Penn State

Penn State: The Season Is Already Over For The Nittany Lions

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This isn’t what the more optimistic fans will want to hear, but the season is effectively over for Penn State. Not that there aren’t more games to play, but they just don’t mean the same thing that they meant before the Nittany Lions went down to Michigan State on Saturday. You can tell yourself that Penn State is historically just below the blue bloods in terms of accomplishments, and that finishing the year with a couple of losses and a bowl win would be satisfying.

But deep down, not many people truly believe that. There’s a reason why Penn State fans wanted revenge against Ohio State this year, after all. Not just because of the way the game ended last year, but because of the effects of that game. Penn State had been on the brink of making it into the College Football Playoff, and losing to Ohio State effectively eliminated them from the running.

Why was the result so disappointing? Because that team had enough talent to make the Playoff, and they underperformed. It’s the same story with this year’s team, which also lost to Ohio State and now Michigan State… The same two teams that Penn State suffered losses to in 2017. But this year’s Michigan State loss isn’t the same as the one last time.

The team scored less, failing to even put up 20 points, and allowed MSU quarterback Brian Lewerke to bully the defense for 259 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Those are better numbers than Trace McSorley’s 192 yards, and despite putting his all into his performance, the PSU signal caller couldn’t bail the team out again with late game heroics. Not with this playcalling on offense.

You can pretend that it’s business as usual, but the fact is, this isn’t a normal loss and this isn’t the kind of loss that should be expected and excused. The losses against Ohio State in back to back years were bad, but it’s easier to justify those. Ohio State is one of the top teams in the country every year, and many favored them going into those games. You could argue that Penn State holding leads in both games was a fluke, and that the better team won, as expected.

But Michigan State? They’re unranked right now. They already had two losses coming into this game. Not only that, but it was in front of a packed home stadium and it was on Homecoming. Not exactly the best circumstances to drop a game. Some will say that every team loses games. That’s true. But championship teams don’t lose games like these.

Penn State doesn’t need to be Alabama, and finish the season as the number one undefeated team. But they do need to stop dropping games like the Michigan State one this year or even last year, if they ever want to make the Playoff. Some Penn State fans fall into the trap of thinking that the team has to be above average, and not elite.

The truth is, the potential is there to do better. Penn State has shown over the past years that they can play with anybody, after all. If one or two drives had gone differently, they could be undefeated right now. Something needs to change, to unlock that potential.

It’s starting to look like James Franklin’s most successful years were less about him and more about the generational talent coming out of his backfield, Saquon Barkley. And about offensive coordinator Joe Moorehead, who is now in Starkville. It’s time for Franklin to move on from his assistant coaches, because if that doesn’t happen soon, it will be hard to not place the blame on him rather than the rest of his staff.

Of course, Franklin has some benefit of the doubt after playing a big part in bringing Penn State football back to relevance. But it’s becoming increasingly clearer where his ceiling is. Franklin needs to do something to change this perception, that the team will pick up two losses every year under him no matter what the expectations going into the season are. More changes on the staff isn’t what the team really needs, but the play on the field isn’t leaving many option.

Or no changes can happen, and Penn State can become another Auburn. A team that can sometimes play with the top ones in the country, but also one that frequently under-performs based on what the expectations entering the season are. Whatever the case, it looks like this season is going to be a crucial turning point to determine which of those routes the team takes.

Big Ten: The Biggest Winners And Losers From Week Five

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The fifth weekend of college football is over, with less upsets this week but still some interesting results. The Big Ten especially had an exciting weekend, with the result of the Ohio State versus Penn State game causing a shakeup in the polls as Ohio State moved into the top three, and Penn State fell out of the top ten entirely and most likely out of the race for the Big Ten East.

Who emerged as the winners, and who emerged as the losers on Saturday?

Winner: Ohio State Buckeyes

There’s a very real chance that Ohio State finishes the regular season undefeated. The toughest opponents on their schedule at this point are Michigan and Michigan State, but it looks like they can run everyone else over easily. Upsets happen, but one shouldn’t just assume that a top three team will be upset because it’s technically in the realm of possibility.

No, it looks like the Buckeyes will either take a loss against one of the Michigan teams, or play for the Big Ten title with an undefeated record. They’re listed here as winners because they just got past the hardest game on their schedule, even if it took some bizarre missed tackles and a similarly ridiculous playcall near the end of the game to let them take the lead. Still, despite the Penn State team collapsing, the Buckeyes earned the win.

Now, they just have to get through the rest of the season with an even bigger target on their back. Can they do it? It would have sounded unlikely at the start of the season, but with the way Dwayne Haskins Jr. is playing in his first season as a starter, it’s not so bold of a prediction anymore.

Loser: Scott Frost And Nebraska Fans

This once great program can’t catch a break. Nebraska has started the season with no wins and four losses, the latest one coming at the hands of Purdue. Some predicted that the 0-3 start would make the Huskers come out with something to prove, leading them to a division win against an opponent that has shown up with mixed performances and close losses this season. This game, though, wasn’t as close as the other ones featuring Purdue this season.

The Nebraska defense still isn’t much better. They allowed 42 points, giving Purdue their best offensive performance of the entire season. It’s not the way that Scott Frost wanted things to start off in his first year as Nebraska’s head coach, and it certainly won’t help the Cornhuskers in recruiting. It doesn’t matter that this is a rebuilding year and that the team wasn’t expected to win.

While they weren’t expected to be good, an 0-4 start is worse than anyone but the most pessimistic of fans imagined. It’s going to severely hurt the confidence in head coach Scott Frost, and while he’s still supported by the fans for now, none of the hype that existed before the season is still there. The hype is what went away first. How long will it be before the locker room is lost, or the rest of the confidence held by the fans?

The answers to those questions depend on when Nebraska picks up win number one.

Loser: Good Playcalling

Penn State called an interesting play on their last possession of the game against Ohio State, which ended with a turnover own downs. To call the play interesting, however, is really sugarcoating it. Let’s tell it like it is. It was a bizarre call, and it helped the Buckeyes win the game. In the end, it came down to one play to continue the drive with a chance to win the game by kicking a field goal.

And instead of going for literally any other option, the staff called a play to send Miles Sanders right up the middle, where he would be stopped far short of the first down marker. The same Miles Sanders that had less than 50 yards for the entire game.

“We knew they were going to make their linebackers jump when we moved Miles, and they weren’t going to be set in position, and it was going to give us a chance to get a hole up the middle and crease them,” said Trace McSorley, in an attempt to explain the thought process behind the play. “We weren’t able to pick up a twist, and a guy got in the backfield and made a play.”

Look on any fan forum of choice, and you can find plenty of confusion about this playcall not just from Penn State fans, but from fans around the country. That’s why this is the second thing in the loser’s section. It’s fitting because in this case, it might have lost Penn State the game.

 

Photo Gallery: The Penn State vs Ohio State Gameday Experience

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Ohio State versus Penn State didn’t disappoint. The battle between two top ten teams, and Big Ten rivals, ended with a single point deciding the outcome. It was close enough that a Penn State two point conversion in the fourth quarter could have changed the result entirely, sending it to overtime instead of forcing the Nittany Lions to drive down the field and score on their last possession… Something that they fell short in doing.

The game was, of course, the yearly White Out for Penn State. College Gameday was there, too. As a result, the mood around Happy Valley was completely focused on the game. It was a sensation that lasted from the early hours of the morning all the way to the game itself.

Want to see what the game day was like from the perspective of your average fan?

Check out this exclusive picture album below.

Big Ten Football Preview & Viewing Guide For Week Five

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It seems like the season just started, but we’re already five weeks into college football. This week doesn’t have as many marquee matchups, but it does have some games worth watching and Saturday evening will be capped off by one of the biggest games of the year, both in the Big Ten Conference and nationally. All of the Big Ten teams that are playing this week will have their games today, with no early midweek games this time around.

What games can fans check out?

Rutgers vs Indiana, 12:00 PM on BTN

The Big Ten Network is televising one of the first games of the day, with a noon kickoff. This isn’t one that’s going to draw in neutral fans, however, because it’s between Rutgers and Indiana. The Scarlet Knights are looking for a better showing in front of their home fans after MAC contenders Buffalo came into their house and beat them 42-13 last Saturday.

It wasn’t a pretty showing for Rutgers. They gave up two touchdowns to both the top quarterback and top running back for the Bulls, and while UB is 4-0, it’s still not a good loss considering the lower conference that Buffalo plays in. Also, losing 42-13 at home to MAC opponents isn’t a good way to keep fans in the seats for the rest of the season.

Indiana is in a better place and has three wins so far, their only loss to nationally ranked Michigan State. Based on momentum, an Indiana blowout win isn’t out of the question.

#21 Michigan State vs Central Michigan, 12:00 on Fox Sports 1

This one is the first Big Ten game of the day that features a ranked team. That ranked team is Michigan State, which should come out guns blazing and look to bounce back from the decent performance but overall loss against Arizona State, in a game where a good amount of people penciled them in as the winner. The Spartans have had a long break since that game, which was on September 8.

All of that doesn’t help Central Michigan, a team that’s 1-3 and coming off of their sole win… Which was against FCS opponent Maine. They lost all three of their opening games, but to their credit, they did face SEC opposition Kentucky as well as the Big 12’s Kansas. While neither of those schools are powerhouses, they have much more in the way of resources than the Chippewas do.

Their passing defense is actually decent, they haven’t allowed an opposing QB to throw for more than 200 yards this season after all, but they gave up almost 300 yards on the ground to Kentucky and will likely give up a lot to the Michigan State running attack led by L.J. Scott.

You can watch this game on Fox Sports 1 if you want, but don’t put too much faith in CMU to pull an upset here. Not with MSU having extra time to prepare to bounce back after their loss to ASU.

Nebraska vs Purdue, 3:30 PM on BTN

This one is interesting for the wrong reasons. Well, more specifically, it’s interesting because everyone wants to see if Scott Frost is going to pick up another loss in his rookie season as the head coach of the Huskers. It would be hard to imagine things starting this way before the season, but Nebraska’s most recent result was a blowout loss at the Big House where their defense gave up 56 points and looked like it was closer to a FCS level.

Purdue, on the other hand, has had good form in the past couple of games. A win over Boston College, a very close loss to Missouri that featured an important bad call from the referee. They were upset by Eastern Michigan before that, but it was by one point. Purdue has played everyone close this year and should come in as the favorite. Form matters, and Nebraska’s form is historically bad while Purdue has stayed in every game.

This one won’t be televised on Fox Sports, though, and you’ll have to tune into the Big Ten Network if you want to watch it at 3:30.

Northwestern vs #14 Michigan, 4:30 PM on FOX

The first of the two Big Ten games that feature top fifteen teams is Northwestern versus Michigan. The Wolverines have to go on the road for this one, and it shouldn’t be too hard of a task for them. Northwestern is struggling this season and has a couple of bad losses already after winning their season opener and looking decent in it.

Back to back home losses followed that win, against Duke and Akron. This is the last game of that home stand before Northwestern has to head back on the road to face the other major team in Michigan, the Spartans. But it doesn’t seem like they’ll get a win in front of their home crowd.

Michigan rushed for 285 yards against Nebraska while only allowing 39 yards on 30 attempts. Realistically, it’s a good result for Nebraska to make this a competitive game and not fall victim to the same fate as Michigan’s last opponent, a blowout loss where everyone couldn’t wait for it to be over by the time the fourth quarter arrived.

This game is being broadcast nationally on FOX, meaning neutrals will hope for it to be a close result.

#9 Penn State vs #4 Ohio State, 7:30 PM on ABC

It doesn’t take much explaining why this is the best game of the week. The circumstances around the meeting between these two budding rivals means that the division title may be on the line, and in turn, a trip to the Conference Championship Game and potentially a trip to the College Football Playoff. If neither team slips up for the rest of the season, it will mean that this was the game that decided the Big Ten East.

Penn State is ranked lower, but you can through rankings out the window. They’re going to change after this game no matter what the result is, anyway. Penn State can make a large gain by winning, but the loser will almost certainly fall significantly after taking their first loss. Not only that, but two Heisman contenders are battling at the quarterback position in Dwayne Haskins Jr. and Trace McSorley.

The game is a White Out, something that Penn State has mastered. You can be sure that the atmosphere will help, and it makes the result even harder to predict. If you care about the Big Ten at all, or just want excitement, this is the game to watch tonight. With it starting at 7:30, the rest of the Big Ten will have played already by the time this one kicks off.

Ohio State Buckeyes: Penn State Game Is The First Real Test

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Ohio State will have their first real test four weeks into the season, when they travel to play Penn State on the road, at night. Some teams played close games in their openers, others were challenged in weeks two and three as the season continued and more teams played the first games of their conference schedules. Ohio State, though, they’re a bit different.

It’s not that they haven’t played anyone good, but a good team isn’t always a challenging one. TCU was a good team. But they weren’t on the level of the Buckeyes. Sometimes, for a team like Ohio State, the true danger comes from not playing opponents that are the same caliber very often.

We’ve seen it happen before. Iowa going undefeated in the Big Ten West and then losing the conference title game to the winner of the east. Wisconsin losing to Ohio State last year in the conference title game, after running the table in the West. Believe it or not, it is possible to be too good.

That’s the reason why coaches aren’t automatically upset when they play a team close, even if that team is supposed to lose by a larger margin. While winning every game by big margins is nice for the fans, and inspires confidence, that confidence can be a double-edged sword. Play too well every week, and you can find yourself struggling once you go up against another team that’s on the same level.

And while Penn State is slightly below Ohio State in the rankings, they’re certainly on the same level. If Penn State pulled off the win, it wouldn’t be out of the question for them to trade places in the polls with the Buckeyes. They have advantages that other teams don’t, too. Ohio State had to play TCU in Texas, but TCU doesn’t have near the amount of fan support that Penn State does.

Playing at Beaver Stadium at night is something that you would expect from a late season matchup. Not one in week four. If you’re the visiting side, it’s not the game that you want as one of your first real challenges of the year. Because let’s face it. Oregon State, Rutgers, and Tulane were all warm up games. Even counting TCU as a quality opponent, the Buckeyes have at the most only faced a single team that’s anywhere close to their level.

Now, they have to go into an environment that is known as one of the best in college football. It comes only shortly after Urban Meyer returned as the head coach of the team, and while his absence didn’t have much of an impact, that wasn’t against teams like Penn State.

The point here isn’t that Ohio State is going to lose, or that they haven’t played anybody. It’s that they may be unprepared for a true test, while Penn State started the season out by almost being upset. Additionally, they turned relatively close games against Pittsburgh and Illinois into blowout victories. They’re no stranger to playing in close games like these, and they’ve come out on top in each one of these.

If Ohio State enters halftime, or even the fourth quarter, how will they react? That’s a question that’s hard to answer because they have less experience in those close games. But if the game is close, Penn State is closer to a sure thing. As much of a sure thing as you can have in a game like this, which will be decided by a small margin because of the two teams roughly being on the same level.

We don’t know yet if Ohio State will show up when it matters in a game like this. They may, they may not. But if there’s one distinct disadvantage that they have compared to Penn State? It’s that, while we can’t predict accurately how either side will perform, Ohio State has more unknowns.

And that’s why this isn’t just the biggest game of the season for them, it’s the game that will show us just how “for real” the Buckeyes really are.

Penn State Football: Before Ohio State, Nittany Lions Face Illinois

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The Illinois game might be the one that Penn State fans are forgetting this season. It’s sandwiched in between the last out of conference game, which ended up being a blowout win, and the biggest home game of the season. The latter, of course, is the white out game against Ohio State.

Everyone in State College wants some revenge for how things turned out last year, and the game is even more anticipated because it’s happening early in the season. No need to wait until Halloween week, this time. Before that game, though, the Nittany Lions will travel to Illinois and will face the Fighting Illini in a night game.

The rundown on Illinois

It’s not that Illinois is expected to do much against Penn State, but Appalachian State wasn’t expected to either. It would be a mistake for the team to overlook this game, especially because PSU is the highest ranked team that Illinois should face this season.

For Penn State, this is a game to be moved past quickly, to get to one of the biggest ones of the season. For Illinois, this might be their only chance of the year to play on Fox Sports 1 in a Friday night game in front of their own fans. But while the occasion is a big one for the Illini, their on the field results haven’t been so great.

Freshman quarterback M.J. Rivers was thrown into the starting job without a lot of preparation, after the favorite for the starting job, Cam Thomas, left the team for personal reasons. Last week out, the opponent was USF and Illinois leaned more on their running backs than their passing game. Their defense also helped them out with a couple of interceptions,

That same defense also showed some weaknesses when they needed to hold a lead and keep USF from storming back to a win. A touchdown to the corner of the end zone put USF back in striking distance at the top of the fourth quarter, and things went downhill from there. It’s not that one touchdown stole the game away from Illinois, and it took a pretty good throw from former Alabama player Blake Barnett to make it happen, after all.

But after that, Illinois allowed a deep pass from Barnett following Randall St. Felix beating their man coverage. They managed to hold USF to just a field goal, but when the Bulls had the ball again, Barnett’s pass to Darnell Salomon wasn’t even contested. It was one of the most wide open touchdowns you’ll ever see, and if Illinois wants to have any hope of hanging with Penn State, they can’t let plays like that happen again.

The verdict is that, while Penn State can’t just look past this game and only think about the one against Ohio State, this Illinois team isn’t in the shape to pull off the upset on Friday night. They might make things momentarily interesting, but after Penn State dropped 63 points on Kent State, Illinois should fear their offense.

Blake Barnett gave them serious trouble, so it’s not a stretch to say that Trace McSorley might do the same thing. Not only that, but their running game will likely have less success against the PSU defense.

They left a clear weakness for Penn State to exploit with their performance against USF, and they can expect just that to happen. The main question is, will they keep things close and surprise everyone by playing well in front of a national audience?

Penn State Football: What To Watch For During The Pitt Game

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Going into the second week of college football, Penn State versus Pittsburgh might just be the most interesting matchup featuring a Big Ten team. It’s debatable, with Colorado versus Nebraska taking place earlier in the day, but the Keystone Classic is the game that features one of the top teams in the nation.

And in a rivalry environment on the road, a surprising result isn’t out of the question. Especially after Penn State’s lackluster start to the reason, a game that will surely give motivation to Pitt after watching their rivals stumble and nearly fall.

What should be expected from this game?

Pittsburgh rolled over Albany to open up their season, allowing only seven points and shutting out the Great Danes once the first quarter was over. They actually managed to run back the opening kick for a touchdown, which could sum up how the game went in general.

Maurice French, who scored the touchdown on the return, ended up adding to the lead with his second non-receiving touchdown of the day. The score came on an end around run, despite French’ being a receiver. It just goes to show that the Penn State team will need to work on their tackling going into this game, because Pitt has more weapons than Appalachian State did and the margin for error is much lower.

If there’s one player in that receiving corps that Penn State fans should be aware of, it’s Rafael Araujo-Lopes. For a player with only three catches, his stat line was very good. 50 yards overall, and two of those three catches were touchdowns. The number matches his total number of touchdowns from last year, showing that he’ll play a large role as a senior.

Pitt is starting an inexperienced quarterback who only played in four games last season, but that inexperience didn’t really show in the result against Albany. Kenny Pickett threw for 16 completions and a great 72.7 completion percentage, with two touchdowns to one interception.

Safety Nick Scott and linebacker Cameron Brown both had sacks in the Appalachian State game, but a stronger and more consistent performance from the defensive line would work wonders in helping Penn State to avoid another scare. One area where Penn State should have an advantage, however, is the running game.

No back finished with more than 100 yards, but the Penn State running backs were good when they needed to be. Miles Sanders had two touchdowns, while Ricky Slade scored in his very first game as a college player and had an average of 6.8 yards per carry with a small sample size. Will Slade get more carries against Pitt?

It wouldn’t be an unwise move from the Penn State staff. While passing ultimately won the game for PSU, it wasn’t consistent and had a sluggish start. Watch for the Nittany Lions to try establishing the run, to avoid putting too much pressure on quarterback Trace McSorley to carry the offense in the absence of NFL draftee Saquon Barkley.

Finally, it’s important to remember that the game is in Pittsburgh, and that the atmosphere will be more intense than a normal nonconference game. Penn State might be favored by just about everybody, but in a game like this, the unexpected always seems to happen at some point.

If you have any doubts that Pitt will be playing this game differently, head coach Pat Narduzzi summed it up himself.

“Anyone who wants to argue and say this is no different than any other week, it is. That’s a fact. If you want to ignore that, you can ignore it, but it’s a big game… I think our kids will be excited. They got a great football team. They’re talented, they have great players, and they have a great program, so we’re looking forward to having them come to Heinz Field again.”

What Happened In The Big Ten On The First Saturday?

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The first full weekend of college football is done, and teams from the Big Ten finally kicked off their seasons with some exciting matchups. Some of them were projected from the start to be great games. Others, like Penn State versus Appalachian State, were simply a case of an underdog turning up and not bowing down to the favorite. And then there were some games that were just strange, like the 108 point clash between Ohio State and Oregon State.

What were the biggest moments from the first Saturday?

Matt Canada starts off with a win as Maryland head coach

Maryland is not the team that most would have picked to pull off an upset. Especially not over a team that should have been at least somewhat wary, after losing to the Terrapins last year. But despite all the drama around the team’s coaching staff, and the fairly recent suspension of D.J. Durkin, the team pulled together and managed an upset win in honor of Jordan McNair.

It was a close game but it was one that Texas trailed most of the time. Maryland kept Texas from gaining the lead until the later part of the third quarter, and even then, they would take it back near the start of the fourth. Their quarterback situation was lamented going into the season, and yet Maryland starter Kasim Hill had a higher completion percentage and passer rating than Texas QB Sam Ehlinger. Additionally, Hill threw for no interceptions, while Ehlinger had two.

Despite the game being stopped for over an hour because of the weather, Maryland was able to hold the lead throughout most of the fourth quarter to secure the win. It’s a win that will greatly help the resume of Matt Canada, a figure that many have mixed opinions about after his failed stint at LSU. Now, however, he has a 1-0 record while acting as head coach.

Penn State beats Appalachian State, but not in the way they wanted

The Nittany Lions did what was expected of them and they dispatched their visiting opponents from Appalachian State, but just about nobody within the Penn State fanbase would like to repeat a performance like that anytime soon. It didn’t exactly make the team look good, after all.

Trace McSorley is one of the Heisman favorites this year, and Miles Sanders should be a good enough replacement for number two overall draft pick Trace McSorley, but none of Penn State’s stars really looked like themselves for this game and the offense was sluggish for much of it. The 45 point output doesn’t tell the actual story of the game, because Penn State only did as much as they needed and not even a tiny bit more.

They only managed ten points in the first half, after all. The third quarter went Penn State’s way, but allowing 28 points in the fourth quarter isn’t going to fly when playing against conference opposition, especially elite opponents like Michigan State and Ohio State. On the bright side, the team showed a good amount of resilience to take over during the OT period and put an end to the game.

But everyone, both fans of Penn State and fans of their rivals, know that it never should have reached that point. If the Nittany Lions want to keep their spot in the rankings, they’ll certainly have to avoid letting lower ranked opponents play up to their level as the Mountaineers did.

Michigan State gets past Utah State… Barely

Penn State isn’t the only highly ranked Big Ten team to have some trouble with a nonconference opponent that everyone overlooked. Michigan State was picked by Vegas as the second most likely team to win the Big Ten East, but they had a scare at the hands of Utah State regardless.

Like Penn State, the Spartans did enough to win the game but didn’t do enough to please their fans and critics, their pass defense failing to close out Utah State and quarterback Brian Lewerke throwing an interception that would be returned for a touchdown. The running backs didn’t have the best game either, with top back L.J. Scott finishing with less than 100 yards on 23 carries.

Furthermore, the winning run didn’t come until there were about two minutes left in the game. That kind of close margin just isn’t what any top team wants out of a nonconference game like this, and you can be sure the Spartans will make some tweaks going into their next game.

Will they have a better defensive performance over an Arizona State team that put up 49 points in their season opener? That’s a question that will loom large going into their west coast road trip this Saturday.

Penn State: Herbstreit Favors Nittany Lions In Preseason Predictions

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The Penn State football team has a decent amount of hype going into the 2018 season, and not all of it is coming from the fans of the Nittany Lions. ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit, who is notably a former Ohio State quarterback, was high on PSU when making his preseason predictions. He backed them several times over other teams who are higher in the polls, multiple times in his picks.

It started with picking Trace McSorley for the Heisman trophy. “He’s the Baker Mayfield of this year as far as intangibles, what he means to this team, attitude, how he plays with a chip on his shoulder,” said Herbstreit, drawing a comparison to this year’s number one draft pick. While the two have different playing styles, anyone that’s followed McSorley’s career knows that it’s accurate in that both players are the type who can provide a spark to their team.

Herbstreit elaborated on the attitude that Penn State could have this season, saying that the team could play with an added chip on their shoulder as a response to much of their success over the past couple of years being attributed to Saquon Barkley. With Barkley gone, Penn State has taken a hit in the rankings and even some of their own fans enter the season with less confidence than they had last year.

While he picked Alabama to defeat Clemson in yet another national championship game between two of the dominant teams of the 2010s, Herbstreit did pick Penn State to make the College Football Playoff. “I’m going to go Alabama and Clemson… And then I’m going to go Penn State and Washington.”

According to the AP Poll, Penn State is currently the tenth best team in the country. They narrowly edged out Michigan State and Notre Dame to make the top ten, but they sit below Auburn and Miami. Will Penn State make the playoff this season? We’ll see. But at least one well known member of the media has faith that they will.

Penn State Football: Linebacker Manny Bowen Offers Big Addition For Defense

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The Penn State Nittany Lions have a big addition for 2018, as linerbacker Manny Bowen will return after previously being kicked off of the team.

What happened to Penn State Football’s Manny Bowen in 2017?

Bowen was suspended last season as Penn State prepared to face Washington in the Fiesta Bowl, and was then dismissed entirely without a specific reason being released publicly. Bowen “violated team rules,” and unlike some other cases in college football, the details of those violations didn’t manage to reach the press. The popular rumor is that either academics or drugs were involved.

However, Bowen is back on the team and was listed on the roster during Penn State’s media day, which was held at Beaver Stadium last week. His addition will be important for a Penn State team that loses linebackers Jason Cabinda and Brandon Smith to graduation. With those leaders gone, much of the pressure to lead the position unit will fall on Bowen, who is a senior this season.

“I don’t want any decisions that we make to be need based… I want to do things because they’re the right things to do,” said head coach James Franklin, on the topic of Bowen being allowed back into the team. “We didn’t make it easy on him. I was surprised when he said he wanted to grind this thing out. The easy thing would have been to transfer.”

Franklin also stated that Bowen’s role on the team hasn’t been decided just yet. “I can’t tell what his role on the team is going to be like… I don’t know how this whole thing is going to play out,” he said.

Whatever his role is, Penn State fans will find out on September 1st, when the Nittany Lions host Appalachian State for a mid-afternoon game on college football’s opening weekend. With past 21 starts and plenty of experience, Bowen will surely fit right into a 2018 defense that needs the veteran leadership.