Over the last few weeks, Penn State coach James Franklin has been busy, doing the usual media tour for all the big time outlets.

In his interviews, he seems to always come back to the same premise and that is the Nittany Lions have a chip on their shoulder. Franklin is almost certainly referring to the offensive line when he references that point and, let's be honest, they should be playing that way this season.The 2014 Penn State offensive line came under a lot of scrutiny, mostly because they couldn't protect quarterback Christian Hackenberg, ranking third in the FBS in sacks allowed. This year however, they return four starters up front, which is a big change from when they had just one returning starter."The position that we've talked about ad nauseam is the offensive line. Number one, it's a great need for us, but also because of their approach," said Franklin. "Their approach this offseason has been taking ownership of their position and their responsibility and their role, taking ownership of the success of the offense and having a chip on their shoulder."The offensive line is the key for the Nittany Lions this season as they do return a ton of talent. The potential is there for this Penn State team to make some noise in the Big Ten and improve on a dismal 2-6 conference record.A position that will see some stability and expected improvement is the running back position. Junior Akeel Lynch has waited his time to be the main man in Happy Valley and this season he will certainly get his shot. Lynch led the Nittany Lions in rushing a season ago, compiling 703 yards and four touchdowns."He's been a tremendous leader with the young running backs and the young players. He's probably been as consistent and as hard working as anybody in our program," said Franklin. "He's just done a great job. He's been patient and kind of waited for his time, and he's prepared that when that time comes, he's going to be ready."Hackenberg should have a better offensive line this season and he should have a better running game, which were things that were non-existent in 2014. That brings us to the receivers where "Hack" could have the most talented bunch in all of the Big Ten and perhaps college football.Junior Geno Lewis, sophomores DaeSean Hamilton, Chris Godwin, and Saeed Blacknall return with tight ends Kyle Carter and Mike Gesicki returning as well. One time blue chip recruit Adam Breneman will also return to the tight end rotation after a knee injury kept him out last season."I think the wide receivers, as well as a number of other positions, you're going to see dramatic improvement," said Franklin. "Typically places I've been, the wide receivers are one of those positions you usually see a pretty significant jump from year one to year two. I'm excited about it, and I know Hackenberg is, as well."The Penn State offense is expected to significantly improve in 2015, but what about the Nittany Lions defense? A defense that kept Penn State in almost every game a year ago despite the offensive struggles.The answer is pretty simple. They're going to be good once again.Up front, Penn State is as good as anyone with returning starters Austin Johnson and Anthony Zettel. Zettel is a pre-season Big Ten everything this season and Johnson is expected to take huge strides and climb into that top tier of Big Ten defensive tackles.The Nittany Lions did lose some speed on the outside, but with Zettel's ability to rush the passer from the defensive tackle position it shouldn't be that much of a hindrance to the productivity of the defensive line.It will be interesting to see how the linebacker situation plays out this season with outside linebacker Nyeem Wartman moving to middle linebacker. Wartman is talented and moves well sideline to sideline, so it should make for a smooth transition. Brandon Bell was a starter a year ago and Jason Cabinda looks to be the favorite to start at the other outside linebacker spot.Finally, we come to the secondary, which could be one of the most talented groups that Penn State fans have seen in a very long time.Jordan Lucas will make the switch from cornerback to free safety and he'll be joined by Marcus Allen. Grant Haley and Trevor Williams will man the corner positions.All in all and on paper the Penn State defense looks to be as dominant as a year ago."These guys have really worked hard from the bowl game to this point, the winter program went exceptionally well; spring ball went well," said Penn State defensive coordinator Bob Shoop. "The guys have really worked hard this summer. [We] seem to be in great shape, seem to be raring to go. We had position meetings this morning and the guys were chomping at the bit."It seems cliché, but if everything falls into place this season Happy Valley could once again be very happy. There's no doubt this is a very talented football team and if the dominoes fall right anything could happen.