Nittany Lions ready to roar
By Ryan Rodriguez
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The last few years of Penn State football have been just about everything you can imagine that runs tangential to packing 100,000 people into Beaver Stadium every Saturday.
Two coaching changes, a uniform controversy, and the implementation and subsequent removal of some of the biggest sanctions the NCAA has ever handed down to a Division-I football program have engulfed the Nittany Lions in the past few years.
Now, with the sanctions removed and the four-year bowl ban lifted, head coach James Franklin is happy to just talk about football.
“Just so many positive things falling into place right now. Really happy for our kids and our program,” he said. We’re coming into this season with nothing floating over our heads. They have the ability to be able to chase their dreams at the very, very highest level. So really, really excited.”
Penn State ended its 2014 campaign with a win over Boston College in the Pinstripe Bowl in Yankee Stadium, its first bowl appearance since 2011.
Finishing on a high note last year has had lasting effects on the mental state of the program, which appears to be slowly but surely building itself back up to where it was prior to the child sex-abuse scandal that resulted in an indictment four years ago.
“When you get a win in a bowl game in general, it sends you off on an awesome note,” senior defensive tackle Anthony Zettel said. “That game was a huge battle, and overall, we got a great team moment.”
A defense that was pretty close to elite in 2014 will most likely return in similar form this season, and if QB Christian Hackenberg and the Nittany Lion offensive line see big improvements, Penn State could be dominant on both sides of the ball for the first time in a while.
And when you factor in a rather favorable schedule (Ohio State and Michigan State are the Lions’ only tough matchups on the road), 10 wins seem more and more like a possibility.
“We have a two-deep at every position now that’s available to play in games,” Franklin said. “Some positions are three deep, which I know sounds crazy. But the way we’re going to be able to practice, the way we’re going to be able to develop, it’s going to have a major impact on everything. So excited about the opportunity.”
And while Hackenberg will be the G.O.A.T. if the Nittany Lions win and simply a scapegoat if they lose, his impact as a quarterback on the game is still largely tied to his offensive line, a unit that was one of the worst in all of college football last season.
The team finished dead last in scoring offense and second to last in total offense in the Big Ten last season, and it allowed more sacks than anyone else.
While both of those things simply have to improve for Penn State to have a chance, many around the program are confident that they have.
“I think the meshing [among the offensive linemen] has been really noticeable over the summer,” senior center Angelo Mangerio said. “It’s not even just seeing it but feeling it. Having a feel where you know everyone knows his role.”
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