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Beaver Ave s State College, PA 16801 www.The-Phyrst.com 814.234.4406 137 Elmwood St. s State College, PA 16801 www.HappyValleyBeer.com Wood-fire Grill 12 Beers on Tap 200 Year Old Barn 821 Cricklewood Dr. s Toftrees, State College www.AmericanAleHouse.net 814.237.9701 s Piano Bar s Sommelier 814.238.1406 814.234.7700 s 1611 Atherton St. s State College 814.941.7788 s Plank Rd. Exit s Altoona www.ChampsSportsGrill.net s Best Game Bar s Large Groups Welcome c lc e W We s p u o r G e g r a L s a e B m a st G e B s S n S h 1 A 1 6 1 0 0 7 7 4. 3 2 4. 1 8 me co r a l l C S r G s rt o p S s p m a h C . www s t i x . E d k R n a l P s 8 8 7 7 1. 4 9 . 4 1 8 S s . t n S o t r e h t 1 A 1 6 1 s 0 0 7 7 4. 3 2 4. 1 8 t e n . l l i r na o o t l A e g e l l o C e at t S decided to share a final thought. "I thought this was some interesting stuff," he said, apologizing to his sports infor- mation director as he got set to prolong the proceedings. "Ninety-nine point two percent of rushing yards returned, 72.8 percent of receiving yards returned, 87.4 percent of scoring returns on offense." Franklin often begins his pressers with an opening statement that consists of a series of facts and figures. Some are more interesting than others, but all are intended to illuminate some aspect of either his team or the upcoming oppo- nent. On this occasion, the idea was to provide a bit of perspective on the expe- rience level of this year's team and to pinpoint the areas where some level of rebuilding will need to take place in order for the Lions to have a shot at equaling or surpassing last year's per- formance. The rushing numbers are easy to un- pack. Running back Saquon Barkley is coming back for his junior season after gaining 1,496 yards and scoring 18 touchdowns on 272 attempts last year. His return, along with the return of backups Andre Robinson, Miles Sanders and Mark Allen, helps explain the 99.2 percent figure that Franklin cited in his statistical profile. One of the more re- markable aspects of the current offense is that of the nine players who had at least one carry last year, Penn State loses only two: Chris Godwin and Irvine Paye. Those two players totaled two carries for 20 yards. Which is not to say that Godwin won't be missed. While he wasn't much of a factor in the backfield, he led the team with 982 receiving yards and 11 touch- downs on 59 receptions. Godwin ac- counted for 27 percent of the Lions' receiving yardage in 2016. Still, even though he topped the Nittany Lions in receptions, receiving yards and receiv- ing touchdowns, there are 11 other play- ers returning who hauled in at least one pass last year. Tight end Mike Gesicki had 48 catches for 679 yards and five touchdowns, DaeSean Hamilton had 34 for 506, Barkley had 28 for 402, DeAn- dre Thompkins had 27 for 440 and Saeed Blacknall had 15 for 347. And those are just the players who hit double digits. In Juwan Johnson and Irvin Charles, the Lions also return two promising wideouts who played spar- ingly as redshirt freshmen. Aside from Godwin, the only pass-catcher who isn't set to come back this fall is Paye, who had one catch for 10 yards in 2016. The Nittany Lions also have a wealth of defensive experience returning, even though their losses are more substantial on that side of the ball. Franklin rattled off those numbers after detailing the of- fense's stats: "Seventy-two point one percent of tackles returned, 52.5 percent of sacks returned, 64.2 percent of tack- les for loss returned, 71.4 percent of de- fensive turnovers returned." Represented in those numbers are two of last season's top three tacklers: free safety Marcus Allen and middle line- backer Jason Cabinda. The team's top returning sack producer is defensive tackle Kevin Givens, who had 4.5 in his debut season, while linebacker Manny Bowen led the defense with 8.5 tackles for loss. So even though the Lions lost four starters in defensive ends Garrett Sickels and Evan Schwan, outside linebacker Brandon Bell and strong safety Malik Golden, and even though a fifth starter, cornerback John Reid, may be forced to miss the season due to a leg injury he suffered in spring practice, they return an overwhelming majority of the team's production. All told, there are 24 experi- enced players returning to the Lions' defense. The special teams units are also look- ing robust in just about every category, as Blake Gillikin will continue to handle punts and Tyler Davis will be back for his third season as the team's starting place-kicker after winning second-team All-Big Ten recognition last year. Total them up, and the numbers offer a hopeful picture for Penn State as it seeks to re-establish the work ethic and phi- losophy that brought it so much success last season. Whether they translate into improvements in the win-loss column remains to be seen, but it's an enviable position to be in as the Nittany Lions get set to wrap up spring practice. ■

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