Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1537537
1 1 4 A U G U S T 2 0 2 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M T he buzz surrounding the Penn State football program is either as loud as it's been in years or as loud as it's ever been in the lead-up to a new season. The Nittany Lions are universally considered a top-five team entering James Franklin's 12th year in State College. To some, it's the best team — on paper, at least — in the country. It has a stupendously successful roster retention effort to thank for the love it is receiving. The addition of three receivers with proven production at the FBS level — seniors Kyron Hudson from USC, Devonte Ross from Troy and Trebor Peña from Syracuse — has ratcheted the attention the program is getting this summer up another notch. In the minds of many, if the Lions can fix their receiver issues by late August, they'll have everything they need to get further than the College Football Playoff semifinals, which they reached last season before losing in bitter fashion to Notre Dame. And then there's the fact that Penn State's coaching staff now includes Jim Knowles, reportedly the nation's highest-paid defensive coordinator. In a sign of their ambitions, the Lions pried him away from defending national champion Ohio State this offseason. Penn State's roster talent is nearly unmatched. However, there are depth questions, especially on defense, that are not drawing a ton of attention nationally but are doing so within Nittany Nation. The coaching staff is arguably the best one Franklin has assembled in State College, with Knowles and new running backs coach Stan Drayton joining a group that includes two second-year coordinators in Andy Kotelnicki (offense) and Justin Lustig (special teams) in addition to a number of longtime position coaches. It could also be argued that this was the best offseason of the Franklin era. It's why expectations are high internally and externally. "We always talk about it in this building, just going 1-0 every week," senior running back Nicholas Singleton told On3 this offseason. "The ultimate goal is to win a national championship, but in order to do that, you just have to worry about taking it one game at a time each week." None of it will matter if the Nittany Lions slip up against a weak nonconference slate or lose to Oregon in their first true test of the season, which will come in front of a frenzied White Out crowd at Beaver Stadium on Sept. 27. From there, the schedule presents some obstacles, all of which the Lions can overcome, though if they stumble in any of them, some air will come out of the balloon. If everything goes as planned, the upward trajectory the program has been on will lead to one of the biggest games of the college football season when the potentially undefeated Nittany Lions invade Ohio State on Nov. 1. The Buckeyes could easily roll into that game unbeaten, too. Thanks to the expansion of the College Football Playoff, a loss there wouldn't necessarily spell doom for the team's postseason outlook, as long as PSU takes care of business beforehand. All of it leads us to the question that will hover over the 135th Penn State football team to ever take the field: What must this version of the Nittany Lions accomplish to have a successful season? Is it boom or bust, national championship or nothing, to claim success? Is a Big Ten title and deep CFP run good enough, even if it doesn't result in the program's first national championship since 1986? Would something in-between satisfy the fan base? While a conference title and a return to the semifinals would be good enough for some, it's clear that most observers think success in 2025 means making it to the final, at the very least. With the obvious caveat that injuries can always derail a season, the optimism seems entirely reasonable based on everything that has led us to the cusp of this new season. So, our definition of success is this: a chance to play for all the marbles. Winning the championship would not be a prerequisite for achieving success in our view. Do we understand if you don't feel that way? Of course. But this team has been built for years, and especially this offseason, to at least get there. If it doesn't, plenty of hard questions will be asked in a similar way to how hearty the celebration will be if Franklin and his players are holding the CFP trophy on Jan. 19 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. It would be a fitting place to do it, considering what the Nittany Lions left on the field there just one year ago. ■ O P I N I O N GREG PICKEL GREG.PICKEL@ON3.COM Expectations Are High This Year — As They Should Be THE LAST WORD With his final college season about to begin, running back Nicholas Singleton said his ultimate goal "is to win a national championship." PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL