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This may be one of Bill O’Brien’s last big runs with several key fifth-year seniors — on the roster and on the field — for awhile.
In 2012, of the team’s celebrated 31 seniors, 16 were fifth-year seniors (seven of whom began the season with their degrees already in hand).
In 2013, of the 15 Nittany Lion seniors in the final year of their eligibility, 13 should contribute in ways big and small when the season begins — and 10 of those 13 are fifth-year players.
Then there’s 2014, when the number of fifth-year (and sixth, if your name is Garry Gilliam) scholarship seniors will be no higher than 10 and could be as few as maybe even seven.
(Here are the 10; you decide how many will be asked to stay on next season: Brad Bars, Kyle Baublitz, Jesse Della Valle, Miles Dieffenbach, Gilliam, Mike Hull, Ryan Keiser, Alex Kenney, C.J. Olaniyan and Zach Zwinak.)
16. 10. 10 or less. Notice a trend? And that’s only through next season.
The downward number is borne of the NCAA sanctions, which will shrink the number of Penn State scholarship players to 65 in 2014. That, in large part, is forcing O’Brien to play freshmen ASAP – due to the reduced roster size requiring immediate contributions and being an important recruiting inducement.
(There is a flipside to the large number of fifth-year players last season; 11 scholarship freshmen — like Akeel Lynch, Malik Golden and Austin Johnson — didn’t play in 2012, and could be fifth-year players themselves in 2016, the next year Penn State is eligible for postseason play.)
Keeping a plethora of fifth-year scholarships players around – usually a bellwether of very good, if not great, teams; see Penn State, 1986 — ultimately would impact the number of freshmen O’Brien will be able to bring in.
That’s why, when O’Brien was asked about redshirting that incoming quarterback named Hackenberg, in his reply he was not just talking about Christian-ity, but getting that first-year on-the-field religion as well.
“…Look, you bring these guys in, they are on full scholarship,” O’Brien said on Monday. “Unless they are injured, you’re going to put them in the mix and let them compete – and you’re going to play the best players.”
“You are looking to go out there and put your best football team on the field Aug. 31 (vs. Syracuse). We are a long, long away from that. But we don’t really look at anybody and say we are definitely going to redshirt you.”
O’Brien is usually a big fan of redshirting linemen. They not only need to add beef and strength as freshmen, but those positions require much more technique and nuances than most other positions (not quarterback, obviously).
“The farther you get away from the ball – the skill positions – if you have the athletic ability, it’s a bit easier to play as a freshman,” O’Brien said. “That’s if you pick up the system, you come in here and you’re physically in good in condition, and you’re ready to go.”
“But all those freshmen will come in and have a chance to compete.”
And, as a result, those Sanction Era new recruits are less likely to see red.
Editor’s note: This is the third in a 33-day series about the Penn State football program leading up to the Blue-White Game on April 20. We’ve put together a team of football writers who will examine a variety of topics and answer key questions about Bill O’Brien’s team. Click on the numbers for Day 33 and Day 32.
