This is the first article in a series over the next week or so in which I will look deep into the upcoming Penn State football season.

To start things off let’s take a quick look back at last season. Penn State went 11-2 overall, 7-1 in the Big Ten, splitting the Big Ten title with Ohio State. Penn State got the nod to go to the Rose Bowl by defeating the Buckeyes 13-6 in the Horseshoe on October 25. After a bye week Penn State saw their chance to play for the national title freeze to death in Iowa City when Iowa defeated the Nittany Lions on a last second field goal, 24-23. In the Rose Bowl USC jumped out early on Penn State and cruised to a 38-24 victory, leaving Penn State number eight in the final rankings.

Penn State will have to fill the void left by several key players. On offense, the Nittany Lions lost their top three wide receivers. Derrick Williams and Deon Butler were drafted in the third round by the Detroit Lions and Seattle Seahawks respectively. Jordan Norwood went undrafted but was signed and will be missed too. The three combined to catch 132 balls last season which was 54 percent of the Penn State receptions last season. They combined for 1,932 yards receiving, which was 61 percent of the teams receiving yards.

Three seniors also graduated off the offensive line. Rich Ohrnberger went in the fourth round and A.Q. Shipley in the seventh. Gerald Cadogan went undrafted but later signed.

On the defensive side Penn State loses defensive end Aaron Maybin, who will forego his final two seasons at Penn State, as he became the 11th overall pick in the draft, taking his talent to Buffalo. Last years other starting DE Maurice Evans also left early, only to be signed as an undrafted free agent. Cornerbacks Lydell Sargeant and Tony Davis, safeties Anthony Scirrotto and Mark Rubin, DE Josh Gaines, and LB Tyrell Sales also graduated and signed with NFL teams.

Another loss will be kicker, Kevin Kelly, who collected 120 points last year as a senior.

With all of that talent gone Penn State will have to reload for the 2009 season.

By looking at the preseason polls, it looks like Penn State should be just fine. The USA Today poll has Penn State at No. 8, and the AP poll has them in at a tie for No. 9 with Oklahoma State.

In the coming days I will lay out the 2009 Penn State team by looking at the team position by position. Tomorrow I will look at the quarterback position.

Stay tuned for RB, WR, TE, O-Line, D-Line, LB, secondary and special teams. Following that I will take a look at the 2009 schedule and give a prediction for how the season will shape up.