A look ahead to next year

Blue white is almost here, and spring practice begins soon. Summer is on the horizon which means big time recruiting, and, more importantly, its almost college football season. An early look at next year’s schedule should excite any fan. According to several sources, including ESPN, the Nittany Lion’s schedule will include serval ranked teams including 4 pre season top ten ranked teams. The most exciting part? Three of them will be at home. Here is a brief look into those four games.

Saturday, September 29: Ohio State at Penn State. This game is perhaps the most exciting. Of course, the main motivation will be avenging the gut wrenching, tear out your heart, cost you a shot at the national championship, loss 39-38 one year ago. Presumably the white out, PSU looks to be 4-0 heading in and Ohio State, if they escape TCU unscathed should be undefeated as well. If this is the case, I would not be surprised to see this be College Gameday as both teams will be top ten. This is a must win game for control of the East. Ohio State under Urban Meyer has been historically sloppy in September with the teams generally being at their best at the end of the season. With this in mind, I like us to eek out a win- maybe thats just wishful thinking.

Saturday, October 13: Michigan State at Penn State. Coming off a bye, the Lions host the only other team to hand them a loss the year before in a cold, rainy, miserable day in East Lansing. This game has to be a win for the Lions. Everything will be on the line. MSU returns 20/22 starters including the breakout star QB Bran Lewerke. This game could honestly be College Gameday as well since both teams (barring a loss or two) should be top ten. Coach James Franklin has shown in the past that he isn’t afraid to call for more than one whiteout, and, if it proves successful against OSU, I would not be surprised if MSU is one as well. This will be senior quarterback, Trace McSorely’s defining moment of whether or not he is a true contender for the Heisman. The game will be close and will fall squarely on his shoulders.

Saturday, November 3: Penn State at Michigan. This is the year for Michigan. They have underachieved under coach Harbaugh the last three years, and, with the recent recruiting classes and transfer of 5 star quarterback Shea Patterson, this is his last chance to put a winning product on the field. Michigan will be coming out fired up to avenge the humiliation they received a year before and if PSU is undefeated, it will make the matchup unbelievable. If PSU has suffered a loss or two, a win in Ann Arbor would be imperative to a sustained shot at a national title run.

Saturday, November 10: Wisconsin at Penn State. In a cross division game, Wisconsin and PSU will meet for the first time since the 2016 Big Ten Championship when PSU stormed back from 21 down to stun the Badgers. If the Lions have somehow managed to survive their schedule so far with one or fewer losses, this will be the last step toward a trip to Indianapolis. If PSU has 2 losses, this will be their last chance to prove their worth to the CFP. I believe that this year the Lion’s schedule is so tough that even two losses will still leave them in contention.

Those featured games are just the games against projected top ten teams. The Lions also face, Iowa, and rival Pitt as some sneaky upset tough games.

#dontbethatguy goes to the Ohio State men’s basketball team. Ha! O-H-.. nah O-and-3!