Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1526526
O C T O B E R 2 0 2 4 3 7 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M A t Big Ten Media Days in July, Penn State defensive tackle Dvon J- Thomas was asked if the chilly weather that typically descends on most of the league's campuses by early November would be an advantage in matchups against the four new West Coast schools. "Oh, my goodness," he said. "They're going to wear five pounds of clothes just to stay warm. Catching the ball is going to be completely different. It's just going to be a whole new experience for them, you know? And I feel like that's really going to play to our advantage when you get to the winter months." A super senior who arrived at Penn State as part of the team's 2019 recruit- ing class, J-Thomas has had five years to get used to the extremes of central Penn- sylvania weather. And it's not as if his hometown of Burtonsville, Md., was a subtropical oasis, either. But as far as the 2024 season is con- cerned, it's possible that the West Coast teams won't have to endure all that much of an acclimation process. The Southern California teams — USC and UCLA — will play only one game be- tween them outside of the Pacific Time Zone in the final month of the regular season, with the Bruins visiting Ne- braska on Nov. 2. The Pacific Northwest teams — Washington and Oregon — will have to venture a little farther outside their comfort zone, with the Huskies visiting Penn State on Nov. 9, and the Ducks playing at Michigan on Nov. 2 and at Wisconsin two weeks later. Even so, those teams are already accustomed to uncomfortable late-fall weather. The mental image that a lot of people have likely conjured up of Southern California natives shivering under snow-covered ponchos on the sideline is probably not going to become reality … at least not until the College Football Playoff starts. The questions about whether West Coast teams are ready for the challenge they've undertaken by abandoning the Pac-12 for a league with an entirely dif- ferent geographic orientation are part of a broader reassessment of the Big Ten's balance of power. One can't help but wonder who should be more wary — the four newcomers, or the traditional power brokers that have ruled the Big Ten for decades? For Penn State, which opens its Big Ten season at home on Sept. 28 against Illinois, the change looks to be a mixed blessing. The end of the East-West di- visional split means that PSU won't be playing annual games against Ohio State and Michigan anymore, but it also brings a visit later this year to USC and a White Out clash with Washington. Next year, Oregon will make its first visit to Beaver Stadium since 1964, while the Lions will head to the Rose Bowl at some point to face UCLA. "Week in and week out, the Big Ten is arguably the best conference in all of col- lege football," coach James Franklin said. "I've been fortunate to be a head coach in the SEC [at Vanderbilt] as well as the Big Ten, so I think I've got good perspective on that. Adding the four new schools makes it even more challenging." Here's a look at how BWI sees the con- ference race shaping up. Predicted Order Of Finish 1. Ohio State The Buckeyes are loaded for bear (or, more aptly, for wolverine). They used their impressive NIL war chest to bring in quar- terback Will Howard and running back Quinshon Judkins among others, while also retaining a number of key players who might otherwise have gone pro last spring. That money, said to be in the neighbor- hood of $20 million, bought easy victories over Akron and Western Michigan to open the campaign, and the Buckeyes are likely to keep on rolling at least through the rest of September. Games against Iowa (Oct. 5), Oregon (Oct. 12), Nebraska (Oct. 26) and Penn State (Nov. 2) will tell us whether they're ready for the big one — a Nov. 30 matchup in the Horseshoe against Michi- gan, to whom they've lost three in a row. 2. USC Here's a scary sign for the rest of the Big Ten: The Trojans looked pretty good on defense in their season-opening 27- James Franklin has compiled a 56-32 Big Ten record heading into this year's league opener on Sept. 28 against Illinois. PHOTO BY GREG PICKEL