web1_rio-logo.jpg

Rio 2016 Schedule of Events

web1_BLOTTER.jpg

A traffic stop in Sherman Hills leads to the discovery of a drug deal, two arrests

<p>STATE COLLEGE &#8212; Never one to conserve enthusiasm, Charles Huff is anxious for people to see Penn State&#8217;s 2016 squad.</p><p>&#8220;I kind of feel like a parent at Christmas that knows what&#8217;s in the box that the kids are going to get a chance to open,&#8221; the Nittany Lions&#8217; running backs coach and special teams coordinator said. &#8220;So we&#8217;re excited. We&#8217;re excited.&#8221;</p><p>Of course Huff has a little extra reason to be fired up. He&#8217;ll get to work closely with budding star rusher Saquon Barkley in training camp, which opened with the team&#8217;s first practice late Thursday afternoon.</p><p>Prior to that, the program held its annual media day at Beaver Stadium with a bit more of a jump than the past two years. Though the Lions will be breaking in a new quarterback, they boast a backfield and a receiving corps that has been ranked in the top 10 nationally by multiple outlets in the preseason.</p><p>Joe Moorhead steps in as offensive coordinator with a no-huddle scheme with plenty of run-pass options. Brent Pry was promoted to defensive coordinator, a move that players lobbied for after Bob Shoop left for Tennessee in January.</p><p>But perhaps more than anything, the Lions are happy to have some semblance of depth for the first time since NCAA sanctions were handed down four years ago.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re in a position right now to have true competition at pretty much every single position on our team,&#8221; Lions coach James Franklin said. &#8220;That&#8217;s including long snapper. That&#8217;s including punter, that&#8217;s including kicker.</p><p>&#8220;Every single position for the most part we feel like we&#8217;re going to have true competition with a (starter) and a guy behind him that legitimately is pushing to fight for his job. So excited about that. I think that&#8217;s going to be important.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Tackle swap</strong></p><p>Penn State opened camp with another shuffle along the offensive line.</p><p>Based on spring practice, it looked like the Lions were going to solidify things by playing veteran Andrew Nelson at left tackle. But that&#8217;s not how the team came out on Thursday.</p><p>Nelson was moved back to right tackle, where he has spent most of his time the last two seasons. Paris Palmer and Scranton Prep&#8217;s Noah Beh were on the left side after splitting reps on the right back in the spring.</p><p>&#8220;There&#8217;s a number of reasons why we&#8217;re going to do that, which I will not go into at this time,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;But we still need to figure out who are going to be those tackles, who is going to be the best left tackle, who is going to be the best right tackle and then the guys behind them.&#8221;</p><p>For Nelson&#8217;s part, he said he felt more comfortable on the right side, though he felt he was capable of playing either position.</p><p>&#8220;Right now, it&#8217;s just trying to find the best five guys that can play, no matter what position they&#8217;re at,&#8221; Nelson said. &#8220;Right now I think it&#8217;s (new offensive line coach Matt Limegrover&#8217;s) plan just to see where he can get those best five guys out there.&#8221;</p><p>On Thursday, those five guys were, from left to right &#8212; Beh, Ryan Bates, Brian Gaia, Derek Dowrey and Nelson.</p><p>Beh, who is looking for his first significant playing time, said before the first practice that he had not previously taken many reps on the left side.</p><p>Palmer played both tackle spots a year ago. Brendan Mahon has started at both tackle and guard and could also get a look at tackle in the spring.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re going to move those guys around and see where people fit,&#8221; Limegrover said.</p><p>On the local front, Limegrover said Lake-Lehman&#8217;s Connor McGovern will open camp at center. McGovern, who enrolled at Penn State in January, had also worked at tackle during spring ball.</p><p><strong>Back Mountain bond</strong></p><p>As it turns out, McGovern won&#8217;t be the only Lehman alum on the squad this season. One of the highly productive running backs that he opened holes for on that black turf has joined him in Happy Valley.</p><p>Nick Eury officially became part of the team this week and is on the training camp roster, which is capped at 105 players.</p><p>Eury gives the Lions four Wyoming Valley Conference grads in camp along with McGovern, long snapper Zach Ladonis (Berwick) and defensive tackle Ryan Monk (Dallas).</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s unbelievable,&#8221; Monk said. &#8220;We have a great group here from Northeast Pa. And I think that keeps us all together. We like to joke around and talk all the time about where we&#8217;re from and everything.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Big addition</strong></p><p>It took awhile to get everything cleared, but junior college transfer Tyrell Chavis was indeed eligible to join the team for camp.</p><p>Chavis, a redshirt junior, gives Penn State another option in the rotation at defensive tackle, a spot where the Lions could use some experience.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s had to overcome a lot of things in his life,&#8221; said Franklin, who added that Chavis will discuss them when the time is right. &#8220;But to me, this is why I coach. It&#8217;s stories like this. And I&#8217;ve had a number of stories over my 22 years.</p><p>&#8220;Just as proud as I am of the guy that comes in and in five years after a redshirt leaves with a master&#8217;s degree, it&#8217;s also the guys that come in and overcome a lot of things and walk out of here with a degree from Penn State as well.&#8221;</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_psu_med3_faa20168418312407.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Penn State running back Saquon Barkley figures to be the focal point of an offense that&#8217;s looking to turn the corner. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_psu_med3_faa20168418312407.jpg</photo0><caption0>Penn State running back Saquon Barkley figures to be the focal point of an offense that&#8217;s looking to turn the corner. </caption0><photoCredit0>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_psu_med1_faa201684183973.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">James Franklin enters his third season as Penn State coach with a relatively full scholarship roster for the first time. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_psu_med1_faa201684183973.jpg</photo1><caption1>James Franklin enters his third season as Penn State coach with a relatively full scholarship roster for the first time. </caption1><photoCredit1>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Derek Levarse</p><p>dlevarse@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Derek Levarse at 570-991-6396 or on Twitter @TLdlevarse</p></shirttailMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><videoMeta><p><table style="border:none;width:98%;" class="mceItemTable"><tbody><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">VideoID:</td><td id="videoid" style="width:50em;font-size:90%;"> oQ2intfV40Q</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">VideoType:</td><td id="videotype" style="font-size:90%;"> YOUTUBE</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">URL:</td><td id="url" style="font-size:90%;"> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQ2intfV40Q</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Embed String:</td><td id="videoembedstring" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Caption:</td><td id="videocaption" style="font-size:90%;"> James Franklin previews his 2016 squad</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Credit:</td><td id="videocredit" style="font-size:90%;"> Derek Levarse</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Position:</td><td id="videoposition" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr></tbody></table></p><p style="margin-top:10px;font-size:70%;color:#555;">(use the &#8220;for files&#8230;&#8221; link above to associate attached files with this source)</p></videoMeta></div>

Penn State bringing optimism to fall camp