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enn State won't be sneaking up on anyone in 2017. With their Big Ten championship, nine-game winning streak and No. 7 ranking in the final Associated Press poll, it's safe to say the Nittany Lions have gotten the nation's at- tention again after spending much of the past few seasons on the periphery of the spotlight. Will they be able to keep it? That was the question on a lot of minds following the Lions' 52-49 loss to Southern California in the Rose Bowl. For sheer entertainment value, the matchup between the nation's two hottest Power Five conference teams de- livered on every last bit of hype that had preceded it, offering breathtaking offen- sive fireworks, wild momentum swings and an outcome that wasn't decided until the final play. More than 16 million viewers tuned in, a 19 percent jump in viewership over last year's Rose Bowl matchup between Stanford and Iowa, making the game the most highly rated New Year's Six bowl in history (exclud- ing College Football Playoff semifinals), and the second-highest-rated bowl game ever on ESPN. We already knew that the Lions were a fun team to watch, even for those without a rooting interest. Their penchant for dramatic comebacks and pedal-to-the- metal offense made them one of the best shows in college football all season long. But the nation's attention span is short, and people tend to fixate on programs like Alabama and Ohio State that can be counted on to win 11 or 12 games on an annual basis. No one knows that better than James Franklin. While his initial challenge as head coach was to keep the Lions competitive as they rebuilt a sanc- tion-depleted roster, the long-term goal has been to build a program that can avoid the boom-or-bust cycles to which a lot of teams – even elite teams like Michigan and Notre Dame – have fallen prey. As the 2017 off-season begins, that job is by no means finished. "We've got a lot of work to do," Franklin said following the Rose Bowl. "There are programs that have been playing at this level for a number of years, and we've got a lot of work to do to catch up. It's going to be a long, steady, difficult climb. As difficult as this year was to [put to- gether], we're going to have to fight even more to be able to sustain it. And there are a lot of things that are going to go into that." The main factor in Penn State's con- tinuing success will, of course, be the composition of its roster. And as far as the 2017 season is concerned, there are a lot of reasons to feel good on that score. The Lions said goodbye to only 12 players on senior day, and none of them were named Saquon Barkley or Trace McSor- ley. On offense, the only Rose Bowl starters who will not be back are center Brian Gaia and wideout Chris Godwin. On defense, the list is a bit longer, with ends Evan Schwan and Garrett Sickels, linebacker Brandon Bell and safety Malik Golden all exiting. Godwin and Sickels chose to pass up their senior seasons to enter the NFL Draft. The rest are gradu- ating seniors. With an abundance of starters back – | The Nittany Lions re-established themselves as contenders in 2016, but there remains plenty of work to be done P F A S T F O R W A R D >> A N E A R L Y L O O K C O V E R S T O R Y UNFINISHED BUSINESS

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