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keep them from wearing themselves out. "Around week five, those guys were kind of like zombies," Galt said. "We had to cut them back for a couple days to kind of get them back. "All those young linemen are really en- thusiastic about this whole thing. They all are, but especially [the freshmen]. So they want to go. We go in and we let them go, and we want to make sure it's safe. They all have great technique, they're sharp kids, they listen, they take coaching real well, but you've got to keep an eye on them because they will overtrain. So we're just watching them. They all deserve to be in tier one right now, but they're all guys who are going to jump to tier two probably before many other guys are, just because they catch up so quick." In addition to the young linemen, fifth-year senior tackles Brendan Mahon and Andrew Nelson were both in attendance at the open workout. Both suffered season-ending injuries last fall, and while they didn't participate in max-outs for the squat, they worked out individually, Nelson without a brace. LEARNING CURVE Galt had high praise for Lamont Wade and Mike Mi- randa, a pair of true freshmen who ar- rived on campus in early January, just in time for the start of winter work- outs. Galt said Wade came to Penn State with tremendous athletic ability but with limited experience in the weight room. He said the staff had to "kind of back off and teach him a little bit." Calling Wade a quick learner, Galt said the heavily recruited defensive back made substantial gains after that introductory phase. He went from 185 to 300 pounds in the power clean and posted the second-best bench press among the cornerbacks at 325 pounds. In addition, he turned in a 4.4-second 40-yard time after working on his form. "When we first tested him, he ran a 4.58 and his technique was kind of shoddy and he didn't really know his stance to start," Galt said. "I looked at him and kind of saw that fire, but he didn't really back it up with a time. We had a really good speed cycle. He em- braced it, he paid attention, he worked hard at it, and he really got some good gains. So we're really pleased with where he is." Miranda also earned Galt's praise for his work in the weight room. He squat- ted 365 pounds for 18 reps to go along with his 300-pound power clean, and Galt expects him to move quickly from the first tier to the second because of the hard work and dedication he's shown so far. Penn State welcomed four early en- rollees in January, with linebacker Brelin Faison-Walden and receiver K.J. Hamler joining Wade and Miranda. One of the Nittany Lions' goals under Franklin has been to use the weight program as a way to accelerate the development of young players so that they are able to con- tribute earlier in their careers than they may have been in the past. "It's really all about building physical and mental toughness," Franklin said. "It's about pushing guys outside of their comfort zone and trying to speed up the maturation process. Instead of waiting for a guy to grow up, you're kind of forc- ing it to happen. "So rather than a guy who maybe would take two and a half years to im- pact the roster, through the morning workouts and teaching guys how to compete, maybe you can speed that process up. I think that's probably more important now than ever when it comes to college athletics, when it comes to high school athletics. These kids didn't grow up outside like we did playing kick ball, playing basketball or playing what- ever ball you want to play, and having to learn to compete. A lot of these kids were playing video games, and when the video games started to beat them, they hit the reset button. "So teaching guys how to compete is a big part of what we do, and that's what the morning workouts are all about. I'm proud of that. I think we got a lot of re- ally good work done." ■ F O O T B A L L Three will serve as captains in 2017 Senior Jason Cabinda and juniors Trace McSorley and Nick Scott have been voted as team captains for the 2017 season by their team- mates, coach James Franklin an- nounced in March. "These three young men have been leaders in our program, on and o: the 9eld," Franklin said. "They live our four core values and act with the program's best inter- est in mind. Our team is in good hands with these guys." As a junior, Cabinda garnered third-team All-Big Ten accolades from the conference coaches, de- spite missing 9ve games due to in- jury. He posted eight tackles or more in all nine games he played last season and has logged eight or more tackles in 11 of his last 13 games, dating back to 2015. Cabinda 9nished third on the squad with 81 tackles in 2016 a;er posting 100 stops in his sopho- more season. McSorley was named the MVP of the Big Ten Championship Game a;er throwing for a game-record 384 yards and four touchdowns. He was also a second-team All-Big Ten choice by the conference's coaches and media a;er breaking Penn State season records for passing yards (3,614), passing touchdowns (29) and total o:ense (3,979). He threw TD passes to 10 di:erent receivers. Scott appeared in 13 games last season and 9nished second on the squad with eight special teams tackles. He had a career-high three special teams tackles against Maryland in October and also made special teams stops against Kent State, Pitt, Michigan State, Wisconsin and USC. ■

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