Blue White Illustrated

A t the end of last September, Penn State was coming o8 an extremely disappointing and embarrassing 49- 10 loss to Michigan, and its prospects were looking uncertain, to put it chari- tably, heading into the heart of the Big Ten season. There couldn't have been many people in the Beaver Stadium press box for the Nittany Lions' Big Ten home opener against Minnesota who believed this team had even a ghost of a chance of 7nishing at or near the top of the league's highly competitive East Di- vision. Penn State's remaining Big Ten sched- ule still included three games against teams that had been ranked in the pre- season top 15: Ohio State, Iowa and Michigan State. James Franklin and his sta8 seemed headed for their third con- secutive 7-6 record, maybe worse. And then everything changed. Begin- ning with an emotional second-half comeback and overtime win over the Gophers on Oct. 1, the Lions won nine in a row, including an upset victory over No. 2 Ohio State and a thrilling come- from-behind win over Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game. Coming o8 that breakthrough 11-3 season, Penn State's expectations head- ing into the 2017 campaign were com- pletely di8erent than they'd been the year before. And for the most part, those expectations were ful7lled in the team's 7rst two games of the season, victories over Akron (52-0) and Pitt (33-14). The Lions then faced Georgia State on Sept. 16 in their nonconference 7nale before heading to Iowa for their Big Ten opener the following week. Saquon Barkley and Trace McSorley took turns spearheading Penn State's o8ensive attack in those 7rst two games, with Barkley doing nothing to detract from his Heisman Trophy candidacy. With the Big Ten season now under way, I'd like to take a position-by-posi- tion look at this year's team to see how things are shaping up in comparison to last year. Let's begin on o8ense. QUARTERBACK Going into Penn State's game with Georgia State, Franklin and o8ensive coordinator Joe Moorhead had to be pleased with their situation here compared to last September. In 2016, Moorhead's o8ensive philosophy was still new to both McSorley and backup Tommy Stevens, and there had to be some concerns regarding the team's depth at quarterback given that McSor- ley received 100 percent of the snaps against Kent State, Pitt, Temple and Michigan. McSorley struggled in critical situa- tions in losses to the Panthers and Wolverines, and because Barkley hadn't yet hit his stride – he only topped 100 yards rushing in one game last Septem- ber – Penn State was not able to estab- lish a balanced attack. That was a huge problem. As Moorhead stated before the season, balance was essential for his of- fense to operate at peak e9ciency. This year, McSorley might end up av- eraging fewer passing yards per game during Penn State's 7ve-game Septem- ber schedule than he did during the same month in 2016, but that's because he has a better grasp of Moorhead's run- pass option o8ense. It's a system that combines West Coast passing concepts with a zone-based power running game and a no-huddle approach. The quarter- back must be as prepared to run as he is to throw. It's a philosophy that McSorley ap- pears to have totally embraced. Against Akron and Pitt, he completed 33 of 53 passes (62.3 percent) for 444 yards, with 7ve touchdown passes and two inter- ceptions, one of which was on a Hail Mary at the end of the 7rst half vs. the Panthers. In the meantime, he has dramatically increased his role in the running game compared to last September. In Penn State's 7rst four games last year, McSor- ley rushed 41 times for 32 yards, averag- ing less than a yard per carry. In his 7rst two games this season, he was Penn State's second-leading rusher both times, totaling 113 yards and averaging 5.7 yards per carry with one rushing touchdown. What those numbers illustrate more than anything is how thoroughly Mc- Sorley understands what he needs to do in Moorhead's o8ense. He looks to have a very good command of the philosophy that the Nittany Lions' second-year of- fensive coordinator has imparted. When you add Stevens' development in spring practice and the faith that Franklin and Moorhead have shown in the Lions' capacity to run their o8ense at full speed with either McSorley or Stevens in the game (or both at the same time), one can't help but think that the quarterback position is light years ahead of where it was at this time a year ago. RUNNING BACK As noted above, Barkley's only 100-yard game last Sep- tember was in the opener against Kent State, in which he rushed 22 times for 105 yards. All told, in the Nittany Lions' 7rst four games, he gained 317 yards on 66 carries for an average of 4.8 yards per carry. In Penn State's 7rst two games this year against Akron and Pitt, Barkley rushed for 260 yards on 28 carries, aver- aging 9.3 yards per carry. Last Septem- ber, few college football pundits were citing him as one of the nation's top 7ve running backs. But a:er his perform- PHIL'S CORNER Nonconference games showcase program's steady improvement

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