Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1545675
A U G U S T 2 0 2 6 8 7 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M SCHEDULE SUPERLATIVES Best Home Opponent USC | Oct. 10 The Trojans have been one of the country's most buzzworthy teams this offseason, thanks largely to the return of redshirt senior Jayden Maiava, the latest elite passer to roll off Lincoln Riley's quarterback conveyor belt. However, if Maiava and his teammates are going to vie for USC's first Col- lege Football Playoff berth, they'll almost certainly need to win in Happy Valley. They've never done that, dropping the only two games they've ever played at Beaver Stadium — 21-20 in 1993 and 38-14 the following year. Best Road Opponent Michigan | Oct. 17 The Wolverines' coaching melodrama was more condensed than Penn State's, but like the Nittany Lions, Michigan found its man in the Big 12. Kyle Whittingham went 177-88 in 21 full seasons at Utah. The 66-year-old veteran wasn't quite ready to retire when he was forced out in December, and when Michigan found itself with an unexpected coaching vacancy, he ended up stumbling into one of the best jobs in college football. Penn State is 4-9 at the Big House and likely won't be favored this year, but it did beat Whittingham the only time it faced him, defeating the Utes, 35-21, in the 2023 Rose Bowl. Best Opposing Offensive Player Jayden Maiava | QB | USC Maiava beats out Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr., though not by much. The Hawai'i native is getting ready for his second full season as USC's starter. His first season was dazzling. The 6-foot-4, 225-pounder completed 65.8 percent of his attempts for 3,711 yards, leading a passing offense that ranked fifth in the FBS. Best Opposing Defensive Player John Henry Daley | DE | Michigan A second-team AP All-American as a redshirt sophomore at Utah, Daley chose to follow Whittingham to Ann Arbor in January. The 6-foot-4, 255-pounder finished with 11.5 sacks and 17.5 tackles for loss in 2025 and will fortify a strong Michigan defense, provided he's fully recovered from the Achilles injury he suffered against Kansas State last November. Best Opposing Specialist Ryon Sayeri | PK | USC Sayeri's 21 field goals last year (in 25 attempts) were the most ever by a USC kicker in a single season. His longest was a 54-yarder against Iowa, and he also hit all 48 of his PAT tries while totaling 63 touchbacks on 89 kickoffs in his redshirt freshman season. ence standings. Only six of the Lions' 12 upcoming foes even played in bowl games last season. But no schedule in a conference as grueling as the Big Ten could be described as easy. The Lions will face three of the best quar- terbacks in the country in USC's Jayden Maiava, Washington's Demond Williams Jr. and Minnesota's Drake Lindsey. They must travel to Michigan, a place where they were outscored 167-74 during Franklin's five visits, and Washington, where they haven't played since 1921. Penn State is also set to help Northwestern christen its new stadium on what is sure to be an adrenalin-fueled night for the Wildcats and their fans. Whether there are 10 wins in that schedule is very much an open question. The Lions will start getting their answers on Sept. 5 when they welcome Marshall to Beaver Stadium to kick off the Matt Campbell era. ■ The Nittany Lions drew 111,015 fans for last year's White Out game against Oregon. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/ PENN STATE ATHLETICS