Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1503568
6 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 I t's a term that's already leaked into the general lexicon surrounding Penn State ahead of the 2023 season. If you haven't heard yet, this the Nittany Li- ons' window. But what does that piece of overgeneralized double-talk mean? It means it's time. Or, at least, it should be time. Penn State went 11-2 last season and capped the year with an impres- sive win over Utah in the Rose Bowl. That's great and all for James Franklin's program, but a trip back to Pasadena on New Year's Day will hold a much greater meaning. The Rose Bowl will be the site of a College Football Playoff semifinal this season, with the Sugar Bowl playing host to the other. That's where the expectations lie for these Nittany Lions. The final year of the four-team playoff is Franklin's chance to get over the hump and go from being a fringe player on the na- tional championship scene to, for lack of better verbiage, one of the elites. Being seen as one of the programs to almost make it into the four-team field isn't what Franklin wants people to remember about his first decade in Happy Valley. "People look at different eras," he told BWI's Nate Bauer this summer. "You look at the BCS era and then you look at the current college playoff model and it being four teams and how that is viewed. Were you a part of that model or not during your time? "At the end of the day, I would love to put our team, and specifically our team this year, in a position to be a part of that conversation and make a run at this thing. Especially with it being probably the last year." The window approaching seems very positive for Penn State. The Lions have a strong running game and a potentially elite defense, two key cogs that will help sophomore quarter- back Drew Allar, a first-year starter who already is dealing with high expecta- tions. Allar hasn't officially been named the starter yet, but the former five-star prospect has been at the forefront of the Nittany Lions' promotional activity ahead of the season. The offensive line, headlined by a potential top-10 draft pick in junior left tackle Olumuyiwa Fashanu, is as experi- enced as any in recent Penn State history. So yes, it's OK to think that Penn State can be very good. It's also OK to downplay how much of that success will be on Allar's shoul- ders. Everyone got a brief look at him as a true freshman last year, and there's plenty to be excited about. But it's also important to recognize that there's still a learning curve ahead. "Drew got in games last year, and you can do all the drills you want, but the thing that he showed is poise," Franklin said recently in an appearance on Adam Breneman's "Next Up" pod- cast. "He looked so comfortable when he was in there, and I'm talking about the Purdue game, on the road in the Big Ten. "So, there are reasons for [excite- ment] and I get it, but we just try to control the things that we control, which is how we're working, how we're preparing, how we're building our chemistry as a team. And then we'll go out and hopefully prove people right and prove some people wrong." It's blasphemous in the Lasch Build- ing to look ahead to the whole body of the season. It's also logical to look at this year through the appropriate lens. College football's playoff struc- ture means that seasons hinge on two or three games, provided there are no missteps in the other nine or 10. This year, Penn State's nonconfer- ence scheduling gem is a West Virginia team that is expected to be bad. That means the Nittany Lions have as close to a two-game schedule as they've had in some time. Penn State travels to Ohio State on Oct. 21 and hosts Michigan on Nov. 11. Yes, there are a few traps along the way, but Franklin recently admitted that his staff has already started prepping for both contests. "We are getting ready for West Vir- ginia and we have done our first four opponents. We literally just finished those breakdowns," he told On3 in May. "But then we'll get a head start on Michigan and we'll get a head start on Ohio State. Obviously, we understand the importance of those two games." Looking through the window, those two games — against opponents that have taken six of eight from PSU since Franklin's infamous great-to-elite ti- rade following a heartbreaking loss to the Buckeyes in 2018 — hold the key to the program's next step. ■ Left tackle Olumuyiwa Fashanu headlines an offensive line that could be Penn State's best since James Franklin took over the program in 2014. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL Its Window Open, Penn State Hopes To Enjoy The View JUDGMENT CALL O P I N I O N SEAN FITZ SEAN.FITZ@ON3.COM