College Town Touch down

“I’m coming back to finish what we started.”

Penn State Quarterback Drew Allar posted those words to social media when he surprised the football world and announced he would be returning to Happy Valley to play his senior season for the Nittany Lions. This was before he threw a crucial interception late in the College Football Playoff semifinals against Notre Dame. Certainly Allar’s shortcomings will only fuel his motivation to stand by his decision to return to Penn State. Expectations for Allar and Penn State as a whole are higher than ever before. For most fans and alumni, the standard this season is national title or bust. We are previewing Penn State’s 2025 season and will see just how possible it is for State to return to glory.

In the NIL era, the loss of players each year to the transfer portal is inevitable. That’s something that’s been widely accepted across the country. What is often overlooked is the constant movement of coaches at the FBS level, a trend that isn’t new but certainly just as important as retaining star players. Tom Allen was the defensive coordinator for the Nittany Lions in 2024 and he has since moved on to take the same position at Clemson. In his only season at Penn State, Allen led the defense that was ranked 8th in the nation in scoring, allowing only 16.5 points per game. How do you fill that void? You go and hire the coordinator who ranked first in that category. Jim Knowles is the defensive coordinator this season in State College after holding the same position at Ohio State last year, where the Buckeyes ranked first in points per game allowed at 12.9. They also ranked first nationally in yards allowed per game (255) and per play (4.2). To steal a coordinator from an in conference rival is a huge deal, especially when he’s regarded as one of the best. Penn State paid him as such, with an annual salary of $3.1 million dollars making Knowles the highest paid defensive coordinator in all of college football. Knowles will be a piece that can elevate Penn State to new heights and finally get the over the hump to beat the Buckeyes.

The defense lost some key pieces to the NFL in the offseason but still will return a significant amount of production and star power. The biggest loss on the entire team is Abdul Carter, who was the Big Ten defensive player of the year in 2024 and the 3rd overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Despite the loss of Carter, Penn State will boast one of the grittiest and talented fronts in the country. Defensive linemen Zane Durant and Dani Dennis-Sutton both return as seniors, both of whom could have been high drafts picks but chose to return to school. Tony Rojas and Dominic DeLuca return at linebacker and Amare Campbell has also joined the position group after transferring in from North Carolina. In the secondary, King Mack transferred in from Alabama at the safety position, and Zakee Wheatley who was third on the team in tackles last season will return to play free safety. AJ Harris who was a starter at corner last year is also back, rounding out an elite secondary. Zion Tracy is projected to start at the nickel position, a staple of a Jim Knowles defense. This will be a group that will fly around and play with maximum intensity on every down, especially for a coordinator with the reputation of Knowles. Dani Dennis-Sutton was quoted saying, “He has an answer for everything.” When asked about why Knowles’ defenses are so successful.

Penn State fans are hoping an answer to everything includes an answer as to why head coach James Franklin has had such little success against ranked opponents in his tenure with the team. At times, the roster simply isn’t as good as the blue bloods of the conference like Ohio State and Michigan and even now Oregon. However a good amount of those losses in big games, there simply seems to be something lacking. Whether it’s the dominant playmaker on offense or a ballsy 4th down decision late in a game, under coach Franklin it simply hasn’t been there. Sure there was Saquon Barkley, but even during his time in Happy Valley it seemed all of the big moments had to go through the hands of the QB.

This year Penn State feels like they have those playmakers. We’ve already said Allar is back, and very few college quarterbacks have seen more action at the highest level than he has. Nicholas Singleton, who is fifth all time for the program in rushing touchdowns will return for his senior season, as well as his running mate Kaytron Allen. They will be toting the rock behind the same offensive line they did last season, as Penn State returns 9 starters from last season on offense. The only big loss on offense for Penn State is Tyler Warren, the tight end who was drafted in the first round by the Indianapolis Colts. Warren was the most productive pass catcher for the Nittany Lions in 2024, but some of that can be attributed to the fact they had a disappointing receiving core. They addressed their wide receiver problem with the transfer portal. Kyron Hudson transferred from USC, Devonte Ross transferred in from Troy, and Trebor Peña from Syracuse. All three are projected to start or at least be major contributors in the passing game.

In charge of these new weapons is second-year offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki. Last season, his offense ranked third in the nation in total yards and seventh in total touchdowns. There really is no reason this offense can’t be the best in the country in 2025. At times last year it seemed the offense would get desperate and force in gadget plays and deep shots. You’d expect a perfectly balanced attack with how solid the offensive line will be and the new additions at receiver. Kotelnicki is a creative play caller and understands that it’s a progression throughout the game. He can keep it simple against a “+1 box” (when the defense adds an extra defender between the tackles). Penn State is talented enough at their skill positions to simply make the extra defender fit and tackle in the run game, something that is not as simple as it seems. Most importantly for Penn State, this is not their first year running this offense. Familiarity will be a huge advantage for Penn State’s offense this year as no offense in the nation returns more starters.

With the expanded playoff in place for a second year, it unfortunately can make the regular season lose a bit of its meaning. for schools in a power 4 conference like Penn State, they can afford a loss or even two and still find their way into the 12-team field. A conference championship berth feels like a near automatic ticket and as we know, a conference championship win actually is an automatic ticket. For Penn State, it’s hard to imagine anything less than a ten win season. Their schedule is as follows

8/30 Vs. Nevada

9/6 Vs. FIU

9/13 Vs. Villanova

9/20 BYE

9/27 Vs. Oregon

10/4 @ UCLA

10/11 Vs. Northwestern

10/18 @ Iowa

10/25 BYE

11/1 @ Ohio State

11/8 Vs. Indiana

11/15 @ Michigan State

11/22 Vs. Nebraska

11/29 @ Rutgers

A few things jump out immediately, one being that the out of conference schedule is perhaps one of the softest in the nation; That’s three straight home games against non-power 4 schools, one of which is an FCS squad. They also lucked into 7 of their 12 games being home contests, and have a bye before each of their 2 toughest games by far. Ohio State and Iowa are their only two tough road games and they get to play oregon at home in prime time during a whiteout. Also, Ohio State and Oregon will both have first year starters at QB.

Even in the scenario they lose a game, they will be in the Big Ten title game. If they lose 2 games, they will most likely get an at large bid for the college football playoff. A bid is only the first step. Penn state has the veteran presence and QB, the coordinators, the front, and the playoff experience to get the job done.

The question mark of the season is the head coach. Can James Franklin finally win the big one? You can argue the loss to Notre Dame was not his fault at all, and a win there would set up a rematch with Ohio State in the title game. This year, Franklin has collected all the parts of a title winning squad. We believe this is the year all of those parts come together to finally lift the trophy.