Penn State football was on full display Saturday, from an NIL-sponsorship autograph session in Holuba Hall to an unprecedented but appreciated open practice – replete with live scrimmage reps – on the Lasch practice fields.
A steady drizzle that began at the start of practice intensified as the evening ultimately turned into a wet and a somewhat-still darkness. It didn’t put too much of a damper on the evening, but it did cause many of the fans who came for practice to depart early. Mad props to the fans who came out to see it all for themselves.
Amid the driving rain, James Franklin & Co. provided a clearer picture of the realities of the much-hyped 2023 squad — ranked No. 7 in the preseason USA Today Coaches poll — a short three weeks before their Sept. 2 season-opener vs. West Virginia in Beaver Stadium.
Bottom-line: Hold the phone on the Nittany Lion offense.
Here are my 20 takeaways from nearly four hours of Penn State football on Saturday:
1. It was a Penn State football fan’s fantasy. Acknowledging that they were being paid by Happy Valley United for their appearance signing autographs in Holuba Hall, the PSU players were very friendly with the fans who forked over hard cash – at minimum $25 (full disclosure: I paid the $25 to join HVU, with my money going to Penn State field hockey) – to attend the session, Drew Allar was the most popular player. Of course. But he sure looked like he was having a good time. He did a great job interacting with younger fans.
And although the rain certainly held down the number of fans who attended the open practice, it was a rare opportunity to see the players in action. Kudos to Franklin, his coordinators and AD Pat Kraft — spotted in the kids zone during the practice — for making it happen.
2. Have a seat, but don’t eat: Penn State had several sets of bleachers set up along the sidelines, as well as kids’ inflatable games, free popcorn (TY very much) and a very poor food truck offering of 1.) snowcones, and 2.) overpriced cheesesteaks, fries and pierogies haphazardly run out of the back of some guy’s vehicle.
3. Wow, what a defense. Penn State’s first unit on defense manhandled the first-team offense in almost every way possible. Manny Diaz’s defense is for real. And how. There were standouts all over the field, as they had their way with an offense that was missing two key offensive linemen, had troubles with the rain — Allar had a good deep snap go right through his hands — and featured a quarterback corps that looked young.
4. Kalen is King. The PSU cornerback is better than all the hype. His picture is listed under “lockdown corner.” He dominated every PSU wide receiver who came his way, including presumed No. 1 wideout KeAndre Lambert-Smith. (IMHO, PSU still needs a bona fide No. 1 — ala Dotson, ARob, Engram, KJ, Kenny Jackson, Godwin – at that spot.) He is textbook smart, quick, aggressive and a joy to watch. Time and again he was able to move the wide receiver where he wanted him and was the king of pass break-ups, adroitly using his extended, well-timed arm to swipe away passes at the last minute.
5. Abdul Carter is everywhere. The second-year linebacker blitzed, played deep pass defense and was uber-aggressive. He’s going to be something — OK, he already is.
6. Carter had one of the best three lines of the night. When he, King and safety Zakee Wheatley broke up a deep route by Trey Harrison, Carter followed the WR to the huddle, shouting, “Get the —- out of here, —-.” The play happened right in front of me, and the 30 or so fans nearby got a huge laugh out of it.
7. Line No. 2: When the rains were starting, Franklin ran over to the media contingent (I counted 20 of us) and said, “It’s been sunny all day. Now there’s a tornado warning from 7 to 9. Are you s—— me?”
8. No. 3, Franklin, again: When left guard J.B. Nelson jumped offside in the first unit’s first play from its own 1-yard line, Nelson walked slowly back to the huddle. Franklin shouted out at him, five yards away as the head coach stood at the back line of the end zone, “Take off!” Nelson was replaced and then took off for a lap around the practice field. It’s a new offsides punishment that CJF picked up — and put into action – after visiting the New England Patriots’ training camp with Manny Diaz.
9. Speaking of that OL. Nelson was in for projected starting left offensive guard Landon Tengwall, who was absent. He also was not at the team’s media day last Sunday. His absence is a big one, both on the field and in the locker room, where he is a passionate and thoughtful leader. The O-Line was also missing left tackle Olu Fashanu, who didn’t scrimmage. He is a bona fide NFL first-round top 10 pick, and boy did PSU’s first offense miss those two studs – super-smart guys, position technicians and the rocks along the line.
10. Quarterbacks Allar – who directed the first-team offense almost exclusively – and Beau Pribula had a (very) tough time of it. Facing a fierce rush (shout out edge Adisa Isaac and DT Jordan van den Berg), Allar hung in the pocket, but launched a number of off-target deep floaters in an effort to get rid of the ball. Pribula reacted differently under pressure: he tucked the ball and scrambled, looking for open receivers but rarely connecting.
11. One TD. The only touchdown by the offense came at the hands of true freshman Jaxon Smolik, who connected with first-year tight end Joe Schlaffer from Exeter Township (Pa.) High School on a 5-yard scoring pass. Franklin is right: Smolik looks good.
12. Crown another King. Kalen King was clearly the best player on the field Saturday, but true freshman King Mack – a safety and returner from Miami – looked big-league and versatile as well. Franklin had an intriguing extended session with Mack near the end of practice, as the youngster was fielding punts. (See the video below.) It’s fun and insightful to watch Franklin, like predecessors Bill O’Brien, Tom Bradley and Joe Paterno, in these situations. It reinforces in a very real way why they got into the coaching game to begin with.
13. Back backups. Running backs Trey Potts – the transfer from Minnesota who hails from Williamsport – and true freshman London Montgomery from Scranton Prep, both looked strong and scrappy. The mass exodus of experienced RBs over the past 18 months, caused by the emergence of Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen, is not an issue. PSU’s RB room is deep… and talented.
14. About Singleton and Allen: Last week, Singleton revealed in the Big Ten Network’s well-done training camp show that they go by the somewhat-hilarious moniker of “Fatman and Gatorade.” Fatman is Allen’s nickname, despite being a chiseled 221 pounds, and Singleton was national Gatorade Player of the Year. Together, as true freshmen in 2022 they combined for some eye-popping stats: 323 carries for 1,928 yards, for a 5.96 per-carry average, with 22 rushing TDs and 16 games where one or the other rushed for 73 yards or more. Caveat: The duo ran for a combined 156 yards on 38 carries vs. Ohio State and Michigan. TBH: In 2023, they need to double that.
15. Penn State’s place-kickers were just OK against a live rush, nit/not great, even allowing for the rain. Alex Felkins, who kicked for Columbia in 2019-2022, made a 53-yarder on Saturday. That confirmed his legit status, despite his Ivy League roots; he was 36 of 54 on field goals at Columbia, and 3 of 5 at 50-plus, with a career-high of 53 yards – against vaunted Marist. Sander Sahayak, already in his third year at PSU, made a couple of shorter field goals in live action, but both he and Felkins missed some in the 23- to 40-yard range as well.
16. New to PSU fans: There’s a new large video board on the PSU practice fields, prominent on the east sidelines. On Saturday, the board repeatedly promoted the “Nittany Lion Fan Academy on Saturday, August 26, 2 p.m., Beaver Stadium.”
17. Watch for this — speaking of Beaver Stadium experiences: Expect a Watch Party inside Beaver Stadium for the Penn State-Illinois game being played in Champaign, Ill., on Saturday, Sept. 16. Kickoff is slated for noon eastern and 11 a.m. in Illinois’ Memorial Stadium – a pretty cool, old-school, red-bricked stadium that features a memorable statue of Illini legend Red Grange. (Having done both the yoga class — shout out to PYP instructors Janet Egerer and Kerry Bestwick — and the “Lion King” movie inside Beaver Stadium this summer, I can tell you anything at The Beav beyond games is worth the admission price.)
18. Credit to CJF. The 10th-year head coach held a closed-door session with a few of the veteran Penn State beat reporters last spring – me included – and we had an honest, free-flowing discussion about what he and the PSU PR folks can do better. He took notes and listened. The result: There has been unprecedented access to the program. Both media and fans benefit.
19. Media MIA. Interesting though: Last Sunday’s spoon-fed media day easily drew 100-plus media members, but a post-practice media scrum on Thursday drew just 16 reporters/videographers and the open practice drew under 20 media types.
20. There were no announced attendance figures for Saturday’s events, but I would guess maybe 250 for the autograph session and around 1,500 for the open football practice (would have been better without that pesky tornado watch). Lots of young kids at both, which was great and really refreshing to see. They don’t care about NIL, TV contracts or the portal. About 1 out of every 5 kids wore a Barkley jersey.
