Know Your Opponent: Penn State Nittany Lions

Written by: Nate Comp (@NathanComp1)

Head Coach: James Franklin

Overall: 7th Season, 56-23 (.701)

Bowl Appearances at Maryland: 6

2019 Record: 11-2 (7-2, Big Ten East)

Bowl Appearances Since 2000: 14 (7-7)

Mascot: Nittany Lion

Colors: Blue and White

Outfitter: Nike

National Titles: 2 Claimed, 5 Unclaimed

Conference Titles: 5 (PIFA and Big Ten)

Heisman Winners: 1

2019 Record: 0-0

Next Week: vs Ohio State

STATISTICAL LEADERS

Passing: Sean Clifford (189-319 passing (59.2%), 2,654 yards, 23 TDs, 7 INTs)

Rushing: Journey Brown (129 rushes, 890 yards, 6.9 YPC, 12 TDs)

Receiving: Pat Freiermuth (43 receptions, 507 yards, 7 TDs)

Tackles: Lamont Wade (67 tackles, 39 solo, 2 Sacks, 3 Forced Fumbles)

Random Stat of the Week: Penn State’s last season-opening loss came in 2015, a 27-10 loss at Temple.

Penn State’s Talking Points

1. The Penn State offense will be led by a new coordinator.

Ricky Rahne was in charge of the offense in 2019 but left to take the Old Dominion head coaching job during the offseason. There’s a new man in town, and that man is one of the two offensive coordinators that bested the Nittany Lions last season: Kurt Ciarrocca, former offensive coordinator at Minnesota.

Under PJ Fleck, Ciarrocca completely flipped the script on the Minnesota football program last year. A team that had struggled historically suddenly turned into a top five nationally ranked offense, both in efficiency and explosive plays. His offense is a well-balanced machine that is nearly impossible to stop if he is on his game play calling. Just ask Penn State, as quarterback Tanner Morgan threw for just two incompletions against them last year in their 31-26 loss to the Gophers.

There will be two new twists at Ciarrocca’s disposal: a mobile quarterback in Sean Clifford, and a do-it-all tight end in Pat Freiermuth. At Minnesota, Tanner Morgan averaged only one or two rushes a game. Clifford is known as a dual-threat guy that likes to have designed scrambles run for him; Saturday will tell if his new offensive coordinator sees this continuing. When he’s not scrambling, Clifford’s favorite target is his tight end Pat Freiermuth. Minnesota’s tight ends tallied just 16 receptions in the last two seasons; Freiermuth caught 15 touchdowns over that same time frame.

2. How does the defense fare without Micah Parsons?

Defensive coordinator Brent Pry loves his aggressive, blitz-heavy schemes. Of course, he liked them more when Micah Parsons was getting into the offensive backfield stopping rushes and sacking quarterbacks. Unfortunately, Parsons has opted out of the 2020 season to focus on the NFL Draft. Pry will have to look elsewhere to find production.

Accounting for Parsons, the defense now returns just four starters from last year. Fortunately, two of them are Shaka Toney and Jayson Oweh, edge rushers that combined for 62 tackles last season. Toney tied the PSU single-game record with four sacks against Indiana on the road in 2018, and Oweh could find himself playing on Sundays in the future as one of the first edge rushers off the board.

The pair of linemen will be joined by Lamont Wade in the secondary, a former five-star that returns the team lead in tackles. He had his best games down the stretch last year, especially in the game against Ohio State when he tied a Big Ten record with three forced fumbles.

If the defense is successful, you’ll know because they are able to limit the big play. Pry will surely continue to blitz all game; when it’s working, they’ll stop the run and keep the quarterback uncomfortable. But when it isn’t working, the blitz will be picked up and the secondary will be left exposed. This happened in last year’s game when Ty Fryfogle reeled in a 38-yard score with no defender within 10 yards of him.

3. Is it a trap game?

The Penn State athletic department quickly silenced any rumors of James Franklin leaving for USC or Florida State in December when they extended his contract through the 2025 season and guaranteed him $35.4M over that time period. Along with this deserved job security, Franklin finds himself with one of his most talented rosters in his entire tenure entering 2020. The Micah Parsons opt out will hurt, but the roster still returns the highest-rated five-year recruiting average that Penn State has ever had in the modern recruiting era. Fresh off of a bowl victory and three-straight eleven-win seasons, the Nittany Lions enter the season with the CFB Playoff on their radar. Their biggest hurdle on their road to the playoff? Ohio State, who they’ll face in week two.