2023 Penn State Nittany Lions Football Predictions and Betting Odds
2022 Record: 11-2 overall,7-2 in Big Ten
Head Coach: James Franklin, 10th year: 78-36, 13th year overall: 102-51
Are you finally ready to do this, Penn State? Are you done being -- give or take a spot -- the perennial third best team in your own division? Are you ready to end the designation of being one of the most successful football programs in the College Football Playoff era that hasn’t played in the mini-tournament?
Michigan was able to break through. Michigan State got to a College Football Playoff. From the West, Wisconsin appears to be finally making the pivot needed to push that one extra step. This year though, Penn State has everything in place to finally have its best Big Ten team the CFP era before it all goes haywire once USC and UCLA join next year.
Yeah, the Nittany Lions won a Big Ten title under James Franklin and went to the Rose Bowl in 2016, but the team started 2-2, needed a gag by Minnesota to kickstart everything, and there wasn’t a College Football Playoff appearance. Four 11-win seasons in the last seven years, four top ten finishes, and he remains the only coach in Penn State history other than Paterno with a double-digit win campaign. And now he has a team in place that should be good enough to dream of playing for the national title.
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Nittany Lions Offensive Outlook for 2023
The 6-5, 242-pound Drew Allar is a former five-star recruit who got his feet wet with a little bit of time logged in throughout the year -- throwing for 344 yards and four scores -- and now it’s bombs away. He’s it. He’s the franchise. He’s the quarterback who’s supposed to be the star of stars who takes up the Penn State program another notch.
The receiving corps can hit home runs. The top three pass catchers from last year might be done, but KeAndre Lambert-Smith is back after averaging over 16 yards per catch, TE Theo Johnson also averaged over 16 yards on his 20 grabs, and about to be the new main man is Kent State transfer Dante Cephas. Over the last two seasons, he caught 130 passes for 1,984 yards and 12 touchdowns, averaging well over 15 yards per pop.
Allar will get all the headlines, but in terms of star power recruits, RB Nicholas Singleton was right there. The 6-0, 228-pounder has a terrific blend of power and speed, and he showed it all off right away with a team high 1,061 yards and 12 touchdowns averaging 6.8 yards per carry. Singleton was great, fellow then-freshman Kaytron Allen was terrific -- 867 yards and 10 scores -- and helping in the rotation is Minnesota transfer Trey Potts, a tough runner who came up with over 1,000 yards over the last two seasons.
This should be one of the best Penn State offensive lines in years. It was great for the ground game and good enough in pass protection. It starts with Olu Fashanu at left tackle. Fashanu is an All-American who should be a top 15 overall pick, the interior is a rock with Sal Wormley, Hunter Nourzad, and Landon Tengwall all likely all-stars, and with just enough veteran depth to be okay.
Nittany Lions Defensive Outlook for 2023
The defense could’ve been a bit better on third downs, allowed a few too many passing yards, and struggled to generate key stops against Ohio State and Michigan. The defense was great -- No. 1 in the Big Ten in sacks and tackles for loss, 16th in the nation in total D, amazing in the red zone, and 10th in the country in run defense -- and it should be every bit as strong.
The secondary has to overcome a few massive losses. New San Francisco 49er safety Ji’Ayir Brown led the team in tackles and interceptions, and new Pittsburgh Steeler Joey Porter Jr. was one of the best all-around corners in college football. However, Kalen King is a special future NFL corner who’s back on one side, and there’s just enough experience returning to be fine at safety.
The pass rush will be there. Outside linebacker Abdul Carter led the team with 6.5 sacks, end Chop Robinson was second with 5.5, and Adisa Isaac led the way with 11 tackles for loss. These three should combine for well over 30 tackles for loss again, and they’re not alone. Veteran Hakeem Beamon is a good interior pass rusher, and LB Curtis Jacobs is potentially the team’s leading tackler to go along with a whole bunch of plays behind the line.
The linebacking corps is still emerging, and it should grow into a huge plus with the three main starters back. Carter is a force -- 56 tackles to go along with all of those plays in the backfield -- Jacobs was third on the team with 52 stops, and Tyler Elsdon gets all over the place from his spot in the middle.
Penn State Nittany Lions Season Prediction, Win Total, Best Bets
Everyone is all jacked about all the young new stars about to rise up for a Penn State team that should be loaded enough to come up with something special. This year’s team gets a few scheduling breaks. West Virginia is a home game -- it’s a lot easier a nonconference game than Auburn was supposed to be last year. The Michigan State game is being moved to Detroit and Ford Field, which won’t totally negate the road aspect and Spartan home field advantage.
At Northwestern and at Maryland -- those shouldn’t be a problem for a team with Big Ten title dreams -- but going to Illinois might be a bear trap, and dealing with Ohio State in Columbus is obviously an issue. Even so, Iowa is a home game, there’s no Wisconsin, Minnesota, Purdue, or an improved Nebraska to deal with from the West, and most importantly, Michigan has to come to Happy Valley. Basically, at least split the dates against the Buckeyes and Wolverines, and all will be okay.
2023 CFN Preseason Prediction: 11-1
2022 Record: 11-2
Aug 26 OPEN DATE
Sept 2 West Virginia W
Sept 9 Delaware W
Sept 16 at Illinois W
Sept 23 Iowa W
Sept 30 at Northwestern W
Oct 7 OPEN DATE
Oct 14 UMass W
Oct 21 at Ohio State W
Oct 28 Indiana W
Nov 4 at Maryland W
Nov 11 Michigan W
Nov 18 Rutgers W
Nov 24 at Michigan State (in Detroit) L
Penn State Football Best Bets
Over 9.5 wins -140
To win the Big Ten East Division +450
To win the Big Ten Championship Game +600
To make the playoffs +300
To win the National Championship Game +2500
Drew Allar to win the Heisman +2500
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