Written by: TJ Inman

Week Eight: Penn State Nittany Lions

Date & Time: Saturday, October 28 – Time is TBD

Venue: Beaver Stadium in University Park, PA

TV: TBD

Nittany Lions at a Glance

Head Coach: James Franklin

Entering his tenth season as the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions

Record at Penn State: 78-36 (49-30 in Big Ten)

Overall Record: 102-51 (78-36 at PSU, 24-15 at Vanderbilt)

Last Season: 11-2 (7-2) – Won the Rose Bowl

Nittany Lions Returning Leaders

Passing: Drew Allar – 35-60 for 344 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions

Rushing: Nicholas Singleton – 156 rushes for 1061 yards with 12 touchdowns

Receiving: KeAndre Lambert-Smith – 24 catches for 389 yards with four touchdowns

Tackles: Abdul Carter – 56 tackles

Nittany Lions Preseason Predictions

Athlon: 3rd in the Big Ten East

Lindy’s: 3rd in the Big Ten East

Phil Steele: 3rd in the Big Ten East

SP+: 6th Nationally

Impact Newcomers for the Nittany Lions

Dante Cephas (WR – transfer from Kent State)

Malik McClain (WR – transfer from Florida State)

Program Preview

The Penn State Nittany Lions enter the 2023 season with high expectations and great hopes. This is likely James Franklin’s best roster at PSU and in his tenth campaign in Happy Valley, Penn State is trying to capture its first Big Ten East title and finally dethrone Ohio State and Michigan. 14 starters are back, highly-touted quarterback Drew Allar is now the man at quarterback and there are stars on both sides of the ball. There are question marks but the time is now for Franklin and the Nittany Lions to make a push for the conference crown.

Offensive Preview

Any discussion of the Penn State offense begins with the outstanding backfield duo of Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen. Singleton and Allen were terrific as freshmen, rushing for 1061 yards and 867 yards with 22 touchdowns combined. They return in 2023 and form one of the best running back duos in the country.

The offensive line, an early issue for James Franklin’s teams, has turned into a strength. Olu Fashanu opted to return for 2023 and he gives the Nittany Lions an anchor as one of the best left tackles in college football. Drew Shelton and Caedan Wallace are battling for the right tackle spot. Both starting guards (Landon Tengwall and Sal Wormley) return with the massive Vega Ioane potentially pushing them. Penn State can’t quite match Michigan’s line but this an extremely good unit that will give opponents fits.

Drew Allar has a ton of talent and he’ll be tasked with taking this offense to the next level, now as the full-time starter. Can the performance possibly match the hype here? That will be tough because of the one question mark for this offense: the pass catchers.

Parker Washington opted to move on to the NFL and the Nittany Lions need a lot of guys to step up. KeAndre Lambert-Smith, Harrison Wallace III and Liam Clifford all return and will need to step up. Help was gained in big-time transfer addition Dante Cephas. He was terrific at Kent State and they’ll need him to handle the step-up to the Big Ten as a potential number one target.

Theo Johnson, a rising junior tight end, could emerge as a weapon and is a name to watch out for. If the Nittany Lions can find a couple of difference-makers at wide receiver, all of the pieces are in place to exceed the offensive performance of 2022. Penn State averaged 35.8 points per game and have a strong enough attack to win the Big Ten.

Defensive Preview

Defensive coordinator Manny Diaz was an interesting hire by James Franklin given the high-pressure approach Diaz utilizes. One year in, Diaz appears to be a terrific fit in State College. The Nittany Lions held opponents to 18.2 points per game and were generally considered one of the top defenses in the Big Ten. The pieces are in place for Penn State’s defense to be terrific once again, albeit with a few concerns about the secondary. Just like on offense, the defense has multiple stars. Upfront, Adisa Isaac and Chop Robinson are stellar defensive ends. PSU might not have terrific depth at defensive end but they have some intriguing options. The interior of the line was overmatched against elite teams (like Michigan) and they need guys like Hakeem Beamon to get heavier and improve. Jordan van den Berg has drawn rave reviews from Franklin for his work in the offseason.

The linebackers are just about as good as any teams in the country. Abdul Carter is a budding star and he’ll be one of the best defensive players in the Big Ten as soon as this season. Curtis Jacobs opted to return for another season instead of going pro and he gives them a terrific duo in the middle of the defense. Add in Tyler Elsdon and Kobe King and the Nittany Lions are loaded at linebacker.

The questions come in the secondary. It’s not that PSU does not have a lot of talent, they are just a bit inexperienced and need to prove it on the field. Kalen King and Johnny Dixon are a good combo at cornerback but is either one of them elite like Joey Porter Jr. was? Keaton Ellis, Jaylen Reed and youngsters like KJ Winston and Mehki Flowers form a solid group of safeties.

Special Teams Preview

This is an area of complete unknowns for the Nittany Lions. Riley Thompson was the punter for Florida Atlantic in 2022 and he was brought in through the transfer portal to compete with redshirt freshman Alex Bacchetta. The placekicker will either be Sander Sahaydak or Columbia transfer Alex Felkins. Franklin bringing in transfer portal additions at both punter and place kicker makes for camp competition but it also tells you he may not be that confident in what they have coming back.