Penn State Nittany Lions 2018 Football Preview
Opening Statement: James Franklin has to be considered as one of the best coaches in college football. If you can get Vanderbilt to bowl games, and then continue to build on the ruins at Penn State and win big, that's the status you achieve. The great news is that Penn State, despite losing Joe Moorhead as OC and Saquan Barkley and others to the NFL, should still be in a position to push Ohio State in the Big 10 East this fall, and will be a top 15 program entering the season. Trace McSorley returns as the top QB in the Big 10, and everything starts with him and a line that returns 4 starters on offense. What may slow things down is that only 3 starters return on defense, and there are play makers to replace on both sides of the football. If all things come together, Penn State makes a push for the division title, but if not, they are still good enough to finish in the upper half of the division.
Breakdown Offense: Trace McSorley is back to run the offense, and with Barkley, Mike Gesicki and DaeSean Hamilton all gone, his leadership will be the key to moving things forward this fall. He passed for 3570 yards last fall, and added 28 TDs to 10 INTs. He completed 66.5% of his passes as well, and is the absolute leader of this offense. The Nittany Lions got some great news in the spring when Tommy Stevens, the top backup, announced that he would not transfer. That gives the offense some program experience in the backup spot. Jake Zembiec, a RS sophomore, will be the 3rd QB in fall camp, with a pair of freshmen behind him.
Expect Penn State to go to more of a committee approach at RB this fall. Miles Sanders, Mark Allen, and Jonathon Thomas all figure to get plenty of reps in fall camp, but the hope here is that the line improves greatly this fall, and that would enable this group to operate more freely. Barkley made a very average line look amazing last fall at times, and this group should not have to do the same.
Juwan Johnson and DeAndre Thompkins are back as starters at WR. Johnson caught 54 passes last fall for 701 yards and a score, and will likely be asked to absorb some of the work that Hamilton did last fall as a pass catcher. Thompkins caught 28 passes, and averaged over 15 yards per catch. He should be able to become the new field stretcher with big play ability. Brandon Polk likely takes the 3rd starting receiver job. He caught 10 passes as a sophomore last season. There is zero experience after these three, however, as the next 6 receivers on the depth chart are all RS or true freshmen.
Jonathon Holland, a junior, takes over the starting TE spot. He caught just 3 passes as a sophomore last fall. Nick Bowers could be in the conversation as well, but missed last fall due to injury. Danny Dalton also could figure in for some reps, and a pair of freshmen are in the mix in Zack Kuntz and Pat Freiermuth.
Hope for the line improving this fall is rooted in the fact that 4 starters return. Ryan Bates (LT), Steven Gonzalez (LG), Connor McGovern (C), and Will Fries (RT) are all back in the fold. Fries and Bates could swap spots as well. Chasz Wright and Sterling Jenkins will look for reps at the Tackle spots as well. Alex Gellerstadt is also in line for some playing time, and could give Penn State one of the deepest Tackle groups in the nation. Michal Menet, a former 5 star recruit, looks ready to take over at RG as a sophomore. Depth inside is the best it has been at Penn State in years.
Breakdown Defense: Penn State has just 3 total starters returing to action in 2018 from a team that ranked 7th in defensive scoring, 14th against the run, and 17th in total defense. The defensive line gets 2 f those returning starters in DE Shareef Miller and DE Ryan Bucholz. Miller led the team with 11 TFLs last fall, and added 5 sacks, 37 tackles, and 9 QB hurries. He is a hand full for any Tackle to deal with. Bucholz earned the job by the end of the year, and played in 10 games as a sophomore. Kevin Givens and Robert Windsor are penciled in as the new starters at DT, and both are juniors. Experience and depth inside could be issues. Torrence Brown gives the Nittany Lions depth at DE, and some younger players who got pushed into service last season now have experience they were not expecting.
Koa Farmer is the lone returning starter at LB, and recorded 48 tackles as a junior last fall. Cam Brown and Jarvis Miller are both juniors, and are penciled in to start with Farmer. Micah Parsons, a freshman, could push for the job at MLB in camp. He was a former Ohio State commit. The roster is dotted by 7 RS or true freshmen coming into fall camp at LB, so again, experience is thin.
The entire secondary must be replaced heading into fall camp. Amani Oruwariye and John Reid are projected to be named starters at CB, while Garrett Taylor (SS) and Nick Scott (FS) are penciled in at the Safety spots. Oruwariye was outstanding in the NB role last fall. Reid missed all of last season with a knee injury. Lamont Wade, a top CB recruit, moved to Safety in the spring.
Breakdown Special Teams: There will be a 3 way battle for the open PK job in fall camp, as Punter Blake Gillikin will look to add to his duties, but will be battling walk on Carson Landis and freshman Jake Pinegar for the job.
Gillikin had a strong season at Punter, and averaged 43.2 yards per punt. He should be one of the bets in the nation this fall.
The KR job is wide open in camp with the loss of Barkley, while Thompkins will once again return punts after averaging 13.29 yards per return with one score last season.
Final Analysis: Penn State, despite their losses in personnel on offense, should still have enough firepower to compete this fall, especially if the line improves as much as it should. The real questions will be based on the defensive side of the football, where depth and experience are not plentiful. Brent Pry will have to do one of his best jobs as DC of his career to hold the unit together and learn through the developmental process in every area. The schedule is manageable early on, as the Nittany Lions should blow through their first 4 games of the season before running into Ohio State at home on September 29th. If Penn State can steal that win, the race is wide open in the Big 10 East.
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