Penn State in good position going into bye week

Welcome Penn State fans to today's style of college football.The spread zone read offense was used to its full potential last week when quarterback Trace McSorley started to actually keep the ball once in awhile and use his gifted feet to make plays. The result was Penn State's best offensive performance of the season with McSorley nearly rushing for 100 yards and Saquon Barkley rushing for over 200 yards. Oh, and the Nittany Lions got a win over a previously undefeated Maryland team to improve to 4-2. Seeing a quarterback run the ball 10-15 times per game may not be what Penn State fans are used to, but that's today's game, and quite honestly, it's the best chance for this program to be successful.Going into the bye week, Penn State really couldn't be in a better situation after its 49-10 loss to Michigan.Nittany Nation was beside themselves as their team was 2-2 with Minnesota and Maryland next on the docket, which after the Michigan loss were considered losses of course. James Franklin needed to be fired, in fact, after he decided to go for three and not go for a touchdown on the goal line early in the game against the Gophers, chants of "Fire Franklin" rang throughout Beaver Stadium.Oh what a difference two weeks can make, because we all know that winning trumps all. If the Nittany Lions continue to win, James Franklin won't have to worry about what anybody is chanting in the stands.Last week's wrinkle on the offensive side of the ball was honestly a long time coming this season. So many times in the zone read look, McSorley was just automatically handing the ball off to Barkley. Teams saw that and they would just bear down on Barkley and hit him five yards in the backfield. Barkley would have to make three guys miss before he would even get back to the line of scrimmage.I think any one can see that Joe Moorhead's offensive scheme has looked pretty good this season. Receivers have been open downfield and if McSorley can continue to work well in the run game like they did a week ago, this could be a very explosive unit.Franklin believes that Moorhead's previous head coaching experience at Fordham University has brought a leadership quality to the offense that helped in its development."I think the biggest thing, to be honest with you, is leadership. I think the fact that he has been a head coach, he really understands the motivational aspect of it," said Franklin. "We talked about this at the beginning of the year, with the personnel that we have, one of the reasons I hired him was that I thought he really fit our personnel well."Two units that certainly need some rest and work this week, if that makes sense, are the offensive line and linebackers.Let's start with the offensive line, which will be breaking in a new tackle against Ohio State next week. Right tackle Andrew Nelson, who was arguably Penn State's best offensive lineman, was lost for the season last week. So, that means that Paris Palmer and Will Fries will be battling for the right tackle position."We're going to work through that this week. We have some different combinations there. Obviously we have [Brendan] Mahon, we have Paris [Palmer] and we have Will Fries," said Franklin. "So those are the three guys that we're kind of looking at to see how we're going to fill that game day responsibility. We're really kind of on the entry level."By now, it's no secret all the injuries Penn State has had at linebacker. They have seven linebackers out currently.Brandon Smith, who was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week last week, Manny Bowen, and true freshman Cam Brown have been fighting and clawing to keep the Nittany Lions defense above water. Koa Farmer and Jake Cooper have also been in the mix and have contributed.It's still not known when Jason Caninda and Brandon Bell will be back at linebacker for Penn State. Both are two of the more talented defensive players in the Big Ten. It's expected that Cabinda will be back before Bell. For now, it's a win-win, as the Nittany Lions have won two straight and their younger linebackers are getting valuable playing time. It's something that will pay huge dividends in the future.Lastly, it's nice that the Penn State vs. Ohio State night game next Saturday will actually mean something now. Even if the Buckeyes lose to No. 8 Wisconsin this week, they will still be ranked in the top 10, and with the way the Nittany Lions have been playing, the crowd will be energetic. Expect the first sellout of the season at Beaver Stadium, and I expect Penn State to be in the game.