From the mailbag…
Stewart, what are the odds WVU pulls an upset of Penn State in the season opener for both schools? The Mountaineers have flown well under the radar this offseason but are returning nearly everyone on an offense that has shown it can easily reach the 30-point threshold. Plus, the atmosphere in Morgantown will be electric.
Brian W.
It’s definitely possible. West Virginia outperformed expectations last year with a 9-4 season, including a 5-1 mark at home. The Mountaineers took off on offense over the second half of the season, and they bring back veteran quarterback Garrett Greene, stud running backs Jahiem White and CJ Donaldson and a bunch of receivers. I strongly considered WVU for my early Top 25.
But also, I’m really struggling to find a reason to be excited about Penn State football right now.
That may sound strange to say about a team that has gone 21-5 over the past two seasons, but as we know, the Nittany Lions reached that mark largely by holding serve against the rest of the Big Ten while falling flat against top dogs Michigan and Ohio State. Quarterback Drew Allar was not the savior Penn State fans were anticipating last season, and while he should make strides as a second-year starter, he could use more weapons around him. James Franklin scored a win in the portal landing Ohio State WR Julian Fleming, only for last year’s top pass catcher KeAndre Lambert-Smith to go into the portal last week.
Defense has at least been a constant under Franklin, and while recent DC Manny Diaz is now the head coach at Duke, ex-Indiana head coach Tom Allen is an overqualified replacement. Franklin also has a new OC, Andy Kotelnicki, who had been with Kansas’ Lance Leipold since their Wisconsin-Whitewater days a decade ago. He’s great. But he still needs great players, and I’m not sure Penn State has enough of them.
I’ll be interested to see which network shows this one when. With no great Big Ten home games to choose from, I could see Fox using one of its high Big 12 picks to make this a Big Noon Kickoff game. But I kind of hope it’s at night, when Milan Puskar Stadium would be absolutely rocking. In that case, the upset potential increases exponentially.
Stewart, what are the odds WVU pulls an upset of Penn State in the season opener for both schools? The Mountaineers have flown well under the radar this offseason but are returning nearly everyone on an offense that has shown it can easily reach the 30-point threshold. Plus, the atmosphere in Morgantown will be electric.
Brian W.
It’s definitely possible. West Virginia outperformed expectations last year with a 9-4 season, including a 5-1 mark at home. The Mountaineers took off on offense over the second half of the season, and they bring back veteran quarterback Garrett Greene, stud running backs Jahiem White and CJ Donaldson and a bunch of receivers. I strongly considered WVU for my early Top 25.
But also, I’m really struggling to find a reason to be excited about Penn State football right now.
That may sound strange to say about a team that has gone 21-5 over the past two seasons, but as we know, the Nittany Lions reached that mark largely by holding serve against the rest of the Big Ten while falling flat against top dogs Michigan and Ohio State. Quarterback Drew Allar was not the savior Penn State fans were anticipating last season, and while he should make strides as a second-year starter, he could use more weapons around him. James Franklin scored a win in the portal landing Ohio State WR Julian Fleming, only for last year’s top pass catcher KeAndre Lambert-Smith to go into the portal last week.
Defense has at least been a constant under Franklin, and while recent DC Manny Diaz is now the head coach at Duke, ex-Indiana head coach Tom Allen is an overqualified replacement. Franklin also has a new OC, Andy Kotelnicki, who had been with Kansas’ Lance Leipold since their Wisconsin-Whitewater days a decade ago. He’s great. But he still needs great players, and I’m not sure Penn State has enough of them.
I’ll be interested to see which network shows this one when. With no great Big Ten home games to choose from, I could see Fox using one of its high Big 12 picks to make this a Big Noon Kickoff game. But I kind of hope it’s at night, when Milan Puskar Stadium would be absolutely rocking. In that case, the upset potential increases exponentially.
