As you may have noticed, Penn State’s season has come to an unceremonious end with a 24-10 loss to Arkansas in the Outback Bowl on Saturday. The game featured a half dozen opt-outs among a few other wrinkles but still managed to accurately depict so much of what made Penn State’s season what it was – a lot of moments that nearly happened but came up just short. Some of that was bad luck, some of it was self-inflicted. In either case, it led to a 7-6 record and a not so Happy Valley.
There will be plenty to talk in the coming months about the program and what is next in James Franklin’s ninth year at the helm, but here are seven storylines to follow so far.
Quarterbacks:
Penn State is going from having a lot of questions at quarterback to lots of options. This doesn’t automatically mean the job isn’t Sean Clifford’s to lose, but the arrival of Beau Pribula and five-star phenom Drew Allar coupled with the returning Christian Veilleux ought to give James Franklin and Mike Yurcich plenty to work with in the coming years.
There is an argument to be made that Clifford should give up the offense to a younger protege, but it seems unlikely that would happen without one of those players earning it. Whatever Clifford’s faults might be, he has seen just about everything college football has to offer and has played enough football that you know what you’re getting from him. Maybe some people don’t like that, but it’s hard to picture a situation that results in Penn State not playing its most experienced quarterback to start off the season. Someone is going to need to do a lot to unseat a three-year returning starter, no matter how flawed he might be.
The Opening Six Weeks:
Penn State opens the season at Purdue, plays at Auburn, hosts Ohio State and travels to Michigan all in the first six weeks of the season. This is coming on the heels of similarly challenging season opening slates the past two years (at Wisconsin and hosting Auburn in 2021; opening at Indiana and hosting Ohio State in 2020). The greatest argument for playing Sean Clifford might simply be the lack of any real comfort-building weeks early in the year for the likes of Allar (or others) to ease into things. Penn State hasn’t had a traditionally straightforward opening few weeks since 2019. No matter who the quarterback is, this slate is going to give Penn State plenty of tests.
Changes By Addition and Subtraction:
If there’s anything constant about Penn State’s offseason the past few years it has been change. Whether that means big changes at assistant positions or more behind-the-scenes adjustments from the analyst standpoint, things have always been in motion inside the Lasch Building. Special teams coordinator Joe Lorig is currently the latest assistant to be linked to an outside job (Oregon) but losing Lorig wouldn’t be the most dramatic change compared to the loss of defensive coordinator Brent Pry, who took the head coaching job at Virginia Tech.
Already adding new defensive coordinator Manny Diaz to the fold ought to be the most consequential change unless Franklin opts to make further changes with his immediate staff. When or if that happens remains to be seen, but it’s hard to imagine Penn State’s season ending and there not being a sacrificial lamb on the other end of the proceedings. This answer will likely come sooner rather than later. No matter what, change is coming somewhere in Lasch simply because there’s always change in Lasch.
The Portal:
Penn State has had pretty solid success so far poaching talent — mainly on the defensive side of the ball — from the transfer portal. James Franklin has already identified some areas of need in that department so it seems to be only a matter of time before names start trickling in. It will be a tall order to match the impact defensive end Arnold Ebiketie had transferring in from Temple, but, if anything, he’s proof that the transfer portal is full of program-impacting talent if you can find the right guys to fill your needs. Penn State has yet to have a really meaningful transfer portal departure outside of Will Levis as of late, but the door is always open.
Allar:
The biggest question surrounding Penn State football right now is the abilities and future of freshman quarterback Drew Allar. If he is as good as advertised, Penn State might have a program-changer; if he isn’t, the future is far less certain for James Franklin and his program. The fact of the matter is nobody really knows if Allar will truly compete for the starting job, be that via a fair shake or simply being good enough from Day 1 to really do so. If Allar doesn’t play in 2022 Sean Clifford will certainly want to improve his own play to keep Beaver Stadium sane; if Allar gets thrown into the fire early in his career it will be interesting to see the reception he gets following his first miscue. You hate to put too much on a kid’s shoulders, but it’s hard to deny how important Drew Allar is to Penn State football, no matter the outcome.
The Line:
Penn State’s offensive line has to get better if the Nittany Lions want to do anything of note in the immediate future. The Nittany Lions finished 89th in sacks allowed, which is a bit worse than it felt like for a unit that gave Sean Clifford more than his fair share of time to work with over the course of the year. Nevertheless, a dismal running attack — not the yardage but the lack of ability to gain it when need be — really handicapped this team in crucial moments. Penn State is never going to be a running team with Mike Yurcich and that’s fine, but it has to gain those rushing yards between the tackles on key downs more often than not. If Penn State can run the ball in those moments, it’s a much better team right off the bat.
The Diaz Impact:
Brent Pry’s defense may have had its moments it would like back, but by and large this group was steady year in and year out and gave Penn State a chance to win every game it was in. Manny Diaz is, by all account,s an excellent defensive mind, but he’s a new wrinkle on that side of the ball for the Nittany Lions. That doesn’t mean it will be better or worse, but it certainly will be different. Penn State could stand to get better on that side of the ball in certain areas, but all things considered it was one of the better defenses in the nation every year. That’s a tall order to match. It might be needed though, especially if Penn State’s offense continues to stall out at times.
