Like many other teams that are about to start its season, the Penn State men's track and field team has a lot questions that need to be answered as early as possible.

The first question concerns its depth.

Although the Lions have quality athletes in the events, they will need production from more than just their top performers in each event to be successful.

Every team in the Big Ten conference has quality athletes, but the difference-maker will be how much depth they have.

"If you come last in the Big Ten, you could come up in the top 10 in the country," Penn State men's track and field coach Harry Groves said. "We don't have the depth as we did in previous years."

A result of this is that the Nittany Lions feel they may be only competitive in certain meets.

"We are probably a better big-meet team than a dual meet team because you need a lot of depth for those kinds of meets," Groves said.

Another question will be how the team replaces its leaders.

Last season, seniors, such as co-captains Brian Derby, a 400-meter runner, and Steve Janci, a 200-meter runner, provided the direction and guidance needed. Groves said the Lions do not expect the graduations to significantly affect their performance during the season.

"It is going to happen," Groves said. "Guys will come and go. It is not that a big deal... that's life."

Groves added he hopes the replacements would be better athletes and at least have learned from the seniors who graduated.

Something else the Lions will have to deal with is that long and triple-jumper Chavous Nicholas has used up his eligibility for the indoor season, although he can compete during the outdoor season.

"It makes me more anxious," Nicholas said. "I guess it is good and bad because I will be fresh for the outdoor season, but it will be tough watching from the sidelines."

There have also been concerns about the mentality of the team, especially the mindset of the freshmen.

"I think some of them had a great misconception of the caliber of athlete you need to be in college," Groves said. "They were used to being pampered by mom and dad... We call this a period of growth for them."

As a result, the coaches have not been happy with practice .

They said some of the athletes were not responding to training and posting the times they should. The staff plans to use this weekend's meet as a building block.

"You need to build up," Groves said. "When you begin, you don't want to start off with a big meet."

Fatigue could also be a factor for the athletes' training performance. The coaches said many of the team's athletes were trying hard, but still were a little fatigued.

Despite all the questions, the Lions are optimistic about the season and feel it will be a successful one.

"I think we will have a pretty good season," Groves said.

He also added that Penn State has the quality to compete, but the team's depth will determine how successful the season is.