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Penn State Football: 5 Changes James Franklin must make to turn program around

By Andrew Adair

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - DECEMBER 03: James Franklin, head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions, celebrates with the Big Ten Championship trophy after Penn State beat the Wisconsin Badgers 38-31 at Lucas Oil Stadium on December 3, 2016 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - DECEMBER 03: James Franklin, head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions, celebrates with the Big Ten Championship trophy after Penn State beat the Wisconsin Badgers 38-31 at Lucas Oil Stadium on December 3, 2016 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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Penn State Football
Head coach James Franklin of the Penn State Nittany Lions points to running back Saquon Barkley /

Commitment to the Running Game

Penn State Football under James Franklin has been defined by the running backs.

The program took off once Saquon Barkley became a starter at Penn State. It didn’t miss a beat after Barkley graduated and Miles Sanders took over. The train kept rolling once Journey Brown took over.

That’s two NFL starters and would’ve been a third if Brown didn’t have a medical issue. When you faced Penn State Football, you knew that you had to commit to stopping the run. That opened everything up for the passing game.

Trace McSorley was great because he was playing with Barkley and Sanders.

Sean Clifford is good enough for Penn State Football to win games, but the lack of the running game has made Penn State too one-dimensional. To win national titles, you have to be balanced or have a generational talent.

Franklin and staff are making it very clear that they know there is an issue in this area. The program just added the number one running back recruit, Nicholas Singleton. The program has also added a top transfer portal offensive lineman in Hunter Nourzad. These are just the immediate impacts.

On the recruiting trail, Penn State is attacking the offensive line position. James Franklin, with Phil Trautwein, have already signed four offensive line recruits. Two of which are top 100 rated recruits nationally. This is the right mentality for the program to recommit to the running game.

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