Joe Paterno returns his entire starting lineup! Oh wait; he needs a new offensive backfield and replacements for two of his front seven on D. And of course, replacing LB Dan Connor, the top defensive player in the country (Chuck Bednarik Award), means a new defensive leader also has to be found. That is it, however, barring any early NFL departures. No team in these rankings brings back as many, except No. 1 Ohio State. For the past two seasons, preseason folks (such as us) have penciled Penn State in as a team worthy of top 25 praise. They have not exactly met such expectations; time and time again, the key was QB Anthony Morelli. The Pittsburgh-product wasn’t quite as good as he thought, nor was his team. These great JoePa recruiting classes of the past three or four years continues to pay dividends. The extensive list of seniors on this depth chart is full of exceptional players. They just need a solid passer and a productive ball carrier to reach greater heights. Such answers may not be found until September gets here. Whoever the choice(s) may be, there is a great set of receivers and a core of blockers made up almost completely of seniors. Norwood, Butler and Williams comprise a huge trio of top rated talent. The defense, even without Connor, is likely going to be the teeth in the Nittany Lions bite. Senior backer Sean Lee is just the next clogger in a school built around the name Linebacker Univ. This entire side of the ball is also composed of mostly upperclassmen. If Paterno can just find himself a quality QB…heck, even a QB that doesn't lose the game…one that may be good enough to put this team back into the national rankings by season's end. For now, Happy Valley fans will have to patiently wait through the month of April before finding out which seniors stuck around and which players take over the two most important offensive positions. The numbers however, do not lie. Too many veterans on this squad make it impossible to leave them out of any preseason discussions.