Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1476228
6 6 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 2 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M A new Penn State football season is here, which means that it's time to debate the best and worst pos- sible outcomes for the Nittany Lions this fall. Head coach James Franklin is tied to the program through 2031 thanks to the big and expensive contract exten- sion he signed last year. Mike Yurcich is back for another year, which means super senior quarterback Sean Clifford has the same offensive coordinator in back-to-back seasons for the first time in his tenure as a starter. Manny Diaz was brought in to take charge of the defense, while Stacy Col- lins is overseeing the special teams after a stint at Boise State. Franklin said all the right things in the lead-up to the season. The Lions' ninth-year leader was excited about all the team activity heading into pre- season camp. He said some newcomers will be instant-impact contributors. Finally, there is a belief that the numbers situation at several positions is better than it has been in the past, thanks to a highly touted 2022 recruit- ing class, plus three transfers, which could help solve both preseason ques- tions and ones that might pop up dur- ing the campaign. "I love our overall depth," Franklin said in late July. "I think our overall depth is as good as it's been in a num- ber of years. "There's probably a larger number of those [newcomers] that we feel are going to be able to impact our program earlier in their careers than in our nor- mal recruiting classes. We're excited about that." Let's start our breakdown with the best possible outcomes for the Lions in 2022. The list starts with super senior defensive tackle PJ Mustipher being full-go for the opener at Purdue, which seems likely. It continues with a second consecutive Big Ten road win to open the season. Penn State pushed through a tough contest at Wisconsin in 2021 to take a 16-10 victory. This game figures to see more points, so players on both sides of the ball must be ready. From there, a win over nonconfer- ence foe Ohio in the home opener would lead to a road victory at Auburn and another 4-0 start after Central Michigan comes to town. In a best-case scenario, Penn State will want to see more than just wins. It will also want to be able to say that questions along both lines, at line- backer, in the run game and with Clif- ford are all answered in a positive way. A perfect September would propel the Lions into the top 10 of the national polls, at worst, and that would set the team up well for an October slate that features home dates with Northwest- ern, Minnesota and Ohio State, plus an open week and a trip to Michigan. Fans will want Penn State to go 4-0 dur- ing that stretch, but 3-1 would suffice. That would provide a nice glide path into a stretch run that features games against Indiana, Maryland, Rutgers and Michigan State. Two are on the road, two are at home and all are winnable. In a perfect world, Penn State would find itself at 11-1 or 12-0 and in line for either its first Big Ten title game appearance since 2016 or a clear path to another New Year's Six bowl. As for the worst-case scenario, it starts with a road loss at Pur- due, followed by a win over Ohio and a loss at Auburn to complete the home-and-home series with the Tigers. Penn State would be expected to finish September 2-2, but the air would be out of the balloon and the frustrations would be full-blown regardless of how well Clifford plays or if Diaz's defense proves to be on par with that of his predecessor, Brent Pry. An October skid featuring two more losses is a real possibility considering the Lions' struggles at the Big House under Franklin and all of the firepower the Buckeyes will bring to Beaver Sta- dium. And, even amid the White Out atmosphere, Minnesota will be no walk in the park, either. In both scenarios, November figures to be the best month of the season for the Lions, but inju- ries, underperformance or a combina- tion of the two could make even that four-game stretch a struggle. As September approaches, hope springs eternal. Still, many questions remain unanswered as PSU prepares to wrap up fall camp. The answers will not be known until the Lions take the field at Ross-Ade Stadium. Ultimately, that game against Purdue will go a long way toward deciding the Lions' fate, both for the season and for the program's future from a recruiting perspective. It's ridiculous to call any opener a must-win game, but Penn State's visit to West Lafayette will set the tone for whether the best- or worst-case sce- nario is on the horizon. ■ O P I N I O N GREG PICKEL greg.pickel@on3.com A Tough Road Opener Could Set The Tone For PSU THE LAST WORD Coach James Franklin said this summer that Penn State's depth "is as good as it's been in a number of years." PHOTO BY RYAN SNYDER