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Domestic violence charges dismissed against corrections officer

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Names released in fatal crash in Wilkes-Barre

<p>The tape didn&#8217;t lie. Penn State didn&#8217;t like what it saw when reviewing Saturday&#8217;s last-minute loss to Michigan State.</p><p>&#8220;We had gotten better all year long,&#8221; coach James Franklin said of the first five games of the season. &#8220;I felt like that week-to-week watching the tape, felt like that during the games. Felt like that after the games, watching the tape. And did not feel like that this past week. So obviously we need to get back on that track.</p><p>&#8220;Are there a lot of reasons for that? Yeah. And we just need to get back to focus on the things that we can control. Away game, home game, whatever it is, we&#8217;ve just got to make sure that we don&#8217;t lose our focus and we&#8217;re making sure that our guys are concentrating on the things that truly matter. Which is us and our execution and our passion and our fundamentals and techniques and our execution of the assignments. That&#8217;s what we need to focus on, not where the game is played, not who the opponent is. It&#8217;s about us.&#8221;</p><p>Much of Franklin&#8217;s Tuesday&#8217;s press conference was spent on reflection of the Nittany Lions&#8217; two-game losing streak, which has completely changed the tenor of their season heading into Saturday&#8217;s trip to Indiana.</p><p>&#8220;Whenever you lose a game, there&#8217;s an emotional investment that you&#8217;ve made as an organization for the week,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;They have an effect. You have to find a way to push through. That&#8217;s football and that&#8217;s life. You can&#8217;t allow one play to affect the next. You can&#8217;t allow one game to affect the next.&#8221;</p><p>Especially not when three of the final six games come against ranked opponents with top-25 squads Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin lurking after the Hoosiers.</p><p>And trips to Bloomington have featured some strange games for the Lions, usually involving a second-half deficits &#8212; even the 2016 Big Ten championship squad trailed by 10 in the third quarter at Indiana.</p><p>Still, four Penn State players who spoke on Tuesday &#8212; Lake-Lehman&#8217;s Connor McGovern, Shane Simmons, Koa Farmer and Tommy Stevens &#8212; said their resolve wasn&#8217;t shaken.</p><p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think we lost any confidence as a team,&#8221; McGovern said. &#8220;Right now (we&#8217;re) sticking together, coming out every day, especially this week, to focus on ourselves and just come out prepared against Indiana.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Losses are tough and I agonize over them as much as anybody,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;And I know our fans do as well, because they are invested. But I also know that I sleep well at night knowing that our program has grown dramatically over the last five years.</p><p>&#8220;Is it where we want it to be right now? No. Is it where anybody wants it to be exactly right now? No. But I know we&#8217;re headed in the right direction.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Lions lose Hansard</strong></p><p>Fred Hansard&#8217;s injury on Saturday proved to be as serious as it looked.</p><p>The redshirt freshman defensive tackle was rolled up on against Michigan State and was unable to put much weight on his left leg as he was helped off the field, ultimately leaving the sideline on a cart.</p><p>Franklin said Tuesday that Hansard will miss the rest of the season, having undergone unspecified surgery.</p><p>&#8220;This is just a minor setback, I will be back stronger than ever,&#8221; Hansard wrote on Twitter after the game.</p><p>Penn State has lost three defensive linemen to injury, with veteran ends Ryan Buchholz and Torrence Brown both having been ruled out before the season started.</p><p>The Lions remain thin at tackle behind starters Kevin Givens and Robert Windsor. Ellison Jordan has missed three straight games as he deals with issues from offseason knee surgery, leaving Antonio Shelton as the lone backup who has seen significant reps.</p><p>As it is, the Lions will have to use some new faces much more now &#8212; true freshman PJ Mustipher, converted offensive lineman C.J. Thorpe and now redshirt freshman Damion Barber.</p><p>&#8220;Yeah, we&#8217;ve got to keep developing those other guys,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;PJ Mustipher, Antonio Shelton, C.J. Thorpe and Damion Barber, we&#8217;re going to have to develop those guys. Damion is going to have to factor in now and be able to get some work for us. PJ is going to have to grow up fast. Obviously is a true freshman. And having Antonio Shelton, we&#8217;ve seen some good things from him.</p><p>&#8220;Those guys have to play bigger roles, there&#8217;s no doubt about it. That&#8217;s the situation we&#8217;re in. Feel good about what Kevin and Robert are doing, but they are going to have to help those other guys out, as well.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Wideout KJ Hamler and the Penn State offense look to get back on track this week after scoring their fewest points in a game in more than two years on Saturday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_AP18287012883821_ne20181016153323624.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wideout KJ Hamler and the Penn State offense look to get back on track this week after scoring their fewest points in a game in more than two years on Saturday. </caption0><photoCredit0>Abby Drey | AP photo, Centre Daily Times </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Derek Levarse</p><p>dlevarse@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>UP NEXT</strong></p><p>Penn State at Indiana</p><p>3:30 p.m., Saturday, ABC</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Derek Levarse at 570-991-6396 or on Twitter @TLdlevarse</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Lions looking to rebound after a big step back vs. Michigan State