| It's hard to remember now, but Penn State began the season 5-0, with a road win at Wisconsin, a home win over a ranked Auburn team, reaching #4 in the polls, and leading fellow top 5 Iowa 14-3 in Iowa City. Then Sean Clifford got hurt, and even though he eventually returned, the season went off the rails in a hurry. The Nittany Lions lost 5 of their final 7 games, the wins coming against lowly Maryland and Rutgers. They had chances. They had Iowa beat until they lost their quarterback. They lost in overtime to Illinois. They had one blown coverage in a home loss to Michigan. Three plays from being 10-2. But 7-5 is 7-5, although the 5 opt outs they had for the game does show how much talent this team had. Four defensive starters, plus stud wideout Jahan Dotson are all skipping this one. Losing Dotson is particularly troubling for an offense that struggled to run the ball for the second consecutive year, and now has to lean heavily on Parker Washington, without arguably the conference's top receiver. Washington came on late, recording at least 4 receptions in five of Penn State's final six games; and tallying his only two touchdowns against an FBS opponent in their final two games. With an extra month to rest and heal, I do think we will see the best Sean Clifford we've seen since September. As good as the Penn State defense has been this year, I do think that will be the bigger concern. It's not just the four defensive starters opting out, but defensive coordinator Brent Pry, who has been James Franklin's coordinator for all 12 of Franklin's head coaching seasons, since 2011 at Vanderbilt, has left to take the head coaching job at Virginia Tech. I think Kendal Briles, and a veteran quarterback in K.J. Jefferson, with a month to prep, could put together a game plan that could cause problems for a Penn State defense which is green up the middle due to the opt outs. Jefferson had 10 carries for 73 yards against Texas; 20 for 85 against Ole Miss; and 18 for 66 against Auburn. I think he may hit 100 here. |