Printable Penn State football depth chart: UMass week
Penn State head coach James Franklin was unequivocal about what’s next for his Nittany Lions. Coming out of a bye week, and with Ohio State looming, the program’s focus this week was singular.
“We’re completely focused on UMass and the Minutemen coming to town. I got a ton of respect for Coach Brown,” Franklin said on his weekly radio show. “Coach Brown was the defensive coordinator at the University of Maryland when I was the offensive coordinator. We used to battle against each other every day at practice. He’s got a lot of history back at that school and has done a really nice job. So our complete focus and attention is on UMass.”
Given that attention, Penn State might be waiting before turning its full focus to the Buckeyes. But that doesn’t mean the program won’t be working to do two concurrent things this weekend.
Needing to beat the Minutemen in front of a Beaver Stadium crowd on Saturday afternoon takes top priority. A close second is being judicious about how snaps are divvied up. With rain in the forecast and Penn State nursing some bumps and bruises throughout the roster, the Nittany Lions are hoping to be in an even better position coming out of the game than they enjoyed coming in.
“In terms of health, I think we’re in pretty good place from the things that we talked about in terms of the number of reps our guys have had in games, the number of guys we’re playing. I think we’re in a pretty good place from that perspective,” Franklin said this week. “I mean, obviously you’d always love to be totally healthy, and we’re not that, but I think we’re in a pretty good place.”
Continuing, he took the implied leap of the type of game Penn State is expecting this weekend. Facing a UMass team that is just 1-6 to start the season, the Nittany Lions are aiming to improve to 6-0 themselves in short order.
“The reality is we need to be in a good place going into this game,” Franklin said. “And we need to be in a good place coming out of this game, as well.”
With that in mind, here is a look at what we’re expecting from Penn State football’s depth chart for the game. Likely to go deep into the roster, this printable format should come in handy whether at the game or enjoying at home from the couch.
