Penn State football’s local media day — which will take place on Saturday at Beaver Stadium — is always a mixed bag of both the excitement of what could be and the uncertainty of what might actually happen. Players are excited, coaches are hopeful and the media is curious. In truth, it might be the one time everyone is really on the same page emotionally: curious. Practice opens the door to plenty of questions, answers and new (or old) problems to solve. The next several weeks won’t dictate how the entire season goes, but some of these questions could face the Nittany Lions well past early August.
The Long Road Ahead: Penn State could, in theory, see its schedule balloon well past the traditional 13-game slate if the Nittany Lions make the Big Ten Championship Game and/or some degree of a playoff run. While nothing about the college football season has ever been short, there is a question of how you prepare for the long road ahead. If you figure Penn State will be part of the playoff conversation this season, the Nittany Lions are almost certainly dealing with the complicated balancing act of both focusing on what is right in front of them while also preparing to survive the regular season with enough gas, energy and strategy left in the tank for the postseason. At some point you can only deal with the day in front of you, but the season potentially extending multiple gams is a wrinkle not to be overlooked at the start of the marathon.
The Install: For a program that prides itself in the power of continuity, Penn State will face the daunting obstacle course that is three brand-new coordinators joining the program all at the same time. There’s no reason to think Andy Kotelnicki, Tom Allen and Justin Lustig won’t be able to get their units up to speed in time for the season, but it’s safe to say that you can’t worry about a marathon season until you know the car will start. Nobody expects things to go absolutely smoothly out of the gate, but there’s something to be said for hitting the ground running and with some idea of what the Nittany Lions might want to look like when they finally hit their stride. Fall camp is all about installation. What was learned in the spring that might inform how training camp goes?
Next Steps: There are plenty of players on this team that are in the moments when they should be taking the next step. Be that Drew Allar at quarterback or Tony Rojas moving into a bigger role at linebacker, now is the time to make good on potential. Media day comes only a few days after the start of practice and that there’s only so much previously established information about how development is going right now. All the same, one of the biggest deciding factors of Penn State’s season in 2024 will be the ability to various players to take that next step. From receiver to kicker, there are needs waiting to be answered. Who will heed the call?
Finding The Belief: There’s something to be said for belief, and while Penn State hasn’t lacked any general belief in the program’s ability to do above-average things, it has been a while since talks of conference championships and playoff berths have felt genuine and sincere. That’s not to say that winning simply comes down to believing, but it sure doesn’t hurt matters any. If Penn State can find the leaders to show the Nittany Lions a path towards some legitimate swagger, that couldn’t hurt the cause any. How is the hunt for leaders going?
Finding The Kicker: Ryan Baker, Chase Meyer and Sander Sahaydak pose one of the more straightforward issues Penn State is looking to solve this year as it attempts to create stability within its field goal unit. Sahaydak probably deserves another shot at starting the year off on the right foot after doing so poorly in the Week 1 opener in 2023, but depth has never been a bad thing on a football team. Finding answers at receiver might pose a bigger issue for any given down, but empty possessions will kill you in big games and good kickers help keep that from happening. Does Penn State have the answer to this issue on the roster? Time will tell.
