It's not 2003, it's not 2003, it's not 2003, it's not 2003, it's not 2003, it's not 2003 ...

Keep saying it over and over again Penn State fans, and maybe there won't be a repeat of the last time your program had to fill several major holes from a senior dominated team.

The long time knock on what had turned into a bit of a stodgy program was that it geared up for the big season. It took a year or two to develop the talent into the type of upperclassmen that Joe Paterno could put his full faith and trust in, and then there would be a nice campaign where Penn State was Penn State again, and then it was back to square one. 

The Larry Johnson-led 2002 team went 9-4, and then things fell off the map going 3-9 in 2003 and 4-7 in 2004. Last year's team was full of veterans and had everything come together on offense when Michael Robinson, who was everything but a decent quarterback before his senior season, turned in a brilliant, defiant performance becoming the league's most valuable player. He's gone now, along with the entire secondary, 3/4th of a great defensive line, and all but one starter on the offensive line. This would've been cause for panic sirens to go off in 2003, but yeah, it's not 2003.

Start with the much-ballyhooed influx of young talent over the last few seasons. Penn State stepped up its recruiting game getting players like wide receiver Derrick Williams and cornerback/wide receiver/now full-time corner Justin King to help prevent a slide back to mediocrity. Of course, it helps to have the nation's best linebackers to keep everything in check.

Butkus Award winner Paul Posluszny, Tim Shaw, and Dan Connor are seasoned veterans who could form the best linebacking corps in Penn State history, which means it might turn into one of the greatest linebacking corps in college football history. Now that Connor has stopped crank calling old coaches and Posluszny's injured knee appears to be close to healthy and Shaw can play in the middle for an entire season, these three will clean up all the messes left by all the inexperience elsewhere on the defense. But defense wasn't necessarily the problem for the Nittany Lions during the tough times.

Williams, Deon Butler, and Jordan Norwood give the offense an exciting young receiving corps that's as talented as any the program has had in over a decade. Tony Hunt and Austin Scott are veteran backs who can carry a reliable running game, and quarterback Anthony Morelli appears ready to deliver on his prep hype. But if the line can't rebuild in a big hurry, and/or if injuries strike up front, all bets are off on what this team can do.

This isn't last year's team, but it's certainly not going to slip enough to be lousy again. If everything can come together right away and all the new starters can play like consistent veterans, things could get interesting because of ...

The Schedule: Are there two tougher September road games for an elite team than at Notre Dame and at Ohio State? The Buckeyes have rebuilding issues of their own, while Notre Dame, despite what most preseason pundits might say, isn't the end-all-be-all team that'll just walk all over these Nittany Lions. A split is very, very possible, and even two losses wouldn't be a killer. Survive those two road games, and it's all there for Penn State to be right in the hunt for a BCS game. While battles at Minnesota and Purdue won't be walks in the park, the toughest road game the rest of the way will be at Wisconsin; all three are winnable. Michigan and Michigan State have to come to Happy Valley, and there's no Iowa on the slate. Unfortunately, there's no Indiana.

What you need to know on offense ... Anthony Morelli will be fine. The highly touted prospect should be a steady, productive quarterback with some fantastic receivers to throw to and two veteran running backs to hand off to. Tony Hunt is an unsung producer who should crank out another 1,000-yard season even with Austin Scott getting a little more work. Derrick Williams, Deon Butler, and Jordan Norwood forms one of the nation's best young receiving corps. The offensive line will be an issue with only one returning starter, but that one, tackle Levi Brown, is among the best around. The attack won't crank out 422 yards and 34.4 points per game again, but it'll be effective.

Best Offensive Player: Senior OT Levi Brown. Publicity-wise, he'll suffer a bit from not being Wisconsin tackle Joe Thomas, but he's worthy of All-America hype and needs to come up with a huge season as the only returning starter to the line. He's a sure-thing early draft pick who'll be the road grater for the running game.

What you need to know on defense ... It's not going to be anywhere near the killer D of the last few seasons with only four returning starters, but it's not going to fall off the map. It all begins and ends with one of the nation's best linebacking corps led by Butkus Award winner Paul Posluszny, who's expected to be fine after suffering a knee injury in the Orange Bowl. Tim Shaw and Dan Connor are tremendous producers who should get plenty of all-star honors. The secondary needs to be completely replaced, but the corners should be fine with Justin King getting the starting nod. Jay Alford is an all-star tackle who'll lead a decent line that should get better as the year goes on.

Best Defensive Player: Senior LB Paul Posluszny. O.K., O.K., so Ohio State's A.J. Hawk was the best linebacker in America last year, and Iowa's Chad Greenway, Alabama's Demeco Ryans and Mississippi's Patrick Willis had better seasons, but Posluszny was the heart-and-soul of a tremendous defense and was claimed by some to have turned into the best Penn State linebacker ever. If he's back to his old self after injuring his knee against Florida State, he should be a near-lock to win the Butkus again.

Key player to a successful season: Junior QB Anthony Morelli. He has been around long enough to know what he's doing and turn into the type of poised, cool veteran quarterback that Paterno likes so much. If he becomes a 65% passer with the interceptions kept to under double-digits, Penn State will turn out to be in the mix for the Big Ten title.

The season will be a success if ... the Nittany Lions finish second in the Big Ten race. It's asking way too much for a team with so many holes to fill to get through the conference season unscathed, especially with games at Ohio State and Wisconsin as well as a home battle with Michigan, but there's no reason a 6-2 Big Ten record can't be had.

Key game: Sept. 23 at Ohio State. A loss in the Big Ten opener against Ohio State won't mean the end of the dream, but a win would make the Nittany Lions the team to beat.

2005 Fun Stats:
- Penn State opponent scoring: 1st, 2nd and 3rd quarters: 107 - 4th quarter: 90
- Rushing yards per game: Penn State 212.8 - Opponents 93
- Sacks: Penn State 41 for 272 yards - Opponents 14 for 99 yards

The Last Time Penn State …
…played in a bowl game…2005 (Orange Bowl vs. Florida State)
…missed a bowl game…2004
…pitched a shutout…2002 (Northwestern)
…was shutout…2001 (Michigan)
…scored 50 points…2005 (Illinois)      
…went undefeated…1994
…won a conference title…2005 (Big Ten)
…had a 3,000-yard passer…never
…had a 1,000-yard rusher…2005 (Tony Hunt)
…had a 1,000-yard receiver…1995 (Bobby Engram)
…had a first-round draft choice…2006 (DE Tamba Hali)