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Behind Enemy Lines: Can Penn State take advantage of the new playoff format?
justingolba via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Matthew O’Haren-USA TODAY Sports
A lot of the Nittany Lion’s success will come down to the success of third-year quarterback Drew Allar.
From now until preseason camp starts in August, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles around a different theme every week. This week is all about Ohio State’s opponents. From looking at the Big Ten Conference to individual opponents to specific players, we will bring it all to you. You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content here and all of our ”Behind Enemy Lines” articles here.
As the Ohio State Buckeyes enter the 2024-25 football season, two opponents are attracting much of the attention — Oregon and Michigan. However, there is one team that always makes for an entertaining game, and the Buckeyes have to play on their home soil this year:
The Penn State Nittany Lions.
Penn State has consistently been the third-best team in the Big Ten behind Ohio State and Michigan. They will be one of the main teams that benefit from the expanded College Football Playoff, as they have often finished in the No. 5 to No. 12 range but never in the top four.
So, the question is simple. With the expanded playoffs this season, can Penn State and James Franklin get over the hump and make the CFP this season?
A main part of that conversation will be junior quarterback Drew Allar. Allar is coming into his second season as the full-time starter for Penn State, and they will look to him to lead the way through a fairly daunting schedule. Allar threw for 2,631 yards with a 59.9 completion percentage, with 25 touchdowns and two interceptions.
In general, the sophomore played well in his first season as the starter, but he struggled in big games against Ohio State and Michigan to push the ball down the field and put pressure on the defenses. Even though his stats have been good, this year he will need to make the jump into winning the big games and putting Penn State in a position to make the playoff or even contend for the Big Ten.
One of the main hurdles that Penn State will have to overcome is its schedule. The Nittany Lions were not dropped into this new conference easily, as they travel to USC and face Washington at home. They also start the season at West Virginia, host UCLA, travel to Wisconsin, and host Ohio State. The main teams absent from the schedule are Michigan and Michigan State, but both of those teams have question marks coming into this season.
They will likely have to go through that schedule 10-2 to make the playoff, although 9-3 might do the trick. They do have a bye between USC and Wisconsin to make that road trip a little more feasible, but that is a tough schedule for a team with question marks at quarterback.
The Nittany Lions will also need some of their younger skill position players to step up and fill the roles left by Keandre Lambert-Smith, who transferred to Auburn, and Dante Cephas, who transferred to Kansas State. The running back duo of Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton are both capable of running for 1,000 yards each this season, and they will have to lean on them to carry the offense at times, but they will need someone in the passing game to step up and be Allar’s go to target.
That person could be Julian Fleming, the Ohio State transfer who was once a top recruit in the country, but he will first have to stay healthy to do that. If someone can step up and help Allar, this will be another great Penn State team, as all the other boxes are checked.
But a tough schedule will force a solid season from the Nittany Lions to make the postseason, even with eight more spots available this season.
Continue reading...
justingolba via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Matthew O’Haren-USA TODAY Sports
A lot of the Nittany Lion’s success will come down to the success of third-year quarterback Drew Allar.
From now until preseason camp starts in August, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles around a different theme every week. This week is all about Ohio State’s opponents. From looking at the Big Ten Conference to individual opponents to specific players, we will bring it all to you. You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content here and all of our ”Behind Enemy Lines” articles here.
As the Ohio State Buckeyes enter the 2024-25 football season, two opponents are attracting much of the attention — Oregon and Michigan. However, there is one team that always makes for an entertaining game, and the Buckeyes have to play on their home soil this year:
The Penn State Nittany Lions.
Penn State has consistently been the third-best team in the Big Ten behind Ohio State and Michigan. They will be one of the main teams that benefit from the expanded College Football Playoff, as they have often finished in the No. 5 to No. 12 range but never in the top four.
So, the question is simple. With the expanded playoffs this season, can Penn State and James Franklin get over the hump and make the CFP this season?
A main part of that conversation will be junior quarterback Drew Allar. Allar is coming into his second season as the full-time starter for Penn State, and they will look to him to lead the way through a fairly daunting schedule. Allar threw for 2,631 yards with a 59.9 completion percentage, with 25 touchdowns and two interceptions.
In general, the sophomore played well in his first season as the starter, but he struggled in big games against Ohio State and Michigan to push the ball down the field and put pressure on the defenses. Even though his stats have been good, this year he will need to make the jump into winning the big games and putting Penn State in a position to make the playoff or even contend for the Big Ten.
One of the main hurdles that Penn State will have to overcome is its schedule. The Nittany Lions were not dropped into this new conference easily, as they travel to USC and face Washington at home. They also start the season at West Virginia, host UCLA, travel to Wisconsin, and host Ohio State. The main teams absent from the schedule are Michigan and Michigan State, but both of those teams have question marks coming into this season.
They will likely have to go through that schedule 10-2 to make the playoff, although 9-3 might do the trick. They do have a bye between USC and Wisconsin to make that road trip a little more feasible, but that is a tough schedule for a team with question marks at quarterback.
The Nittany Lions will also need some of their younger skill position players to step up and fill the roles left by Keandre Lambert-Smith, who transferred to Auburn, and Dante Cephas, who transferred to Kansas State. The running back duo of Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton are both capable of running for 1,000 yards each this season, and they will have to lean on them to carry the offense at times, but they will need someone in the passing game to step up and be Allar’s go to target.
That person could be Julian Fleming, the Ohio State transfer who was once a top recruit in the country, but he will first have to stay healthy to do that. If someone can step up and help Allar, this will be another great Penn State team, as all the other boxes are checked.
But a tough schedule will force a solid season from the Nittany Lions to make the postseason, even with eight more spots available this season.
Continue reading...