April 2, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Nittany Lions have reached the mid-way point of spring practices.
With 14 opportunities to take the practice field, head coach James Franklin and the Nittany Lions have 14 chances to get better before the spring practice period culminates with the 15th session of the spring on April 18 in Beaver Stadium at the Blue-White Game presented by AAA.
Seven practices in to the spring ball, the Lions are confident in the progress being made on both sides of the ball and on special teams. Year two in the staff's systems certainly plays a role in the team's overall step forward and comfort level this spring, but the players' workmanlike approach to winter conditioning, meetings and practices have all contributed to the step forward in 2015.
"There has definitely been a lot of progress," senior cornerback Trevor Williams said. "Our chemistry is a lot stronger. The coaches do such a good job of putting us in positions to be successful."
Spend two minutes around a Penn State spring practice and one can't help but marvel at the level of competition from everyone on the field. It starts with Coach Franklin, but each position coach, graduate assistant and player relishes in the opportunity to compete with one another on the field. As Franklin says, iron sharpens iron.
"It's so much fun to be in a competitive environment like practice," senior defensive end Carl Nassib said. "When guys are going around making plays and yelling, it psyches everyone up. No one wants to go out for practice and be dragging, so while you are out there, you want to have fun and get better. It's all about getting better."
On offense, the leader of the unit is a guy who is no stranger to the starting spot. A rising junior, Christian Hackenberg now has 25 games of starting experience under his belt. Working through spring practices for the second time in his career, the Virginia native is excited about the growth and development of each offensive grouping around him. With the offense's continued development on a unit-by-unit level, Hackenberg has spent more time this spring focused on refining specific areas in his game.
"Last year, I had my mind spread out across a lot of different things within the offense to help everyone get better, but I think now with everyone coming along and taking those steps, I can sort of focus more on myself and areas that I need to improve in," said Hackenberg. "There are always things I can do there. That's been a big focus for me. Whether it is Mondays where I focus on mechanics and footwork and then Wednesdays I work on my reads and my `Mike' (linebacker) pointing to make sure those are sharp and on point and then on Saturday it's making sure I have everything on point with pre-snap reads, post-snap confirmation and then going out and executing."
Defensively, the mantra is clear - championship level. Yes, the Nittany Lions had a superb season on defense in 2014, but this year's unit wants to be even better. As coordinator Bob Shoop urges, the next step is for the defense to become championship-level. How does the defense get there? It starts with hard work, but confidence plays a big role.
"It's a lot of intensity. A lot of guys fly around," said Williams. "Every day, we challenge each other to make plays, create turnovers, put the offense in better spots and just work to make this defense a championship defense."
With five months separating the middle of spring practice and the first game of 2015 (Sept. 5 at Temple), the window of opportunity for continued growth is a big one. And the combination of confidence, competition and an unrivaled work ethic set forth this spring has the team and its individual units on the way to a strong start to preparations for the 2015 season.
"We are really focusing on a lot of things that we learned last year, taking the things we did well and building on them, and then taking the negatives and working on them," Hackenberg said. "I think it's a development of the process. It's been going really well."
Penn State will practice seven more times between Saturday and April 17 before wrapping spring ball up with the Blue-White game at 4 p.m. on April 18 (BTN). As has been the case in previous years, admission and parking are free for the spring game.