Five reasons Penn State can be a CFP contender in 2023
Five reasons Penn State can be a college football playoff contender in 2023.
Football Five reasons Penn State could be a playoff contender in 2023
- Thread starter Dylan Callaghan-Croley
- Start date
.On top of those two, they'll also return KeAndre Lambert-Smith who over the Nittany Lions' last two games of the 2022 season had eight receptions for 207 yards and nine touchdowns
now that's impressive lol
now that's impressive lol
Whoops... lol, good catch fixed that.
Corum will be only eight months past ACL surgery at the start of next season. Hard to see how that won't affect his game.
Five reasons Penn State can be a CFP contender in 2023
Five reasons Penn State can be a college football playoff contender in 2023.pennstate.rivals.com
I agree but in today's age of medicine and rehab, we've seen players recover insanely fast from major surgeries.
Kijana Carter and Aaron Harris never were the same after their ACL injuries. It's probably unrealistic to expect a running back to be the same player after ACL surgery as he was prior to it.
The two biggest plusses, IMO. Manny Diaz was still learning his players, their skills, and how they fit his system. The players will still learning his system from how to line up to reacting. And if you are thinking during a play you are a half step behind. That’s why head coaches run the same play twenty times in a row in practice. It has to be instinctive, automatic. That’s why the D got better and better as the season went on. With a year under Diaz as DC the defense will be considerably better. So much so that not having a beast at nose won’t be much of an issue. Including Michigan’s bull moose offense.
And Singleton will make a huge leap forward. It took him half the season to learn college ball. In high school he exploded into the line full speed like a raging bull. And if there was a hole he was five yards past before,the linebackers moved. But in college the holes aren’t often where they are drawn on a chalkboard….or etch-a-sketch…..or Apple XXLV… or whatever high tech gizmos they use. The d lines stunt a lot, the o line uses a lot of zone blocking, things happen. He learned to see the blocking set up and adjust as he got the ball.
Add in Allar throwing deep, forcing all the d backs to play deeper and his running lanes will open up. But by playing back, the d backs may reduce some of the very long runs he has had.
Overall, I see a big improvement on both sides. As long as they avoid significant injuries, it’s gonna be a helluva year!
And Singleton will make a huge leap forward. It took him half the season to learn college ball. In high school he exploded into the line full speed like a raging bull. And if there was a hole he was five yards past before,the linebackers moved. But in college the holes aren’t often where they are drawn on a chalkboard….or etch-a-sketch…..or Apple XXLV… or whatever high tech gizmos they use. The d lines stunt a lot, the o line uses a lot of zone blocking, things happen. He learned to see the blocking set up and adjust as he got the ball.
Add in Allar throwing deep, forcing all the d backs to play deeper and his running lanes will open up. But by playing back, the d backs may reduce some of the very long runs he has had.
Overall, I see a big improvement on both sides. As long as they avoid significant injuries, it’s gonna be a helluva year!
Last edited:
Same can be said of Noah Cain, although his injury was not an ACL...
The surgical techniques are so much better now than they were back then. I'd expect Forum to fully cleared by the opening game barring any infections or setbacks.
He will be playing. But it took S Barkley over a year to look like himself. Every injury and every patient are different. Hard to predict his outcome.
Schedule is pretty soft. But always comes down to Buckeyes and Wolverines and PSU is still behind and underdogs in those games. I’m logged in at a 10-2 year, again.
And yet we draw potentially the top 2 teams from the west division and open Big 10 play on the road for the 35th straight season with one of them. I would argue that Michigan's schedule is easier again this year.
There is no one else on the PSU schedule that is capable of beating them. No one. Any more than 2 defeats will be very, very disappointing.
Iowa returns more starters than any other team in the Big 10 and added Michigan's starting QB and TE from their 2021 playoff team. PSU can't be off their game with Iowa, Illinois, Maryland, or Mich St without those becoming more interesting than we would like.
Until we see otherwise I'd assume Penn State is still not competitive at the line of scrimmage with Michigan and Ohio State.
Probably improving, but improving is still 10-2 (which is btw a very good year in this conference). Football, even in 2023, is all about who controls the LOS. Ask the Eagles defense.
We outrushed Ohio State this past year. Is Ohio State competitive with Michigan at the line of scrimmage at this point?
Does O$U and scUM worry about those opponents? He’ll no and neither should PSU if they have playoff aspirations. Tough games, sure. Will you get their best, sure. But you don’t lose to those schools no matter how many players are returning and no matter where you play them.
There is NO WAY I can honestly pick a winner in the East in 2023. You can probably flip a coin at this point. Almost every preseason poll I've seen so far has all three in the 7 or 8. PSU, UM, and OSU could beat the hell out of each other and eliminate each other from the Playoffs.
Last edited:
Penn State DT Zane Durant bulking up against the run ahead of second spring camp
Durant had a positive freshman season. But he knows adding a bit of weight could go a long way.
Pay article. Talks about Durant gaining weight, bulking up vs the run. Be curious where he ends up when they announce. 285+-...?
Zane is going to help make all of you low expectations guys on here eat crow.Penn State DT Zane Durant bulking up against the run ahead of second spring camp
Durant had a positive freshman season. But he knows adding a bit of weight could go a long way.www.pennlive.com
Pay article. Talks about Durant gaining weight, bulking up vs the run. Be curious where he ends up when they announce. 285+-...?
You act like we have only Pitt recruit level DTs on the roster. Its not that desperate, we have some dudes.
That's actually a good comparison of talent. Penn State is recruiting the kind of talent pitt gets at DT, while OSU Georgia, and Alabama's are stock piling 4 and 5 star DT's, even michigan is doing much better bringing in DT's. I think they will be completive but not playoff calibre until they can bring in top defensive talent.
Reasons to stop talking playoffs, enjoy 11-2 (7th in nation) a bit longer.
1. Anyone in the game would tell us that talking about OSU and Michigan and acting like there are not several other games that PSU could lose to is fanboy folly.
2. The lofty predictions never seem to acknowledge that football has more moving parts than many other sports....starting with a high incidence of injury.
a. Is Allar worthy of coronation just yet. What if he sustains injury? Is PSU riding Bo or Jaxon to the playoffs?
b. Absolutely no depth at RB. How soon we forget. I seem to remember losing Brown and Cain before the end of the first quarter of the first game. In the era of the portal, what stud is available to serve as depth for Singleton and Allen. Studs will go where they can get immediate reps.
c. WR- Cephas is the only proven performer and he isn't here and has achieved at a lower level.
Let's all hope he passes his college courses or what?
d. Delaware, U Mass, Northwesten, Indiana and Rutgers should easily fall into the win column.
Let's add West Virginia at home. Then you have Maryland, Illinois ,Michigan State (on the road) and Iowa. I would never predict wining all of those games.
So even if you split with Ohio State and Michigan, PSU stands at 10-2.
That would likely mean suffering an upset in a game PSU is favored....it happens and winning a game they are the underdog.
1. Anyone in the game would tell us that talking about OSU and Michigan and acting like there are not several other games that PSU could lose to is fanboy folly.
2. The lofty predictions never seem to acknowledge that football has more moving parts than many other sports....starting with a high incidence of injury.
a. Is Allar worthy of coronation just yet. What if he sustains injury? Is PSU riding Bo or Jaxon to the playoffs?
b. Absolutely no depth at RB. How soon we forget. I seem to remember losing Brown and Cain before the end of the first quarter of the first game. In the era of the portal, what stud is available to serve as depth for Singleton and Allen. Studs will go where they can get immediate reps.
c. WR- Cephas is the only proven performer and he isn't here and has achieved at a lower level.
Let's all hope he passes his college courses or what?
d. Delaware, U Mass, Northwesten, Indiana and Rutgers should easily fall into the win column.
Let's add West Virginia at home. Then you have Maryland, Illinois ,Michigan State (on the road) and Iowa. I would never predict wining all of those games.
So even if you split with Ohio State and Michigan, PSU stands at 10-2.
That would likely mean suffering an upset in a game PSU is favored....it happens and winning a game they are the underdog.
Agreed. It usually is the second year after a player coming off an ACL injury returns to form. Exhibit A is none other than Saquon
Nice piece, and reason for optimism. However, there are two reasons why we may not be contenders:Five reasons Penn State can be a CFP contender in 2023
Five reasons Penn State can be a college football playoff contender in 2023.
1. Inability to beat Ohio State
2. Inability to beat Michigan
Until we do it, we are what we are. And we are what they think we are.
Nonsense. Play the games.. PSU has no reason to be intimidated and has the tools to win in 2023.
Not saying they can't do it. Simply saying they have to prove it.
They were intimidated last year by Michigan, or at the very least, humiliated.
Sure they could, but they haven't recently, so until they do, they won't be a playoff team under the current format.
Michigan will be a LOS game, just like last year. I feel good about our Offensive line matching up this year, but I don't know about the defensive line holding up against the run.
We always play Ohio State close, but we never seem to be able to finish. perhaps we will this year.
