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The toughest part of Connor McGovern’s first college season may have been the most important for him.
McGovern made his first start on Penn State’s offensive line in Week 5 against Minnesota, but he really took over at right guard a week earlier, playing all but the first two drives against a loaded Michigan team.
Just a slight difference from playing Wyoming Valley Conference opponents a year earlier.
“There were some hurdles,” offensive line coach Matt Limegrover said Thursday. “Once he got through the Michigan game — and he didn’t have a great game, and he knew it — but he could say, ‘That was my crucible.’ He had to get through that. And when he did, he had a different attitude. He had a smile on his face. ‘If I can get through that, I get through anything.’ From that point, his confidence grew.”
Now McGovern enters the second half of his true freshman campaign against another mammoth test with No. 2 Ohio State coming to town Saturday.
Limegrover, who is in his first season with the Nittany Lions but is a Big Ten veteran from his time at Minnesota, uses the Buckeyes and Wolverines as a measuring stick.
With McGovern and Ryan Bates already starting — and other freshman-eligible players like Michal Menet, Will Fries, Steven Gonzalez and Sterling Jenkins on their way up — Limegrover sees a unit with a very high ceiling. Particularly at guard and center.
“The future for the interior offensive line here, they’re the guys you say, ‘OK, that’s what a Michigan is playing with, that’s what Ohio State is playing with,’ ” Limegrover said. “That’s what we’re going to get to pretty quickly. That’s exciting.”
It’s that potential that has him working his players hard in practice and during games.
McGovern in particular hears it from his position coach because he enrolled back in January and went through a full spring practice.
“I get on him big time, ‘Hey, you’re not a freshman any more. Stop making freshman mistakes,’ ” Limegrover said. “He gets it and he understands.”
The entire group will have some added stress on Saturday because of the situation at tackle. With Andrew Nelson lost to a knee injury, the plan is go with the group that finished the Maryland game — Paris Palmer at left tackle and Brendan Mahon flipping over to take Nelson’s spot on the right.
The main issue, Limegrover said, is restoring the chemistry and cohesion that the group had been building through the first six games. Prior to Nelson’s injury, the only major switch was McGovern taking over full-time for Derek Dowrey.
“Unfortunately, Andrew Nelson getting hurt kind of disrupted that continuity,” Limegrover said. “The communication was getting better, the understanding. There’s so much that goes into it as far as getting a feel for how the other guys around you play the game, and I felt like we were really getting into a good place with that.”
Palmer struggled with making the transition from Lackawanna College to the Big Ten at the start of last season. He looked better by the end of the campaign but hadn’t played more than a few snaps this fall until Nelson went down against Maryland.
For the most part, Palmer held his own against the Terps, though there was one notable play in the third quarter where he was beaten cleanly off the edge.
The difference is that while the play would almost certainly have led to a sack a year ago, this time around Trace McSorley was able to escape the pressure and actually gain yards with his legs.
“I guess the nice luxury that I have is having a guy like Paris Palmer who has started in some games and started some big football games at Penn State,” Limegrover said. “He feels really comfortable at left tackle.
“When Andrew went down, Brendan Mahon didn’t skip a beat and looked at me and said, ‘Hey, I can move over, no problem.’ … That transition was a lot smoother than one would expect, just because of Brendan’s willingness to both play the position and the fact that he had played right tackle in the past.”
All in all, the line has seen an improvement under Limegrover and another new assistant, offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead.
“Matt’s done a nice job,” Lions coach James Franklin said. “He also came here at the right time because of the depth and talent we’ve added. We’re at a much different point than we were two years ago.
“Matt’s experience, Matt’s knowledge, Matt’s temperament has been good for us. The young guys are coming on.”
