Penn State football sets stage for critical offseason development: Notebook
Penn State head coach James Franklin was exuberant. Meeting with the media following the Nittany Lions’ Blue-White Game at Beaver Stadium on Saturday afternoon, he had reason to be.
And none of it needed to do with anything that had transpired on the field over the two hours prior.
Having brought together the Penn State community for the day, a program that has turned the page from an 11-2 Rose Bowl-winning campaign into a new-look, promise-filled version of itself had the opportunity to put a bow on its spring practices. That they did so without sustaining any injuries, while producing a few highlights and obvious areas for improvement, made Franklin that much happier even though rain drenched the area through much of the morning leading into the scrimmage.
“I think we would have had a lot more people in the stadium if the rain didn’t scare some people off,” Franklin said. “But it was great work, in… Beaver Stadium, in front of fans, on TV, in a competitive environment. I thought the team was broken up to be competitive and I thought it really was; there was a lot of value in that.”
On an afternoon in which the outcome, a 10-0 win for the Blue team over the White team, was of no importance, here’s a look at how Franklin views the program coming out of its spring practices and into a critical stretch of summer months.
Penn State football spring notebook
1) They’ll be back
A review of the game will be critical to seeing who played, and how much, on Saturday afternoon. The Nittany Lions have been without some expected key contributors throughout the spring, and that remained the case for the Blue-White Game.
But, within the 48 minutes of running clock, Franklin reported no new injuries. And more importantly, the absences and light work that have accompanied the spring session for those players – Tyler Elsdon, Dom DeLuca, Hakeem Beamon, Davon Townley, Coziah Izzard, Jaylen Reed, Tyrece Mills, Theo Johnson, Tyler Warren, Landon Tengwall, Ibrahim Traore, and Anthony Donkoh chief among them – will not carry into the preseason.
“I think you guys saw that there were some guys that weren’t dressed. We anticipate all those guys being back,” Franklin said. “Just some bumps and bruises and things like that. We expect all those guys to be back and ready to go. They just weren’t ready to go this spring.”
All things considered, for Penn State football and Franklin, that’s a good place to be.
2) Penn State receiving line
Franklin has been talking about Penn State’s receivers ahead of the 2023 season since, really, the Rose Bowl. Given the absences of Mitch Tinsley and Parker Washington, the Nittany Lions’ top two targets last year, the vacancies would need to be filled with or without an obvious heir apparent after KeAndre Lambert-Smith.
Through the spring, Franklin identified KLS and Tre Wallace as separating themselves from the rest of the group. By the end of the afternoon Saturday, Omari Evans took steps to join that group with his five receptions for 80 yards and a touchdown on seven targets.
An opportunity to show some consistency and playmaking, at times lacking at the position this spring, Franklin praised Evans, Kaden Saunders, Anthony Ivey, and transfer Malik McClain for having nice afternoons. But, critically, he also reframed the conversation as to who and what Penn State needs from the position moving forward.
The answer? More.
“We need more wideouts to compete at a high level, and I’m not talking about even from outside,” Franklin said. “We need six guys that we feel like we could win the Big Ten with. And I think we have six guys on our current roster that could do it, but they got to step up.”
Franklin has high aspirations for the program this season. The Nittany Lions need quarterbacks and wideouts that can change the game and deliver the offense to those heights.
Whether that’s Evans attempting to separate into becoming the clear third, Dante Cephas entering the fray next month, or a pack of backups establishing themselves as consistent, viable options, their progression with Drew Allar and Beau Pribula this offseason will be critical to doing so.
3) Being defensive
Penn State’s quarterbacks weren’t able to put up especially gaudy numbers on the afternoon. Nor could the same be said of the Nittany Lion running backs or receivers on either team.
Straightforward in nature, Penn State’s defense is expected to be excellent this season, extending beyond the first-team unit across the board. Shown off in the form of Dani Dennis-Sutton consistently reaching the backfield for the White team, or K.J. Winston involved in seemingly every play, both “second-team” performers if a depth chart was insisted upon today, the Nittany Lions have a unit worthy of excitement for its talent and depth.
A group that tested Penn State’s offense all spring, the iron-sharpens-iron philosophy will remain important for both sides of the ball into the summer months. Needing an offense that can scare opponents as much as the Nittany Lion defense does, and will, the impact of an offseason of endless repetitions, against that same defense, will be critical toward reaching those goals.
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