just were really, really thin at a
number of positions and really had a
hard time practicing.
"Even now, depending on how you
look at it, which analytics calculator you
use, we're like the sixth-youngest team
in the country. Last year we didn't have
many seniors, this year we don't have
many seniors. We're back to 85 [scholar-
ship players], which is great, and we're
able to practice like a normal football
program, but we're still just really young
at a lot of positions. We've had some in-
juries this year at linebacker. At one
point, we lost seven linebackers and we
were playing with our ;?h-team middle
linebacker, and then we went through a
similar thing on the o=ensive line.
"I'm just proud of our guys, how
they've persevered, our coaches as well
as players. They didn't allow any of
those things to be excuses and just bat-
tled through it."
The growth and maturation of the ros-
ter has been critical, even if it's not com-
plete. Penn State has long had a
never-say-die mentality, but now it's
being exuded by a lot of fast, talented
playmakers. The Lions don't just have
one or two big-play threats on o=ense,
an Allen Robinson or a Christian Hack-
enberg; they have at least half a dozen:
McSorley, Barkley, Hamilton, Chris
Godwin, Mike Gesicki, Saeed Blacknall.
They've also got an o=ensive line that,
while hardly elite, is no longer a liability.
The combination of the right athletes
and the right attitude has turned them
into something more than a bunch of
guys who are willing to take on all com-
ers. It's turned them into a bunch of guys
who can
beat all comers – maybe even
USC.
■
Penn State had been outscored 62-13
over the previous six quarters. It had
split its ;rst four games and was losing
to Minnesota by 10 points in the third
quarter. A third loss and a sub-.500
record were looking like very realistic
possibilities as the Nittany Lions lined
up for a third-and-10 play against the
Gophers.
And then, with a
