I don't think we know much about this team because we've played very weak opponents.

PSU hasn't played a top 100 defense yet. WVa 102nd, BGSU 110th. KS 133rd. So how good is the offense?
PSU hasn't played a top 50 offense yet. WVa 56th, BGSU 74th, KS 133rd. So how good is the defense?

Illinois is 87th on offense (379 yds per game) and 32nd on defense (292 yds per game). PSU should be able to handle Illinois at home but it will be a good test. PSU scored 34 pts against both WVa and BGSU. Points will likely be more difficult to come by against Illinois. I'm thinking something like 27-20.

USC is 30th on offense (457 yds per game) and 47th on defense (311 yds per game). Those are reasonably impressive numbers since they've played both LSU & Michigan.

Speaking of weak schedules.... We know from the Peach Bowl how good Ole Miss is with Jaxson Dart but look at their schedule and results.

Furman 76-0
Middle Tenn 52-3
Wake Forrest 40-6
Ga Southern 52-13

With this schedule Ole Miss is averaging 671 yds of offense per game. That's close to PSU's all time record vs Kent State over 4 games. Wow!

Apologize the link is missing. He has us 4th overall and third tier. Sheesh, was that bowling Green debacle that bad?

Here's are one stop shop for all things former Penn State Football players in the NFL this 2024 season.

The last time we saw PSU they were getting dominated by Ole Miss. So what will be different next Saturday?

PSU played the bowl game without two of their best CBs, King & Dixon. We're counting on transfers Harris & Kimber to fill those voids. Harris is highly touted but he only played a few games last year. He had 3 solo tackles all season. It seems PSU is betting heavily on his potential, not his actual performance. Kimber has a lot of experience but wasn't a star player. Are we expecting too much from the transfers or will they both have a strong immediate impact?

I think PSU should be OK at DE with Sutton & Carter moving over from LB. Unfortunately those guys are going to have to play a lot of snaps because of Zuriah Fisher's injury. But what about LB? King should be solid but Rojas hasn't played much. Deluca has been solid but not spectacular. Depth is a concern at this position just like DE.

The offense loses 3 OL starters but might be OK. Can Cousins make an impact as a freshman? Are highly rated Williams & Birchmeier be ready? What about Rucci who underperformed his rankings at Wisconsin? Can Shelton protect Allar's blind side?

WR could still be a mess. We lost KLS who was targeted only once in the Peach Bowl. His whole story remains a mystery. We also lost Cephas who didn't play in the Peach Bowl. PSU is counting a lot on Fleming but Franklin hasn't said much about him and some sources show him as second team to start the season. Wallace is good if healthy. Clifford is solid but not much of a deep threat. Is this the year that Saunders or Evans finally step up?

How much of a difference will the new coordinators make? Is Allen as good as Diaz? Can coach K come up with a better scheme? Will Pribula get more snaps? Can we count on Sahaydak?

PSU has a lot of unknowns coming into the season. I think they have the potential to win 11 games but they could just as easily lose 3 and miss the playoffs. They certainly can't afford to lose to WVa on Saturday. I expect WVa to stack the box and force PSU to throw 10+ yds downfield. I don't think PSU can simply impose their will in the running game. They have to keep WVa defenders off balance in the passing game. I think PSU has to score 28 pts to win this game. My prediction is a close game at half but winning it in the second half. PSU 31, WVa 24

There looks to be 3 weights this year that will not have a returning/former national champ
133, 157, 165
All the others have 1 or 2
125-Figs
141-Alirez, Mendez
149-Henson
174-Haines, KOT
184-CSTAR, Keck
197: Albert James
285-Kerk

What do people think about these 4 weights? All are interesting to me and have some question marks that could end up making a big difference.

Selling 2 tickets to UCLA game on Oct 5th. They are in section WJU ROW 45 seats 1 and 3 on the aisle with chair backs.

Name in likeness should be commercial sponsors paying players for their endorsements, not another way to milk the fans. Anything else is just compensation, and the players are EMLOYEES. You can pool sponsors. Let them use the PSU brand and distribute the money to players who do not have sponsors. Instead of using this historic source of funds, the ADs have the balls to guilt trip the fans.

Any good Penn State bars in Buffalo?

We’re here for the Bills game Monday but might pop into a bar for the game tomorrow.

Also checking out the Falls on Sunday.

Any must see/do/eat/drink in the area?

LB Dominic DeLuca is NOT at practice today neither is RB Cam Wallace

The Pittsburgh Penguins since 2007 have had players deliver some season tickets. If you had season tickets to Penn State wrestling, (pick one each) what former PSU wrestler and currently rostered * wrestler would you hope to show up at your front door? Only one wrestler per category!


* you know what I mean!

PS. I've been a member of this group since the internet was invented and this is this first and probably the only discussion I will initiate.

I have two for sale in EDU, Row 59 with Chair Backs.
$80 OBO.

Text me to talk at 814.404.3282

Hello Everyone. I am sorry to start a new thread with this, but I need to keep it separate so the best decision can be made.

Background:
Son, 17, wants to fly from Texas to State College for the White Out Game.
He actually plays on Friday night so he can't fly out until Saturday Morning.;
The Schedule shows him landing in State College around 12:00 on game day.

I am leery because you never know with flights or actually right now what time the game will be and I don't want to see him spend a ton of his own money for a chance.

So I ask 2 things:

1. What is the consensus of the board on what time the game will be?
2. How often are there flight problems, late, etc.....flying in to State College?

Back about 5 years ago, Flo was all over the promoting of the Rutgers program. I, myself, was more than a little skeptical. To me, the Suriano and Ashnault titles were lipstick on a pig or a paint job over a rusted-out car. They hadn't beaten a top ten team since the 2015-16 season (Cornell and Nebraska fell to Rutgers that season) and they hadn't gotten close to equaling their best ever B1G tourney performance in 2016.

They continued their downhill slide over these subsequent 5 years. A couple of years ago, Suriano left the fold. Okay, no biggie. He's not the most loyal and committed wrestler on the planet.

But in the last year, first Ashnault left (to go to Princeton, no less). Then this summer, Pritzlaff took the HC position at Columbia and took Rivera and Jeff Buxton (SKWC and former Blair HC) with him. leaving Goodale (never an AA at Lock Haven) in charge with Steve Mytych (never an AA at Drexel), Joe Pollard (never even a NQ at Rider) and new-to-coaching Mikey Labriola (some excellent wrestling credentials at least - 5 time AA) for his staff and only Goodale and Pollard as coaches at the SKWC. To be fair, there is only one resident athlete at the SKWC, so you don't need a big staff, I guess. Yes, they have one of their "best" recruiting classes ever coming in this year, but it wouldn't be shocking to me if none of them hit the podium during their college careers. Goodale's peak season was roughly halfway through his current tenure and he has come nowhere near it (except for the Suriano and AA titles) since.

Even the most cockeyed optimists among the Rutgers faithful (and these folks have a stronger sense of denial than the Iowa faithful) have to be a little disquieted. If Rutgers' "rise" in college wrestling was a viable news story, I have to believe this mass exodus from the Rutgers program and their 8 year slide has to be at least as big news. But it's been crickets over at Flo.

(*Mod - the first few posts below were moved here from the Jax thread)


As far as developing wrestlers: PSU is second to none. Who would you guys ranked, staff wise developing wrestlers
Top 5

Whenever I see GOAT discussions on message boards, they are always restricted to US wrestlers. How about a discussion that includes everyone? There are some great wrestlers from other countries that have wins over some of our best guys, yet they never get mentioned in these discussions. So who was the Ultimate GOAT? Here are a few names, (lots of Russians) but there are probably a lot more that should be considered.

Alexander Medved
Mijain Lopez
Yojiro Uetake
Sergei Belaglazov
Cael Sanderson
Alexander Karelin
Valentin Jordanov
John Smith
Buvaisar Saitev
Dan Gable
Arsen Fadzaev
Osamu Watanabe
Ivan Yarygin
Jordan Burroughs