Freshmen make a splash as part of a calculated 'big-picture' plan

When redshirt freshman quarterback Sean Clifford heaved a deep pass to true freshman receiver Daniel George, who was running a stop-and-go down the left sideline, it resulted in a 95-yard touchdown pass and gave the Nittany Lions a 56-10 lead in the fourth quarter. The TD was relatively non-consequential to the overall outcome, but it goes down in PSU record books as the longest throwing play of all time.

As George and Clifford ran back toward the sideline to celebrate, they were flanked by a group of fellow freshmen who were also on the field at the time, including but not limited to wide receivers Justin Shorter and Jahan Dotson, tight end Zack Kuntz and offensive lineman Rasheed Walker. For them, it was their Beaver Stadium debuts and their presence on the field was representative of the greater goal that head coach James Franklin was hoping to accomplish. In his post-game press conference, he said their inclusion in Saturday's game was all part of a "big-picture perspective."

With Penn State traveling to Illinois for a Friday night kickoff, the team is set to go without its normal day off on Monday. Therefore, Franklin went into this game with the idea in the back of his mind that, if the score allowed, he'd rest some of his starters later in the game. He didn't publicly address it, avoided the topic with his players and seldom acknowledged it with even his coaches, but it was a strategy he was personally hoping to employ.

"I don't want the players thinking about that, so as a head coach I'm trying to manage all these things," he said. "We got a lot of guys reps. A lot of guys again played for the first time today, which is really important. It creates a healthy locker room. There were a lot of guys who feel like they had a role in the game and that creates a really healthy locker room. We limited our starters' reps. All this stuff is critical because we got a short turnaround. We don't have a day off this week. We practice tomorrow. We normally have off on Monday. We don't have off on Monday. We'll practice Monday then obviously we have a game Friday night in Champaign."

The immediate results suggest that the plan worked. Including his long ball to George, Clifford finished 3-for-3 passing with 141 yards and also ran for 10 more. Running back Ricky Slade rebounded from fumble issues a week ago at Pitt to score a second-half touchdown against Kent State. Kuntz even had a pass thrown his direction, which he caught for 31 yards but a penalty overshadowed it. Meanwhile, fellow freshman TE Pat Freiermuth played most of the game, finishing with two catches for 35 yards and a couple key blocks.

In total 13 true freshmen saw the field on Saturday, which brings the grand total to 27 first-year players who have seen action so far this season. Many of the true freshmen, however, wouldn't have played under the rules from previous seasons. Starting in 2018, players are allowed up to four games without exhausting a year of eligibility, so the fashion in which these freshmen have been rolled out has also been a calculated process from the coaching staff.

Take the defensive end position for example. Nick Tarburton saw action in PSU's first two games of the season but didn't see the field Saturday against Kent State. Instead, classmate Jayson Oweh was worked into the rotation.

"If you look, we played Tarburton for two games and we said we were going to shut him down and use Oweh and get him some experience," said Franklin. "Now we're in a situation where we can use Tarburton late in the season to solve some problems with injuries and hopefully maybe still be able to redshirt him. So what we're just trying to do is manage it. The way this season plays out, something is going to be outside of our control. But right now how things are going, we want to be able to get some guys experience for this year but also for years moving forward. With the way today played out, that allowed us to do that with a number of guys who fit that scenario."

It's only his third year of organized football, after only playing two seasons at Blair Prep in New Jersey. On Saturday, it was his Beaver Stadium debut. But as he did in high school, Oweh showed again that he's a quick study on the gridiron.

After Penn State's win against Kent State, Oweh was atop the stat sheet. He finished with three solo tackles and two sacks, the latter of which tied junior starter Shareef Miller for the most in the game.

"That was great," Miller said of Oweh. "That's like my little brother. I try to take him under the wing and I try to teach him and help him and [show] him things I did, just help him learn and help him be more comfortable and just play. When he was going out there, I just said, Bro, just play fast. He was big, getting a couple sacks."

When Oweh showed up on campus this summer, he immediately began impressing coaches and teammates alike with his athletic ability. He posted workout measurements like a wide receiver, running the 40-yard dash near the 4.4-second range and leaping through the roof. Added Miller, "He's got crazy testing numbers. He runs a 4.4 and jumps high. He's going to be real good once he puts everything together."

As a true freshman, Oweh was not made available to speak with media members after the game, but Miller took a moment to contextualize what Oweh has accomplished in short time. It's certainly not lost on Miller that his true freshman understudy has only been playing the game for a few years.

Miller believes that once Oweh fine-tunes his technique and learns the nuances of the position that are needed to consistently succeed at the Big Ten level that multi-sack outings like today are only the beginning of something special.

"When you're coming from high school for two years and then straight to college, it's a real difference," added Miller, "so I think he's going to be real good here."