Suddenly and finally Penn State is bursting at the seams with seniors.

With its 2017 spring practice less than six weeks away, Penn State has a football roster heavily populated with seniors.

Super seniors, regular seniors and seniors with junior eligibility.

Thirty-six, in all, if you also count non-scholarship players.

Twenty in that group have starting experience (21 if you count kicker Tyler Davis, with his 30 career field goals and 163 points). Twenty are in their final season -- 13 of those, plus Davis, have started for the Nittany Lions.

Penn State's roster is not only chockfull of seniors. It is also packed with players who have starting experience. It's been awhile since the Nittany Lions were so top-heavy. Or game-ready. A long while.

Overall, in 2017 the Nittany Lions have 32 players back with starting experience. That breaks down to 359 career starts returning on the spring roster, including 88 starts spread among six returning offensive linemen -- Brendon Mahon (29), Andrew Nelson (27), Ryan Bates (14), Connor McGovern (10), Chasz Wright (5) and Steven Gonzalez (3).

That's a far cry from the nadir of the NCAA sanctions, in 2012, when a mass exodus of players -- including the leader rusher, receiver and kicker -- left Penn State and first-year head coach Bill O'Brien with a team so young and inexperienced that it had a combined total of 132 starts to its collective name heading into the 2012 season-opener against Ohio.

How tough was it for that 2012 squad? They entered the season without their top 15 tacklers from the 2011 season (returning D-tackle Jordan Hill was No. 16), including four O-linemen who started every game the previous year. Penn State entered the 2012 season with just 15 starts along the offensive line, all in the person of Matt Stankiewitch.

Now, as James Franklin enters his fourth season as Penn State's head coach, he has five players who collectively have more starts under their belts than that entire 2012 squad combined -- Mahon, Nelson, DaeSean Hamilton (38), Marcus Allen (33) and Jason Cabinda (23). Together, that's 150. Remarkably, Hamilton -- who has started all but two games of his Penn State career (Army, 2015; Purdue, 2016) -- has a great shot at 50 career starts.





FORGING A TEAM

Franklin, more than anyone, is well aware of what depth and experience like that mean for his Nittany Lions. And said as much on National Signing Day two weeks ago, in an interview with CBS, when he noted his 2017 squad must replace just one starter on offense (center Brian Gaia) and three on defense (ends Garrett Sickels and Evan Schwan, plus linebacker Brandon Bell).

"Iron sharpens iron," Franklin said. "Our practices are going to be unbelievably competitive with great depth across the board."

That wasn't the case when Franklin arrived in January 2014, after the Nittany Lions were still caught in the turbulent seas of weathering the heaviest of the NCAA sanctions.

"When I first got here there were only 65 scholarships and the year after that there were 75," Franklin said. "That was hard to do. We had to limit reps, we didn't have depth, guys knew there was no one behind them who really could take their job."

Now, after Franklin signed 91 commits in his first 37 months, there is not only depth. There is experience and leadership, a decent chunk of it gained during back-to-back 7-6 seasons and a 2016 campaign full of injuries. Franklin has led quite the reconstruction, under challenging circumstances and, at times, under heavy fire.

SENIOR MOMENTS

Now, the Nittany Lions' most recent roster (dated Jan. 23, 2017) is senior-heavy, breaking down this way:

FIFTH-YEAR SENIORS (career starts in parentheses): Hamilton (38), Mahon (29), Nelson (27), Parker Cothren (13), Curtis Cothran (8), Brandon Smith (2), Tyler Davis, Josh McPhearson, Tom Pancoast, Irvine Paye and Cody Hodgens.

SENIORS IN FINAL YEAR OF ELIGIBILITY: Allen (33), Mike Gesicki (23), Cabinda (23), Grant Haley (21), Saaed Blacknall (11), Christian Campbell (4), Troy Apke (2), Tyrell Chavis and Daniel Pasquariello.

SENIORS WITH TWO YEARS OF ELIGIBILITY: Trace McSorley (14), DeAndre Thompkins (7), Wright (5), Torrence Brown (4), Koa Farmer (2), Nick Scott (1), Mark Allen (1), Noah Beh, Brendan Brosnan, Desi Davis, Billy Fessler, Joey Julius, Amani Oruwariye, Charlie Shuman, Jonathan Thomas and Kyle Vasey (remember this name; he'll be the Lions' long snapper in 2017).

In some ways (but definitely not on offense), the 2017 roster might even be reminiscent of that of the 1986 Nittany Lions. Joe Paterno's squad entered the season on the heels of a demoralizing 25-10 defeat to Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl, in what was the de facto national championship game. Penn State in 1986 featured a ton of veteran players determined to avenge that loss and get another shot at the title. (They did and they did.)

A FIESTA

In 1986, Penn State had 14 fifth-year seniors, all important contributors, led by All-Everything Shane Conlan, a top-notch punter (John Bruno) and place-kicker (Massimo Manca), and a cast of solid veterans. They included: Don Graham, Duffy Cobbs and Bobby White on defense, and Dave Clark, Darrell Giles, Eric Hamilton, Sid Lewis, Dan Morgan, Keith Radecic, Brian Siverling and Steve Smith on offense.

Overall, the 1986 team returned 37 of its top 44 players -- 84% of its two-deep on the offensive and defensive depth charts.

Penn State's 2017 squad comes very close to matching that. If you count Blacknall and linebacker Manny Bowen, both suspended for the Rose Bowl, among the Nittany Lions' season-ending two-deep depth chart as listed in PSU's Rose Bowl media guide, Penn State has 36 of its top 44 players (82%) -- 19 on offense, 17 on defense -- back this season. Plus kickers Davis and Julius, as well as punter Blake Gillikin.

You don't need me to remind you, but...

All that 1986 team full of seniors and veteran players did was go 12-0 and win the national championship

And James Franklin thought expectations were high last season.