Is winning 10 games a successful year for Penn State? That and more in this week’s mailbag
Our latest mailbag of the season is here and we have the answers to your questions. As a reminder, if you have any questions send them to psu_mailbag@centredaily.com for inclusion in the mailbag in the future. From big picture to small minutiae, we’ll answer your queries about the Penn State football program.
Now that basketball and wrestling season are upon us, feel free to send your questions about those programs to us, too.
How would you feel if PSU went 10-2? Do they get awarded a NY6 Bowl game since the only 2 losses come from (assuming all things remain the same) top 3 teams.
With the plethora of young Freshman talent on both sides of the ball, is this the best the program has been set up under James Franklin? —Wes
Two questions again this week from one reader so we’ll address both.
How would you feel if PSU went 10-2? Do they get awarded a NY6 Bowl game since the only 2 losses come from (assuming all things remain the same) top 3 teams.
I would think of this as a successful year for Penn State. I projected the team to win nine games coming into the season with the caveat that I thought they would actually win either two more or two less than that because of the volatility of the program of late. Now, I did not expect Michigan to be as good as it is this season and that tacked on an extra loss that I didn’t anticipate.
Still, the Nittany Lions are going to finish at the high end of what I expected, they just happened to face two top-five teams in the country rather than one. Penn State is not a top-five program right now so it would be unreasonable to expect wins over either of those teams yet.
The biggest reason it’s a success, though, is because it’s met expectations that were set prior to the year and taken care of business against some good but not great teams like Purdue and Minnesota. Now, if you’d have told me the Nittany Lions were going to lead in the fourth quarter against Ohio State and lose by multiple scores anyway, then I would call it more disappointing. But it’s unfair to act as if I thought this team was good enough to beat Ohio State in the first place. Right now it isn’t and there are things that need to happen for it to get to that level. This year is a good start.
As for a New Year’s Six bowl, yes I think they get in one as of now. That could change based on other outcomes around the country, but I would expect the program to get a bid to one especially if the only losses are to two teams that could both reasonably make the College Football Playoff this season.
With the plethora of young Freshman talent on both sides of the ball, is this the best the program has been set up under James Franklin?
Yes, without a doubt. There are several reasons to believe that’s the case. Off the field, athletic director Pat Kraft seems to be steering the program in the right direction with regards to resources and fundraising with the hopes of making Penn State an attractive destination for recruits.
On the field, things are more broad. The running back room is elite, the offensive line has finally turned a corner and has developed real depth and the defense is led by one of the best coordinators in the country in Manny Diaz. All of those things should help form a foundation of 10-win stability moving forward, but none of them are the real reason the program is in a better spot than it ever has been under James Franklin.
That reason is Drew Allar. I do not mean to further pile pressure on a college freshman who has never started a game at this level, but his talent far exceeds that of the other quarterbacks that have been at Penn State since Franklin helped bring the program back to double-digit wins in 2016. He’s a transcendent talent who could help the Nittany Lions take the leap from conference contender to College Football Playoff contender even before the playoff inevitably expands to 12 teams.
Allar has the upside to be one of the best in the country. Now it’s on the program to put him in a position to succeed and make sure he develops as you’d expect a five-star quarterback to develop. The early returns on his playing time are overwhelmingly positive and it’s hard to envision a Penn State team that doesn’t have him starting next season.
Send in your questions
That’s it for this week’s mailbag. Don’t forget to email us at psu_mailbag@centredaily.com to get your questions answered. We’ll have you covered this Saturday for Penn State’s game against Rutgers, so be sure to head to CentreDaily.com for all of the coverage you need.
