Lions embrace excitement, unknowns that come with opener

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Last summer as Trace McSorley walked around campus in the week leading up to the Nitany Lions' season opener the quarterback couldn't help but feel a mix of nervousness and excitement.

"The Friday before [the game] I was walking around going to class and had butterflies and stuff," the redshirt junior said Wednesday on a conference call. "But once I kind of got to Saturday and we got going and kind of into our game-day routine it started to go away once we were running around. ... All the butterflies go away once you start running around and playing."

McSorley, seemingly the captain of cool who oozes confidence and has the lofty stats from last year's break-out campaign to back it, said those Week-1 jitters haven't gone away as he enters his second season opener. He'd be surprised if they ever do.

"With it being a new year you never know how it's going to play out," he said. "We just want to get back out there and get back to playing in front of our fans again."



Overcoming the anticipation and excitement that comes with a new season and all the hoopla -- from the time the team steps off the bus 2.5 hours before kick until it links arms and then runs through the tunnel -- can't be drilled. Sure, Penn State went through scrimmages in Beaver Stadium during camp so the younger players could get used to the environment, and the staff will have every detail ironed out down to which seniors will share their story with the team the night before the game.

But, there's also an element of surprise that comes into play and if there's one thing about football coaches -- and James Franklin even described himself this way before -- it's that they're creatures of habit who hate surprises.

"The first game of the year is always challenging because you just don't completely know what you're going to get," Franklin said on Tuesday. "What off-season study have they done? What off-season studies have we done? We've tweaked some things. Have they lost some players? Do they have some injuries that they are not communicating right now with the roster and the depth chart and the camp? It's not completely accurate and you just don't really know."

Unlike the countless pass patterns and hurry-up situations the Lions rehearsed for the past month, come Saturday afternoon figuring out how to react to any changes, whether in personnel, scheme, panic mode or otherwise can't be totally scripted. Coming off a training camp that Franklin said was the "most consistent" camp he's ever been a part of, this is where the Lions' more experienced roster should come into play.

Remember those pesky slow starts for the offense last year? The players and coaches attributed them to the 2016 Lions being a young team.

Remember the fresh faces on the offensive line where first-year starters like Ryan Bates and Connor McGovern were jumping in head first? Now they have a year of experience and they're in line to be the starting left tackle and the starting center.

And those linebackers who were decimated by injuries and in the process Cam Brown's redshirt was burned because of it? They too built valuable depth and have experience that makes this opening day, one that will likely be played in front of somewhere around 100,000 people, feel like not that big of a deal. After many of these players appeared in the Big Ten title game and the Rose Bowl last season there won't be many bigger stages to adjust to this time around.

For the three true freshman, Lamont Wade, Tariq Castro-Fields and Yetur Gross-Matos, who are expected to make their collegiate debuts on Saturday, they'll have plenty of calming influences around them. The player tasked with running the offense certainly is one of them.

"Trace is just a natural-born leader," tight end Jon Holland said Wednesday morning. "It's really to the point where we look up at him as one of the biggest leaders on our team."

PRIDE ON THE LINE

Penn State's desire to use their best players on special teams is a philosophy that won't change. In order for this group to be an equal third phase they need their best players contributing and after laying the groundwork the past three seasons they now have upperclassmen who pride themselves on playing on as many special teams units as possible.

"I should be on almost all of the special teams units," cornerback Amani Oruwariye said on Wednesday. "I take a lot of pride in it and coach [Charles] Huff harps on how big special teams is for our team and not only can you contribute on defense, but special teams is what a lot of guys get noticed for at the next level so that's something you gotta embrace."

While special teams was once viewed as the quickest path to the field -- and it will be for the three true freshmen expected to play on Saturday -- booting some of these veterans like starting cornerback Grant Haley off a special teams unit or two to keep him fresh doesn't come easy. Holland, a redshirt sophomore tight end, will also continue to have a large role on special teams.

"I'm kind of one of the guys who has been doing it longer than some of the other guys that are going to be on there," Holland said. "Being a leader on our special teams I have to make sure everything is completed the way it's supposed to be."

SMITH SETTLED IN

Linebacker Brandon Smith was thrust into a large role last season because of injuries and this year he'll be relied on to provide valuable depth for a linebacking corps that isn't as slim as it once was, but still could be deeper.

Often times players speak of that moment when the game slows down for them and they're able to just react rather than thinking about doing everything right. Smith, a fifth-year senior who is in the process of applying to medical school, said his moment came last year in the game against Temple.

"It took me about two series to get comfortable and to trust in the preparation, trust in the process and all the work we've put in as a team," Smith said. "It takes an opportunity to get comfortable. Once you're into it it's the same thing we've been practicing, the same thing we've been watching on film over and over again."

While the Lions haven't given and freshman linebackers the green light thus far, Smith said that Ellis Brooks, who enrolled in June, is starting to get the defense down.

"Even when he wasn't always sure what to do it seemed like he was always at the ball," Smith said. "It's a great thing to see when they don't know what they're doing they get nervous, overthink it and just stand there, but whether he was right or wrong he made himself right because he would get to the ball and make a play."

QUICK HITS

• Walk-on cornerback Desi Davis was awarded a scholarship, per his brother who took to Twitter to share the news. Davis wasn't listed on the Lions' Week 1 depth chart that was released Tuesday, but was the Scout Team Player of the Year last season. With cornerback TJ Johnson opting last week to transfer to Cincinnati that likely opened up the spot and rather than waste the scholarship for the semester the Lions will put Davis on it, presumably just for this semester.

• Creating turnovers was a focal point all offseason and the goal for the defense is three takeaways per practice, Oruwariye said. We'll see if Penn State can get off on the right foot with that one on Saturday. One of the more interesting stats surrounding this team is that safety Marcus Allen, who started since part way through his freshman season, has yet to record a pick.

• You never know how most of these conference calls are going to go, but Holland, who lists ceramics as a hobby on his team bio page, said the passion he had for the subject had to be put to rest when he got to college. Why? The ceramics class Penn State offers students is a three-hour course that conflicts with football practice time.

"I was really invested in it," he said. "I loved how relaxing it was for me. We did art shows in high school where a lot of our pieces were showcased and stuff like that. ... It's something I was really passionate about back in high school."

• James Franklin and wide receiver DaeSean Hamilton will meet with the media Wednesday around 6:15 p.m. following practice. Intern Waiss David Aramesh and DK will join me for the coverage.