Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1537537
A U G U S T 2 0 2 5 19 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T H E B I G P I C T U R E / / / / / / / locker room who played," he said. "There are a bunch of young guys who just were able to experience it. It's an experience that they'll remember for the rest of their lives, this season and how it went. "And there are going to be a ton of guys coming back next year who are going to be hungry and are going to be motivated for more. They've gotten a taste of what this feels like and what it looks like and what it smells like. "We'll all be better for it," Franklin continued, "including myself. We'll be better from this experience. There are so many guys in that locker room who have a chance to come back and use this as fuel to get back here next year and the years after that." A Familiar Approach For the past seven months, the Nittany Lions have been working to make good on that hopeful talk. Now, their prepara- tions are about to enter the final phase. They are getting ready to begin pre- season practice ahead of what is surely the most eagerly awaited of Franklin's dozen seasons on the sideline. The dis- appointment of last season's finale has given way to a surge of excitement about what's to come. And true to Franklin's assessment following the Orange Bowl, it's largely because of the players who were on hand in Miami Gardens. Allar, Singleton, running back Kaytron Allen, defensive end Dani Dennis-Sut- ton, defensive tackle Zane Durant, safety Zakee Wheatley — all are seniors who could have been getting ready for their rookie NFL seasons right now if they had wanted, but all are back for one last year of college football. What's more, Penn State has supple- mented its returning talent by using the transfer portal to bolster its shortcom- ings at wide receiver and linebacker, and it splurged in the coaching market when it found itself needing a new defensive coordinator, pulling Jim Knowles away from Ohio State The Lions' team-building formula has evoked comparisons to the Buckeyes, as well as 2023 champ Michigan. A year ago, Ohio State used its NIL war chest to hold onto such key players as defensive end JT Tuimoloau and running back TreVeyon Henderson, while also bringing in a few high-impact transfers like quarterback Will Howard and safety Caleb Downs. And of course, raiding the staff of a rival to land a high-profile coach is a classic Buckeye move. In his post-spring top 25, FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt ranked the Lions No. 1, noting that they were following a win- ning blueprint. "This is why I'm putting them in this spot," Klatt said. "You look at what Michigan did in 2023. You look at what Ohio State did in 2024. Both of those teams had a core group of veteran play- ers who stayed. They stayed, and they won a championship. Both of those teams had veterans at quarterback. They had veterans on both sides of the ball. They were excellent at the line of scrim- mage. They had chips on their shoulders from the way they were bounced from the postseason in years prior. All of that is true about Penn State." Growing Consensus Klatt hasn't been the only one to rank the Nittany Lions at or near the top of this year's list of legitimate title con- tenders. CBS Sports had them third coming out of spring practice, while The Sporting News had them fourth. Athlon and Lindy's both ranked them second in their preseason football magazines. Sometimes, rankings are based as much on vibes as on data, but there are a handful of people who take a more ana- lytical approach. No one in college foot- ball crunches numbers with as much gusto as Bill Connelly and Phil Steele. In May, Connelly released his post- spring SP+ poll, a "tempo- and oppo- nent-adjusted measure of college foot- ball efficiency" that seeks to quantify returning production, recruiting trends and programs' recent history. Con- nelly's algorithm had the Lions behind only Ohio State and Alabama, with an expected win total of 10.4. Even more encouraging for Penn State and its fans, Connelly's fellow data guru Steele had the Nittany Lions ranked first in his eponymous football preview mag- azine, ahead of Clemson, Notre Dame, Texas and Ohio State. "Of the final four teams [from the 2024 College Football Playoff ], Penn State returns the most, so they are a legitimate national title contender," Steele wrote. "They get both Oregon and Indiana at home and do not play Michigan but have to travel to Colum- bus. The last two national champions were veteran-laden Big Ten teams, and Penn State fits that mold this year." The Nittany Lions have won 10 or more games in five of their past eight seasons. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/ PENN STATE ATHLETICS