2016 Schedule Look Ahead: Ohio State at Penn State – Eleven Warriors

From strictly an on-field football standpoint, there is one considerable theme at Penn State heading into James Franklin’s third season: Change.

Both offensive and defensive coordinators from the 2015 season are gone, either fired or moved on to a new job. Starting quarterback Christian Hackenberg bolted as quickly as he could to the NFL, Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Carl Nassib now plays for the Cleveland Browns and multi-year starter at defensive tackle Anthony Zettel graduated.

New faces are everywhere, as Franklin realizes it is now or never for him in State College. Back-to-back 7-6 seasons and a 6-10 Big Ten record mostly with Bill O’Brien’s roster is nothing to write home about. Now with three recruiting classes of his own players in the fold and scholarship reductions stemming from the Jerry Sandusky child abuse scandal lifted, it is time to produce.

Let’s take a closer look at the Nittany Lions.

Offense

A messy divorce on Penn State’s offense finally ended when quarterback Christian Hackenberg declared for the 2016 NFL Draft shortly following his team’s 24-17 loss to Georgia in the Taxslayer Bowl.

He and head coach James Franklin never meshed on or off the field, and Hackenberg reportedly blamed him for the statistical decline during his sophomore and junior seasons at Penn State. Hackenberg threw for nearly 3,000 yards and 20 touchdowns against only 10 interceptions in 2013 for Bill O’Brien but then had a combined 28 scores against 21 picks while his completion percentage plummeted the last two seasons for Franklin.

There is no doubt Hackenberg’s inconsistency hurt Penn State’s offense immensely. However, it also didn’t help that the offensive line in front of him was flat out atrocious. Opponents sacked Hackenberg 44 times in 2014 and 39 more times last season, easily the highest number in the Big Ten both years.

For Franklin, that unit is where he must see immediate improvement in Year 3. The scholarship reductions hurt, but with those lifted it simply has to perform better. Matt Limegrover is Franklin’s new line coach, coming over from Minnesota to replace Herb Hand (who took the same job at Auburn).

Trace McSorley, Tommy Stevens and early enrollee Jake Zembiec are in a battle to replace Hackenberg, all Franklin recruits and thus fits for his and new coordinator Joe Moorhead’s uptempo spread attack. Saquon Barkley is one of the nation’s great young talents at running back — he rushed for 1,076 yards and seven touchdowns as a true freshman in 2015, passing incumbent Akeel Lynch for the lead role.

Talent is readily available at wide receiver, too. Chris Godwin became just the third Nittany Lion ever to record 1,000 yards receiving in a season last year, tallying 1,101 yards to go with five touchdowns. DaeSean Hamilton (six touchdowns, nearly 600 receiving yards) also returns.

Geno Lewis graduated and transferred to Oklahoma to play out his final year of eligibility, but left behind three talented would-be juniors in his wake: Godwin, Hamilton and Saeed Blacknall. There is plenty for Moorhead and Franklin to work with.

Penn State finished 106th in the country in total and rushing offense last year. The Nittany Lions were also 126th in third down conversion rate (27.6 percent). There is nowhere to go but up.

Defense

The Nittany Lion defense made Penn State formidable enough to win seven games last year, mainly due to a strong defensive line that included Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Carl Nassib (nation-leading 15.5 sacks) and two-time All-Big Ten performer Anthony Zettel (20 career sacks). They are both gone, as well as nose tackle Austin Johnson.

Those losses are significant for new defensive coordinator Brent Pry, who Franklin promoted from co-coordinator and linebackers coach when Bob Shoop left for Tennessee. Pry is set to key on Garrett Sickels, Evan Schwan, Torrence Brown and Curtis Cothran at end to step in for Nassib. Parker Cothren, Antoine White and Robert Windsor are next up on the interior but have plenty of work to do to get at the same level Johnson and Zettel played the last two seasons.

Leading tackler Jason Cabinda returns to lead a strong linebacking corps, one that includes senior Brandon Bell. Penn State tied for fourth in the Big Ten in turnover margin last season but needs its secondary to make more plays on the ball. The Nittany Lions only had 10 interceptions in 13 games.

Shoop’s exit is a huge loss for Franklin’s program, but Penn State’s defense still has plenty of capable bodies to be a strong unit under Pry. Plus, anytime the Nittany Lions play at home under the lights like they will against Ohio State their defense has a distinct advantage due to the raucous crowd behind it.

The pressure is on James Franklin in 2016 to beat somebody other than the Rutgers and Indianas of the world. Fortunately for him, he gets Ohio State, Michigan State and even Iowa at home this fall.

Two of those games are under the lights, first against Urban Meyer and Ohio State in the program’s annual White Out. J.T. Barrett and the Buckeyes wasted Penn State 38-10 last season in Columbus, but it took two overtimes for them to escape Happy Valley in 2014.

Two new coordinators, a new offensive line coach and his third recruiting class set the table for Franklin to do more than just win seven games. He has his own quarterbacks to choose from, too, so excuses for another underperforming season are flying out the window.

The Buckeyes visit Beaver Stadium for their second straight road night game as Big Ten season picks up. No easy task for any team, let alone one with so much youth on its roster. Look for this matchup to be key in the race to win the Big Ten East.

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