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Happy birthday Cara Elizabeth Wardell!

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Happy birthday Haylee Marie Koonrad!

Ryan Bates hasn&#8217;t shown many flaws since stepping in as a starter on Penn State&#8217;s offensive line last fall. Even when he was forced to move from left guard to left tackle as an emergency option down the stretch, he played so well there that it became his permanent home.As he discovered this offseason, though, there was one thing he needed to fix.&#8220;I went home some time through the summer and my mom goes, &#8216;Hey, why don&#8217;t you get your eyes checked,&#8217; &#8221; Bates said. &#8220;I was like, whatever &#8212; I have nothing to do.&#8220;Apparently,&#8221; he joked, &#8220;I can&#8217;t see. Apparently I need glasses.&#8221;On the plus side, nearsightedness isn&#8217;t a major issue when your biggest concern is the guy lining up a few feet away from your face. And, on the scale of problems that Penn State has had to deal with on the offensive line over the last five years, this one barely rates.When the Nittany Lions open the 2017 season against Akron on Saturday, they will do so with the most optimistic outlook they&#8217;ve had in years up front. That&#8217;s even factoring in that fifth-year senior Andrew Nelson isn&#8217;t fully back yet from a serious knee injury he suffered last October.When James Franklin arrived in Happy Valley in 2014, he didn&#8217;t have enough scholarship linemen to fill out a two-deep.&#8220;Our offensive line situation has changed dramatically since we arrived till now,&#8221; the Lions coach said. &#8220;I still think we have a lot of room for growth there, and that&#8217;s exciting. Because if you look at us, we&#8217;re still pretty young. We&#8217;ve got a sophomore at left tackle, a sophomore at left guard, a sophomore at center. Got some maturity at the right guard position and then a junior at the right tackle position.&#8220;So we&#8217;re still young, but I like where we&#8217;re at. I like our depth. I like our growth at that position, and I feel like we do have confidence there. Especially comparatively speaking over the last couple years.&#8221;LEFT TACKLEBates quickly won a starting job as a redshirt freshman last season and is now entrenched as the guy protecting Trace McSorley&#8217;s blind side.After the Lions lost both Nelson and Brendan Mahon last season, Bates began taking practice reps at tackle, just in case anything happened to backup tackles Paris Palmer and Chasz Wright.Palmer suffered a knee injury of his own just a few weeks later, and suddenly the job belonged to Bates.&#8220;I feel good. I feel comfortable,&#8221; Bates said. &#8220;Last year, I kind of got thrown in at left tackle, and I didn&#8217;t have as much time to prepare. I only had like a couple days, really. But I feel more comfortable than ever right now.&#8220;I think the biggest thing I had to work on is my kick-set for pass protection. Being at tackle you have a lot more space at guard or center. Actually, I feel more comfortable at tackle just naturally. I trust my ability.&#8221;LEFT GUARDWhen Bates moved over last season, fellow Steven Gonzalez stepped in at his old spot.After an initial adjustment period, he meshed in with the rest of the group to give the Lions three talented sophomores &#8212; Bates, Gonzalez and Connor McGovern &#8212; to help anchor the line in 2017.&#8220;When they&#8217;re healthy and rolling with confidence behind them, it&#8217;s tough to get by them as defenders,&#8221; McSorley said. &#8220;They can move people off the ball.&#8221;CENTERMcGovern&#8217;s work as a true freshman last year was something rarely seen at any major college program, let alone Penn State. Up next is taking over for respected fifth-year senior Brian Gaia in the middle.Though he played right guard in 2016, center is the spot where McGovern excelled at Lake-Lehman and where he was ultimately recruited to play.The transition has been smooth according to the guy taking those shotgun snaps from him.&#8220;Connor&#8217;s done great for us,&#8221; McSorley said. &#8220;He&#8217;s doing a good job taking control of the O-line and becoming a leader up front. &#8230; He&#8217;s been great communicating to make sure everyone&#8217;s on the same page.&#8221;RIGHT GUARDMahon will be taking the field Saturday for the first time since initially being injured against Iowa on Nov. 5.Initially a guard earlier in his career, Mahon took a big leap forward as the Lions&#8217; left tackle midway through September. Penn State is happy to have him back in any capacity.&#8220;When he plays for us, he brings a physical component to our offensive line that we probably don&#8217;t have without him,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;He is a big, strong, physical offensive lineman who has light enough feet that could play tackle for us. Gives us more of a road-grader mentality at the guard position, and has some of the heaviest hands I&#8217;ve ever been around.&#8220;I mean, when he punches you, it&#8217;s like getting hit with two cinder blocks. It really is. We&#8217;re excited about having him back.&#8221;RIGHT TACKLEThe spot that bears the most watching will have Wright starting on Saturday as Nelson continues to work his way back to 100 percent.&#8220;Andrew Nelson is, I think, as talented an offensive tackle as there is in the country,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;We really could have listed that as an either/or with him and Chasz. He&#8217;s still working back through some issues and, I think as the season goes on, you&#8217;re going to see his role continue to grow and he&#8217;s going to play a lot for us.&#8221;In the meantime, Wright will play as he did to help the Lions win the Big Ten down the stretch.Listed at 6-foot-7, 358 pounds, Wright is one of the biggest Lions&#8217; linemen in recent memory.&#8220;He&#8217;s a huge kid,&#8221; Bates said. &#8220;He holds his weight really well and he moves really well for his size. It really depends on how you&#8217;re built.&#8221;As it is, the Lions&#8217; starters on Saturday will average just under 6-5 and just over 328 pounds &#8212; bigger than most every Penn State offensive line before them.&#8220;It&#8217;s a great challenge in practice,&#8221; defensive tackle Curtis Cothran said. &#8220;We face them every day. It definitely makes our defensive line way better because we&#8217;re able to face those guys in practice. So when we go to other teams, Big Ten offensive lines, it will definitely get us ready.&#8220;But it&#8217;s very impressive to see the way that they have packed on the weight and good weight, not bad weight at all.&#8221;<style>
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<div class="neCaption">Connor McGovern, Chasz Wright and Ryan Bates all stepped up when needed last fall. All three are set to start in Saturday&#8217;s season opener. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_OL-practice.jpg</photo0><caption0>Connor McGovern, Chasz Wright and Ryan Bates all stepped up when needed last fall. All three are set to start in Saturday&#8217;s season opener. </caption0><photoCredit0>Joe Hermitt | AP file photo, PennLive.com </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Derek Levarsedlevarse@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta>UP NEXTAkron at No. 6 Penn StateNoon, Saturday, ABC</factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Derek Levarse at 570-991-6396 or on Twitter @TLdlevarse</shirttailMeta></div>

Offensive line rapidly becoming a strength for Penn State