Blue White Illustrated

S P R I N G P R A C T I C E R E P O R T FRONT LOADED verything was going beautifully for Penn State with about 13 minutes to go in its game at Ohio State last Oc- tober. The Nittany Lions had a 35-20 lead, and Shareef Miller had just recovered a J.T. Barrett fumble at the Buckeyes' 42-yard line. If the Lions could get 15 or 20 yards, they could attempt a field goal. If they could get a field goal, they would take a three-score lead into the game's waning minutes. It seemed as though they were on their way to their most consequential vic- tory in Columbus in nearly a decade. But they weren't able to get those 15 yards. In fact, they weren't able to get any. Saquon Barkley took a 7- yard loss on first down, and their next two plays netted only 6. On fourth down, Ohio State blocked Blake Gillikin's punt at- tempt, and the Buckeyes needed only two plays to chop Penn State's lead down to one score. You know the rest. I'm not going to dwell on the end of that game any further – you're wel- come – except to make note of one key sta- tistic: After taking that 15-point lead late in the third quarter on a 37-yard pass to DeAndre Thompkins, Penn State at- tempted 12 running plays and gained only 18 yards. That total included six negative- yardage carries by Barkley. It did not in- clude a 5-yard sack of Trace McSorley on Penn State's final possession. Throw in the latter play, which was technically a run, and the Lions rushed for 13 yards on their final 13 carries of the afternoon. That's not how you run out the clock against a tal- ented opponent. Penn State did eventually regroup, win- ning four of its last five games to wrap up a very impressive 11-2 season, but that 39-38 loss to its border rival had huge conse- quences. Had the Lions held on at Ohio State, and had the rest of the Big Ten sea- son played out as it did, they would have played for the conference championship and had a shot at the College Football Play- off. But the Buckeyes won the battles up front, both on de- fense and offense, and so they went to Indianapolis instead. In so doing, they gave Penn State a reminder of where it needs to improve as it works to re-establish itself as a peren- nial championship contender. During James Franklin's coach- ing tenure, the Nittany Lions have been blessed with a wealth of skill position talent: Barkley, McSorley, Chris Godwin, Dae- LINE OF FIRE Connor McGovern gets ready to snap the ball against Nebraska. McGovern will be a junior in 2018, while Chasz Wright (77) will be a fifth-year senior. Brendan Mahon (70) is the only member of last season's starting five to graduate. Photo by Bill Ander- son Penn State has been celebrated for its collection of skill position talent, but a veteran offensive line could be the key to its success in 2018 E

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