The Penn State Nittany Lions went 15-9 in the two years under Bill O’Brien, but after promising to stick around, he has now bolted off to the NFL. In steps Ex-Vanderbilt coach James Franklin and while the starting roster looks fine, the NCAA sanctions have really taken away their depth. This may not be such a happy year in Happy Valley. Preview & schedule are below.
The Lions put up 28.7 ppg last year but may have a hard time topping that this year, with just 5 starters back. QB Christian Hackenburg is back after throwing for 2955 yards with 20 TDs and 10 INTs last year. He loses his 1400 yard receiver and no one is back with more than 333 yards receiving. TE Jesse James had that 333 yards receiving last year, while the WR corps itself is made up of all underclassmen. The running game looks solid with Zack Zwinak and Bill Belton back after combining for 1792 yards and 17 TDs last year. The problem for this offense is the line, where sanctions have really zapped their depth. This unit has just 1 starter back and 3 underclassmen in the starting 5, while not much quality depth behind them. The defense allowed 26.2 ppg and with 7 starters back this year, they could be even better. The DL looks to be very solid with 2 starters back, including CJ Olaniyan, who had 5 sacks and 6 more TFL last year. The LB corps looks very good, with both Nyeem Wartman and Mike Hull back, but there are some issues in the secondary as they really don’t have anyone decent outside of Jordan Lucas, who had 4 TFL, 13 PBUs and 3 INTs last year. When a team is hit with sanctions it usually really affects the special teams and PSUs unit ranks dead last in the Big 10.
Some people are high on this team, but I am not. They do have some solid starters, especially at QB, RB, LB and the DL, but they also have series concerns at the receiver position the OL line, the secondary and special teams, plus I feel that this will be the year that they really start to feel the sanctions. This team is very thin on depth, so a key injury here and there will totally cripple this team. They start the year in Dublin, Ireland vs UCF and also have road games vs Michigan and Indiana, which will be very tough. A home slate that includes Northwestern, Maryland, Ohio State and Michigan State will be very tough. Even if this team was bowl eligible I wouldn’t see them getting there. I think 5 wins is the best they can do this year. KEY TREND: 7-0 ATS as dogs off a DD ATS loss
2014 Penn State Football Schedule
Aug. 30 UCF (in Dublin)
Sep. 6 Akron
Sep. 13 at Rutgers
Sep. 20 UMass
Sep. 27 Northwestern
Oct. 4 OPEN DATE
Oct. 11 at Michigan
Oct. 18 OPEN DATE
Oct. 25 Ohio State
Nov. 1 Maryland
Nov. 8 at Indiana
Nov. 15 Temple
Nov. 22 at Illinois
Nov. 29 Michigan State
Info gathered From Phil Steele's CFB Preview and Athlon Sports
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