2017 PREVIEW BTN.COM ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM • Four Nittany Lions were named to the BTN.com All-Freshman Team: G/T Ryan Bates, LB Cam Brown, P Blake Gillikin and DT Kevin Givens. • An additional four were named honorable mentions: G Connor McGovern, DE Shareef Miller, RB Miles Sanders and DT Robert Windsor. YAZUJIAN NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA
Led by rising junior running back Saquon Barkley and rising junior quarterback Trace McSorley, the Penn State offense set 21 season school records in 2016, including team marks for passing yards, points scored and total offense.
FRANKLIN CLAIMS COACH OF THE YEAR HONORS
ALL-BIG TEN TEAM - DEFENSE
• Penn State head coach James Franklin was named the Sporting News National Coach of the Year, as well as the Woody Hayes National Coach of the Year. • He is the second Penn State head coach to win the Sporting News honor, joining Joe Paterno, who claimed the award in 2005. • Franklin joins Paterno as Penn State coaches to win the Woody Hayes Award. Paterno was a four-time recipient in 1978, 1982, 1986 and 2005. • Franklin was also selected as the College Sports Madness National Coach of the Year. Additionally, he was a finalist for the 2016 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year award as presented by the Football Writers Association of America and the Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year Award. • Franklin earned his first conference Coach of the Year accolades, winning Big Ten Coach of the Year from the Associated Press and the conference’s media. • Franklin’s Dave McLain Big Ten Coach of the Year marks the fifth time a Penn State head coach has won the honor, joining Paterno (1994, 2005, 2008) and Bill O’Brien (2012).
• On defense, junior defensive end Garrett Sickels garnered second-team All-Big Ten accolades from the coaches and thirdteam honors from the media to lead the unit. • Senior defensive end Evan Schwan was also a first-time allconference pick, as he was selected to the All-Big Ten third team by both the coaches and media, • Linebacker Jason Cabinda and safety Marcus Allen each claimed third team honors from the coaches and were named to the media’s honorable mention team. It’s their second allconference selection, after an appearance on the honorable mention team (coaches and media) last season. • Also on the Big Ten honorable mention squad were senior linebacker Brandon Bell, junior defensive tackle Parker Cothren and sophomore cornerback John Reid. It was the first selection for all three.
ALL-BIG TEN TEAM - OFFENSE • Sophomore Saquon Barkley was named to the All-Big Ten first team by the coaches and media, which made him a unanimous first team choice. It is his second career All-Big Ten honor (second team in 2015). • Sophomore quarterback Trace McSorley garnered All-Big Ten second team accolades from both the coaches and the media. It was his first all-conference selection. McSorley is the first Penn State quarterback to earn All-Big Ten first or second team honors since Daryll Clark (first team) in 2009. • Junior tight end Mike Gesicki was a second team selection by the media and honorable mention pick by the coaches. It’s his first all-conference selection. He is the first Penn State tight end to earn All-Big Ten first or second team honors since Kyle Carter (first team) in 2012. • Junior wide receiver Chris Godwin was an All-Big Ten third team honoree for the media and honorable mention for the coaches. It’s his second career All-Big Ten honor (second team in 2015). • Senior center Brian Gaia made the honorable mention list for the coaches and media for his first all-conference honors.
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2017 PENN STATE FOOTBALL SPRING GUIDE
ALL-BIG TEN TEAM - SPECIAL TEAMS • Kicker Tyler Davis was selected to the All-Big Ten first team by the coaches and second team by the media. It was his first allconference selection, and he is the first Nittany Lion kicker to earn first team honors since Kevin Kelly in 2008. • True freshman punter Blake Gillikin was recognized as an honorable mention. He ranked third in the Big Ten with a punt average of 42.8 yards per punt and was also named an ESPN. com True Freshman All-American. • Senior long snapper Tyler Yazujian was Penn State’s sportsmanship selection. FRESHMEN ALL-AMERICANS • A pair of Nittany Lions earned freshman All-America honors. • Offensive lineman Ryan Bates was named to the USA Today Freshman All-America team, as well as the Football Writers Association of America Freshman All-America squad. • Bates was one of two offensive linemen to start every game this season for the Nittany Lions. He started at left guard for the first 10 games of the season, but has moved out to left tackle for the final four games. • Punter Blake Gillikin was named to the ESPN.com True Freshman All-America team. He ranked third in the Big Ten with a punt average of 42.8 yards per punt.
• For a second consecutive season, Tyler Yazujian was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America™ team. He was a first team selection in 2016 after earning second team honors in 2015. • Penn State football student-athletes have earned 65 CoSIDA Academic All-America selections all-time, the second-highest total among all Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) institutions, trailing only Nebraska. • Yazujian was honored for his performance in the classroom and on the field. • A trio of Nittany Lions – Tyler Yazujian, Grant Haley, and Brandon Smith – were selected to the CoSIDA Academic AllDistrict™ • Yazujian has a 3.87 grade point average in IST – security and risk analysis. In addition to his CoSIDA Academic All-American and All-District accolades, Yazujian is a two-time Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and three-time Academic All-Big Ten choice. He is a seven-time Dean’s List selection and has two perfect 4.0 GPA semesters. He handled all of the long snapping duties each of the last three seasons. BARKLEY IN THE RECORD BOOKS • Running back Saquon Barkley has placed his name in numerous places in the Penn State record books in two short seasons. • His 1,496 rushing yards during his sophomore campaign rank fifth on the Penn State single-season charts. • Barkley is in 12th place on Penn State’s career rushing yardage list with 2,572 yards. • Barkley’s two rushing touchdowns in the Rose Bowl brought his season total to 18, which ranks tied for fifth place in the Penn State record books • With 25 career rushing scores, Barkley is tied for 10th place in program history with Lenny Moore (1953-55), D.J. Dozier (198386) and Tony Hunt (2003-06). • Barkley ranks tied for 12th with 10 career 100-yard games (five in 2015, five in 2016), including two 200-yard efforts. He is one of just eight Nittany Lions to post multiple 200-yard rushing games. McSORLEY = McRECORDS • In addition to setting Penn State records for passing yards in a season, passing touchdowns in a season and total offense in a season, ranks sixth on Penn State’s single-season pass completions list (224) and fifth in season pass attempts (387). • McSorley had one of the most productive games by a Nittany Lion ever against Minnesota. He accounted for 408 yards of total offense -- 335 passing and 74 rushing -- to mark the third-highest total in school history. It was the most yards of total offense since Christian Hackenberg posted a school-record 454 yards against UCF in the 2014 Croke Park Classic vs. UCF. McSorley also had his longest career completion, an 80-yard touchdown to Irvin Charles. • McSorley set Big Ten Championship game records for passing yards (384) and passing touchdowns (4). • He became the first Penn State quarterback with three consecutive games with both a rushing touchdown and passing touchdown since Matt McGloin in 2012 (vs. Temple, at Illinois, vs. Northwestern). • McSorley had four passing touchdowns in each of the final three games of the season. He joins Todd Blackledge (1982 – vs. Temple, Maryland, Rutgers) as the only Penn State quarterback to have at least four passing scores in three-straight games.