After awhile, James Franklin had gotten used to the empty stands. After hours of watching film from the past season, the Penn State coach stopped finding it strange to see mostly cardboard cutouts in the bleachers of Big Ten stadiums.
But he’s happy for that to change.
The pandemic, of course, still presents challenges. Things are not back to normal for the Nittany Lions, nor are they for college football as a whole.
Compared to last year, though, there’s a much different feeling heading into the season as Penn State prepares for Saturday’s opener at Wisconsin.
“There’s still a lot of things that I think we are all doing to try to navigate this in the best way we possibly can,” Franklin said Tuesday. “But I will tell you even with that, there’s just so much excitement. I was excited last Saturday. We practiced early in the morning and were ahead from a game plan perspective, so I was excited. We had the Big Ten game up on the Jumbotron at the end of our practice Saturday, and I just kind of sat in there and watched a little bit of it.
“… Now, again, don’t misinterpret what I’m saying. We’ve all got to work really hard to do it as safe as we possibly can do it, and we’re all going to have to make sacrifices to make sure that we can keep it. But I do think it’s important, and I think with people being thoughtful and caring of others, not just ourselves, I think we can do this.”
For their part, the Lions are feeling much better about their chances on the field in 2021 after spending much of last fall practicing in small groups en route to the worst start in program history.
Whereas last year’s team had locker room issues, particularly as the losses mounted, a few players have gone out of their way to talk about the difference this time around.
Star wideout Jahan Dotson called this team “closer than any I’ve been around.”
“The camaraderie around this team, I’ve never been around anything like it.”
That will be tested early in Saturday’s trip to Madison, one of just two games in which the Lions were installed as preseason underdogs.
Franklin is optimistic, but he’s also waiting to see the team in action first. He also noted, understandably, that the unique nature of last season makes it hard to use it as any kind of measuring stick.
“It’s just hard to compare because we didn’t really get any of those (bonding experiences because of COVID-19 restrictions) last year,” Franklin said. “Is it that this team is closer than any team I’ve been around, or does it just feel magnified after going through what we went through last year?
“I’m not really sure and I don’t know if it’s fair to compare and contrast, but either way I think we have a very close team.”
Under wraps
For the first time in Franklin’s eight seasons at Penn State, the program is not publicly releasing a depth chart, and doesn’t plan to do so for the entire season.
Franklin cited seven other Big Ten programs — including Michigan and Ohio State — who “either were not releasing it or were thinking about not releasing it,” Franklin said. “So it just didn’t make sense for us to do it if others weren’t.”
There weren’t many question marks regarding starters heading into the season for the Lions. One spot with some uncertainty remains the left guard job, which Franklin said will feature a rotation between Lackawanna College product Anthony Whigan and recent arrival Eric Wilson, a grad transfer from Harvard.
“Both have shown some really good things,” Franklin said. “Obviously Whigan has been with us for a while and has really had the right attitude and approach and has really worked his tail off.
“Eric’s a young man who transferred in. I think it was an adjustment when he first got here, but he continues to get better. They’ll both play on Saturday.”
Penn State could have as many as three former Lackawanna players start on Saturday if Whigan gets the nod along with returning standout Jaquan Brisker and fellow safety Ji’Ayir Brown.
Franklin also acknowledged that Ta’Quan Roberson will serve as the top backup at quarterback behind Sean Clifford following the offseason transfers of Will Levis (Kentucky) and Micah Bowens (Oklahoma).
“He’s done some really nice things. He’s thrown for a high percentage,” Franklin said of Roberson. “For a while there, his attempts without an interception was ridiculously high. He had thrown a bunch of balls without turning the ball over.
“The ball jumps off his hand. When he’s confident pre-snap with what to do, he’s very effective post-snap. It’s getting him consistently really confident pre-snap with what we’re trying to do and why and how. I think he’s opened a lot of eyes this camp. We’d love to get him some reps where we can, meaningful reps in games.”