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14
Penn State
The Nittany Lions dream of a title, but reality says
they'll need a healthy Aaron Harris to have any chance
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Brown has recovered from a dislocated thumb and should
wreak havoc.
(Tomasso
Derosa/SWSI)
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The dream
is vivid in his mind. "We begin with a win over
Southern Miss, and my knee starts getting back to
normal," says fullback Aaron Harris, tapping on a
schedule with his right hand as he sits in a conference
room in
Penn State's athletic offices. "We knock off
Bowling Green, then Pittsburgh. My knee's feeling stronger. Then,
against Ohio State in Columbus, my knee's 100 percent and
we upset the top-ranked team in the country. We give
Minnesota some payback the next week, and we're on our
way."
The vision doesn't end there. It goes on
to include
Big Ten and national titles,
capped by players carrying coach Joe
Paterno into the sunset on their shoulders. The dream doesn't show
us, however, who will play quarterback or tailback this
season, or how the Nittany Lions will replace six starters
from a defense that last season
couldn't stop the run, a fatal flaw in a
between-the-tackles kind of conference. All of which leads to the
problem with dreams: Sometimes they don't come true.
"We have a lot of holes on our team," says the
71-year-old Paterno, who is two wins shy of 300 career
victories. "We may eventually play ourselves into
being a great team, but we won't be one at the
start."
If Penn State is to come close to greatness, it will need
Harris, a junior, to rebound from the torn anterior
cruciate ligament he suffered in his right knee last October against
Minnesota. Before his injury, Harris—who did not
practice this spring—was
averaging 6.2 yards per carry. Paterno compares the injury to the one Blair Thomas suffered in
1987 and believes it will take Harris a full year to get
back up to speed. "He's a key for us," Paterno
says. "When he went down, it changed our
season."
Until Harris is completely healthy, he
will rotate at tailback with junior Cordell Mitchell and senior
Chris Eberly, neither of whom will remind anyone of Curtis
Enis (3,256 yards rushing, 38 touchdowns over three
seasons). For now, that leaves redshirt sophomore Mike
Cerimele as the fullback, a
late replacement for senior Anthony Cleary, who left the
team in mid-August. At quarterback, the candidates are
junior Kevin Thompson, a strong-armed, slow-footed, classic
drop-back-style quarterback, and sophomore Rashard Casey, a
run-pass threat in the
Nebraska mold. So perplexed is Paterno by the dilemma that
he hasn't dismissed the possibility of rotating the
two.
On defense, an inability to stop the run ultimately
undermined Penn State's season last year. The Nittany Lions
ranked 81st in the nation in run defense but should improve
in that area this year if for no other reason than junior
defensive end Courtney
Brown's having recovered from a dislocated left thumb; he
played in a cast for the final nine games last season and
still was named a second-team All-Big Ten player. Another
jewel on defense is junior linebacker Brandon Short. Not
only could Short become
Penn State's first consensus All-America on defense since
linebacker Shane Conlon in 1986, but he's also a leader on
a team that otherwise lacks leadership. This summer, for
example, it was Short who helped persuade about 30 players
to show up at the
school track every Friday at 5 a.m. to run laps in the predawn
darkness. That's the kind of thing that can turn a mediocre
team into a magical
one.
"It's easier to start the season with low
expectations," says Harris. "Last year we started
Number 1, and everyone gunned for us. Now it's our turn to
surprise."
In August, everyone can
dream.
—Lars Anderson
Fast Facts
1997 record: 9-3 (6-2, tied for 2nd in Big
Ten)
Final ranking: No. 16 AP, No. 17 coaches'
poll
| 1997 Averages | Offense | Defense |
| Scoring | 32.7 | 21.2 |
| Rushing Yards | 208.6 | 181.9 |
| Passing Yards | 213.9 | 217.5 |
| Total Yards | 422.6 | 399.4 |
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Pivotal Players
Titcus
Pettigrew, a junior wideout who
caught seven passes for 85 yards last season, played some strong
safety in the spring and could see action in the defensive
backfield
this
fall.... After
watching
the sublime play of junior cornerback
David Macklin this spring, coach Joe Paterno said, "By the time he
leaves, he may be the best we've ever had at
corner."
Key Games
Schedule strength: 33rd of
112
Oct. 3 at Ohio State
Penn State hasn't won
in Columbus in two tries since 1978. That streak won't be
snapped this
year.
Nov. 7 at Michigan
The Nittany Lions look to avenge last year's 34-8 drubbing.
A
New Year's Day bowl could be at
stake.
Bottom Line
The roster is loaded with high school
All-Americas, but inexperience in the backfield
makes this a third-place team in the Big
Ten.
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