Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1503568
1 4 A U G U S T 2 0 2 3 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M "Can the Nittany Lions finally get past Michigan and Ohio State in the Big Ten East and contend for their first league title since 2016? It's going to be dif- ficult to do it this season, but they feel like they've got one of their better chances with Drew Allar, the No. 2 pocket passer in the 2022 ESPN 300, taking over the offense. Penn State has two very good tailbacks in Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton. … The defense was much better under coordinator Manny Diaz last season, and cornerback Kalen King and linebacker Abdul Carter are stars." — ESPN writer Mark Schlabach assessing Penn State's outlook in 2023 "[James] Franklin is 4-14 against Ohio State and Michigan in his nine seasons at PSU, with a sole victory against the Buckeyes in 2016. That was a magical year for the Nittany Lions, as they won the Big Ten, went 11-3 and won nine consecutive games before losing 52-49 to Southern Cal in the Rose Bowl. That success came just three seasons into Franklin's reign, while he and Penn State were still feeling the effects of the Sandusky scandal. It created what might have been unfair expectations at the time. Franklin said as much in March 2017, as he was starting to prepare for the next season — which was, somewhat suddenly, full of expectations. … It is now six years later. And the expectations for 2023 are real." — Mike Poorman, StateCollege.com columnist "If you're always chasing, then you're never achieving. You feel me? I'm not chasing for some- thing. I'm trying to achieve and being greater than someone that's chasing." — Former Penn State All-America linebacker Micah Parsons, telling ESPN's Todd Archer about his goals heading into his third season with the Dallas Cowboys "Did somebody say, 'Linebacker U?' Well, these returning starters might fit the bill. Abdul Carter is the next All-American, and Curtis Jacobs and Tyler Elsdon are the rangy 'backers that we are accus- tomed to seeing roaming around Beaver Stadium." — Lindy's Sports on Penn State's linebacker corps, which is listed fourth nationally, the highest rating of any PSU position group in the preseason magazine's unit rankings "I'm obviously heartbroken for our guys. I thought they just battled throughout the course of the day, and I hope that when we leave here today — and I know it's going to be a challenging one — that they can just look back with no regrets. They left their hearts on that field today. Just really made our staff and Penn State so proud." — Men's lacrosse coach Jeff Tambroni after Penn State lost 16-15 to top-seeded Duke in an NCAA Tournament semifinal game that was decided by a controversial overtime goal that appeared to have been taken from within the goalie crease They Said It Coach James Franklin won a Big Ten championship in his third season at Penn State, but the Nittany Lions haven't been back to Indianapolis since they defeated Wisconsin for the league title in December 2016. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL "At the end of the day, all that stuff doesn't matter. What really matters is, do our habits and our actions align with who we say we want to be and where we want to go? If not, it's just talk." — James Franklin on the praise his team has received this offseason as a potential Big Ten title contender