Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/847744
T here are a lot of reasons to be excited about the upcoming Penn State football season. But the main reason why I believe the Nittany Lions have the potential to win their second consecu- tive Big Ten East Division title and re- turn to both the conference championship game and the Rose Bowl – this time to play in a College Football Playo: semi9nal – is that James Franklin understands that his program is not yet a 9nished product, despite its success last year. That might sound paradoxical, but it's not. At his news conference following the Blue-White Game, Franklin made it clear that he doesn't want Penn State's 2016 conference championship to instill a feeling of complacency that might im- pede future growth. The Nittany Lions held a picnic a;er the spring game in which players re- ceived their championship rings. As Franklin described it beforehand, the occasion was to be the team's last chance to revel in the glories of the 2016 season. "We're going to give the rings out, and then we're never going to talk about this Big Ten championship again," he said. "It's over. We enjoyed it. It was awe- some. A lot of hard work went into it. We're going to give them the rings and walk out of the building. We're fully on to 2017 and we're not discussing those things again." From the start of the o:-season in January, Franklin has been relaying that message to everyone who has a hand in the program's success, from players to coaches to support sta:. To hear his as- sistants tell it, the message has been in- ternalized by everyone in the Lasch Building. "There's no looking back," defensive coordinator Brent Pry said at the end of spring practice. "It now seems like our Big Ten championship was a couple of years ago. We all knew that the only way our program could build on the success we experienced this past season was if we entered spring practice totally focused on what we face this upcoming fall." It's a message that Penn State's entire team seemed to embrace throughout spring practice. And in my opinion, it's the reason why the Nittany Lions ap- peared to come out of their o:-season drills having made signi9cant progress in six areas that could determine whether they equal or exceed last year's accomplishments. Let's take a closer look at those areas: QUARTERBACK Trace McSorley may have enjoyed a record-breaking 2016 season, but as Ohio State showed two years earlier when it won a national championship with backup Cardale Jones running the o:ense, depth at this position is absolutely critical. Going into spring practice in mid-March, it was unclear whether Penn State's backup quarterback, redshirt sophomore Tommy Stevens, was prepared to take over the reins should McSorley be forced to miss playing time for an extended pe- riod. That's why I considered Stevens' de- velopment to be one of the most impor- tant aspects of spring practice. Coming o: his performance in the Blue-White Game, in which he completed 17 of 23 passes for 216 yards and three touch- downs, I'm con9dent that the Lions have developed a bit of depth at this crucial position. Franklin told reporters that Stevens' showing in the Lions' intrasquad game was indicative of the way he performed throughout spring practice. "What you guys are starting to see more of, we've been seeing from Stevens in practice all spring," he said. "I think we have two quarterbacks we can work with. … I'm glad we have two guys we can feel good about." Stevens saw very little action during the 2016 season, and on those occasions when he did get on the 9eld, he ran more than he passed. Playing in seven games, he completed only 2 of 3 passes for 36 yards while rushing for 198 yards on 21 carries. He averaged 9.4 yards per carry with two rushing touchdowns. It wasn't just Franklin who noticed Stevens' development this spring. Pry described himself as "a big Tommy Stevens fan." "Tommy's just so tough and aggres- sive. He's just a gamer," Pry said. "That's what we love about him. I could easily see him lining up on the defensive side of the football. "Tommy Stevens, to me, in 75 percent of the programs out there, he's a starter." The combination of McSorley and Stevens gives Penn State what I believe to be the Big Ten's best one-two punch at quarterback. They may be the Nittany Lions' best QB combo since Todd Black- ledge and Je: Hostetler teamed up in 1980. WIDE RECEIVER Another key develop- ment in spring practice was the per- formance of redshirt sophomore wideout Juwan Johnson. With Chris Godwin electing to forgo his 9nal year of eligibility to enter the NFL Dra;, Penn State lost its leading receiver from the past two seasons. Godwin totaled 153 catches for 2,404 yards and 18 touch- downs. With the Nittany Lions returning nine starters from last season, replacing Godwin looked to be by far the team's biggest concern on o:ense heading into PHIL'S CORNER Progress in spring practice could enable PSU to make another title run