Kyle Golik
Penn State Writer
ESPN’s SEC megaphone, Paul Finebaum, has been targeting the Big Ten all offseason.
His latest verbal dross was threatening to leave the country if an SEC team does not win a national championship this season.
If any team can help Finebaum pack his bags, it is the Penn State Nittany Lions.
Before the vitriol begins to spew about Penn State head coach James Franklin’s records against Ohio State (1-10) or AP Top 10 teams (4-20), the past is as good as written for that.
The difference heading into 2025 is that Penn State has gotten its areas of deficiencies into positions of strength.
Let’s examine why it is time.
Penn State typically hasn’t gone all in on coaching talent. From afar, Penn State has seen former division foes Ohio State and Michigan attract high-end talent and has watched it pay dividends.
When Penn State landed Knowles, it was a changing of the tides.
Think about how Penn State responded to losing running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider to the same position at Notre Dame. They arguably upgraded the position by bringing in Stan Drayton, who has coached the likes of Matt Forte, Ezekiel Elliott, and Bijan Robinson.
Drayton also has championship experience winning two national championships with Urban Meyer at Florida (2006) and Ohio State (2014).
Knowles is a consensus Top 3 defensive coordinator in the game right now.
The immediate impact has been felt in all phases. Penn State quarterback Drew Allar has mentioned that reading Knowles’ scouting report on him and the strategy was eye-opening.
I spoke with linebacker coach Dan Connor and defensive line coach Deion Barnes at Penn State Media Day, where both coaches referred to Knowles as a ‘genius.’
When Meyer arrived at Ohio State in 2012, he had endured six seasons in the SEC at Florida.
One of the things he realized early in Columbus was that the caliber of athletes in the trenches at both the offensive line and defensive line wasn’t at the same level as the SEC.
Meyer raised the standard at Ohio State and conversely the rest of the league had to endure a 30-game conference winning streak as they caught up.
The standard of elite trench play was part of the signature of Michigan (2023) and Ohio State’s (2024) national championship teams.
As the Nittany Lions enter 2025, they possess the same personnel.
During this past local media day, Franklin talked about when he arrived at Penn State, the depth at offensive line was non-existent, as he felt there were four offensive linemen who were Big Ten caliber.
The journey throughout his 11 seasons in State College to get elite on the offensive side of the ball is well chronicled, but current offensive line coach Phil Trautwein has created one of the deepest groups in the nation.
Trautwein indicated his goal prior to Penn State hitting conference play is to have 10 Big Ten-caliber offensive linemen.
His assessment is that he has “8 or 9” right now and feels he is close.
Defensively, Penn State watched both Ohio State and Michigan have elite EDGE rushers and dynamic interior linemen.
Dani Dennis-Sutton is looking to become the fourth defensive end from Penn State to be selected in the first round since 2021.
Dennis-Sutton had a breakout performance in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Orange Bowl, where he had six tackles (4 solo), two sacks, a forced fumble, and an interception.
Currently, Dennis-Sutton ranks second amongst Power 4 defenders with 75 pressures, with his sacks and tackles for loss numbers ranking sixth in the Big Ten in 2024.
Since 1956, Allar is only one of two quarterbacks, Baylor quarterback Bryce Petty (2011-2014) is the other, to have 800 or more pass attempts, 50 or more touchdown passes, and 10 or fewer interceptions.
What has failed Allar through his first two seasons was the lack of talent at wide receiver.
Allar completed during the 2024 regular season 59.9% of his passes intended to wide receivers.
In comparison, Ohio State and Oregon both completed over 70% of their passes intended to wide receivers.
That disparity becomes apparent in big time games and cost Penn State both last season against Ohio State, where offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki for the second time since 2021 was held without a touchdown (both times a Jim Knowles defense achieved this), and in the Big Ten Championship Game, where Oregon defensive backs made the passing windows so small, Allar had to thread the needle to make anything happen.
Penn State imported Trebor Pena (Syracuse), who led the ACC in receptions in 2024 (84), Devonte Ross (Troy), who led all Sun Belt pass catchers in touchdown receptions last season (11), and Kyron Hudson (USC), who had more contested catches than Penn State’s John Mackey Award winning tight end Tyler Warren.
Each is a significant upgrade over Omari Evans, Harrison Wallace III, and Liam Clifford, who combined had fewer receptions than Warren.
What is beyond the trio of imports has the staff excited about redshirt freshman Tyseer Denmark and true freshman Koby Howard, who both will push for time with the veteran trio.
When you look at Allar’s backfield mates at running back, there is no better duo in the nation than seniors Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen.
In three years, Singleton and Allen have combined for 6,979 yards from scrimmage (5.9 per touch) and 68 touchdowns. Both are within reach of the Penn State school record held by Evan Royster (3,932) for the most rushing yards in program history.
Franklin believes to have proper depth you need 2.5 times the required players you need.
If you buy into Franklin’s depth logic, Penn State beyond Singleton and Allen is deep with Corey Smith, Quinton Martin, Cam Wallace, and Tikey Hayes.
Wallace returns from a season ending injury and was beginning to assert himself as the RB3 prior to going down against Kent State.
Martin is a former five-star recruit and after dealing with some injuries during his freshman season looks ready to contend for the RB3 position.
Smith is a shifty back, whose highlight from a season ago came against Washington when he darted for a 78-yard rush.
Franklin has said all off season that his 2025 team is the deepest he has had from a player and staff perspective.
He recognizes the expectations in front of them and has the schedule to make it happen.
With the Oregon clash at home on September 27, it is the proper primer for the Nittany Lions before the schedule stiffens in Big Ten play.
Penn State has difference makers at all levels, the only thing that will stop them is health and themselves.
Unfortunately, for Finebaum, that does not bode well for his U.S. residency expectations in the next year.
