Blue White Illustrated

O F F - S E A S O N R E P O R T RECEIVER OBJECTIVES Penn State needed to fig- ure out how it will make up for its single biggest loss from last season: Godwin. ACCOMPLISHMENTS Some good, some bad here. The Lions suffered a set- back when Blacknall went down with an unspecified injury. One of the leading candidates to make up for the productiv- ity that Penn State lost with Godwin's early departure for the NFL, the senior missed the last few weeks of practice, in- cluding the Blue-White Game. That doesn't necessarily mean he won't be ready for preseason camp, but given the Lions' needs at this position group, they definitely would have preferred to have him at full strength throughout the spring. They did, however, get a big lift from one of their rising stars, as redshirt soph- omore Juwan Johnson was one of the breakout players this spring. The 6-4, 230-pounder impressed teammates and coaches throughout the spring with his development. "He has just taken a very mature ap- proach, very aggressive approach all off- season," Franklin said. "He redshirted as a freshman, played a little bit as a [red- shirt] freshman and now he's had to fig- ure out what he needs to do to be successful with our team, what he needs to do to have a bigger role, what are his strengths and what are his weaknesses. He's a mature guy and a smart guy. So he's really made a significant jump from the end of the season until now." Added receivers coach Josh Gattis, "I think Juwan Johnson is having an unbe- lievable spring camp. He's really im- proved a lot, and when you talk about most improved players on the team, he's one of those guys who comes to mind. He's a guy who's going to make a lot of plays for us this upcoming season and help us win a lot of games." Johnson caught only two passes for 70 yards a year ago, and as he recently ad- mitted, that was at least partly because he wasn't in the right frame of mind. That's not the case anymore. "I don't lack confidence like I did last year," he said. "And honestly, I think that just comes from repetition, practice, and working on the things we need to work on." Johnson finished the Blue-White Game with seven catches for 81 yards, and he scored a 15-yard touchdown on the final play of the afternoon. Elsewhere, the Nittany Lions were looking to build some depth at tight end behind Gesicki. Nick Bowers was still ap- parently hampered by the unspecified in- jury that forced him to miss last season, but Franklin was upbeat about his progress, saying that "getting Bowers back is going to be huge, because he's a 270-pound guy who can catch and run and is smart. We're excited about him." With Gesicki and Bowers both sitting out the Blue-White Game, Jonathan Hol- land saw plenty of action and looked quite good, finishing with a game-high eight catches for 62 yards for the Blue, a per- formance that was evidently indicative of his showing throughout spring drills. "I think he's coming in with a new focus ever since the winter and he has been ready to go and has made a lot of plays," tight ends coach Ricky Rahne said. "His blocking has gotten a lot better, and I just see a kid who is really maturing and ready to help us on the field in a much more substantial level." OFFENSIVE LINE OBJECTIVES Penn State needed to find a new center following Brian Gaia's grad- uation while building cohesion even with two potential starters – tackles Brendan Mahon and Andrew Nelson – still recov- ering from injuries. ACCOMPLISHMENTS The Lions do appear to have found their center. It's looking more and more as though Connor McGovern will handle the position, at least to start the season. McGovern started nine games at guard last year, but he played center in high school and saw practice snaps at a variety of spots as an early enrollee last spring. "I was thrown around in all different positions: tackle, guard, left tackle," Mc- Govern said. "That taught me a lot about how everyone else is thinking on the field, so it helps me a lot more with my calls, too, at center. I need to come out a leader every single day and be more vocal and try to be more confident and make sure everyone else knows what's going on." In the spring game, McGovern started at center for the Blue, with returning starters Ryan Bates and Chasz Wright at tackle and Zach Simpson and Mike Mi- randa at guard. Simpson is a redshirt sophomore walk-on, while Miranda is a true freshman who enrolled in January. That's probably not how the line will look come September, but much depends on whether Mahon and Nelson are healthy. Mahon could play guard or tackle, and while Nelson has been used exclusively at tackle during his college career, there's been some speculation that he, too, could move inside if needed. In addition, Michal Menet missed the spring game with an apparent injury. The redshirt freshman could potentially fit in at guard or center, and no matter which position he ends up playing this fall, he's expected to have a significant impact. Overall, this unit remains a work in progress, but it appears to have the play- ers it needs in order to excel this fall. The White offensive line in the spring game featured a Rose Bowl starter in Steven Gonzalez and two promising younger players in Will Fries and Sterling Jenkins, so the team's depth is continuing to im- prove. As for the composition of this year's starting five, that probably won't be known until Aug. 29, when Penn State releases its depth chart for the Kent State game. DEFENSIVE LINE OBJECTIVES With Garrett Sickels and Evan Schwan both leaving, the Nittany Lions needed to find two starting defen- sive ends. ACCOMPLISHMENTS That search is apparently ongoing. To hear Franklin tell it, both starting defensive end positions were still up for grabs coming out of spring practice. Said the coach, "I don't think we're going to completely figure this thing out until [preseason] camp." The leading candidates for the starting

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