Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1546586
6 6 O C T O B E R 2 0 2 6 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M E very Penn State football season yields a series of questions. A year ago, the fan base was preoccupied with the Nittany Lions' nonconference struggles and whether they reflected deeper problems. Then people began asking if the team would bounce back from its loss to Oregon. A few weeks later, those same people were wondering whether James Franklin was going to be fired. After the first two weeks of the 2026 season, the hot topic is at least of the posi- tive variety. I was asked one question more than any other in the days that fol- lowed the Nittany Lions' 45-0 rout of Marshall at Beaver Stadium: Are you ready to change your prediction? I heard it at the gro- cery store. A man with two beautiful yellow labs stopped to chat about it during a walk around the neighborhood. It came up early in BWI's Temple week chat on The Lions Den message board, too, be- fore PSU defeated the Owls, 27-9. Then it came up again afterward. When BWI shared its predictions in the season preview magazine, I went with 9-3, as did everyone but Thomas Frank Carr, who had the Lions going 10-2. Here's what I wrote at the time: "Penn State is hardly the only team in college football that is something of an unknown entering the 2026 season. But few of its peers at the Power Four level, and certainly within the Big Ten, have as many new faces as the Lions do. "The head coach, two of three co- ordinators, and starters at virtually every key position will be in those roles for the first time in blue and white. Some — redshirt senior quarterback Rocco Becht, senior tight end Benjamin Brahmer, junior safety Marcus Neal Jr., and so on — have experience doing it at Iowa State. But, by and large, the Lions could be anything from a CFP lock to a team fighting for a bowl berth late in the year. "With all that said, the schedule is favorable, and I trust Matt Campbell to put Penn State in playoff contention. But, in the end, I think the Lions fall just short." What's changed since then? Michi- gan has been on a wild ride, nearly losing to Western Michigan, then beat- ing No. 11 Oklahoma. Washington has looked more sluggish than expected on offense, struggling to pull away from Washington State in the Apple Cup and barely hanging on to beat Utah State. Wisconsin got smoked by Notre Dame. Northwestern got a bit more than it wanted in a 34-18 victory over the FCS's No. 3 team, South Dakota State. USC looked good against Fresno State and Louisiana after an up-and- down opener versus San Jose State. That No. 1-ranked 2026 recruiting class the Trojans landed looks pretty darn good, too. At the very least, the receivers are eye-catchers. As for Penn State, except for a cou- ple of wasted scoring opportunities early in the Temple game, the team has looked about as solid as many of us expected. The opponents seen as the most likely to beat the Lions have not neces- sarily looked as strong as expected, but they could all be viewed in a different light by the time this edi- tion of BWI hits your mail- box. In other words, one or two games do not a season make. That's especially true in the transfer portal era. Matt Campbell's Lions should be commended for playing clean and running a smooth operation despite having 62 newcomers in the program. Not every team is capable of doing that, but it doesn't mean they won't get rolling before long. It's why, in the end, I need to see more from both Campbell's team and its upcoming op- ponents before changing a pick I made less than three months ago. For now, I'm sticking with 9-3. Do I think Penn State can outperform it? Certainly. There have been a lot of positive signs so far. But we expected to see those signs. The preseason pre- dictions called for three comfortable wins to open the campaign. It's not for nothing that the Lions' schedule has been called one of the country's most advantageous. In the end, making 12-game predic- tions is a fool's errand. But changing them after 120 minutes of play would be foolish, too. ■ O P I N I O N GREG PICKEL GREG.PICKEL@ON3.COM Early Victories Don't Change Penn State's Outlook THE LAST WORD Tight end Benjamin Brahmer was one of the keys to Penn State's 2-0 start to the season, catching 3 touchdown passes against Marshall and Temple. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL