2009 Penn State College Football Predictions
Written by InfoPlays
Joe Paterno enters his 44th season as Penn State’s head man, and you can’t blame this guy for continuing to coach considering the talent he has left over from last year’s squad. The secondary is really the only question mark on defense. The offense has lots of weapons, but it could take time for QB Darryll Clark, the receivers and linemen to mesh. If the offensive line jells quickly, Penn State can contend again for the Big Ten Championship. The NCAA football odds to win the 2010 BCS National Championship have been posted and they show Penn State at +3000 to win the big one this season.
Offense: The Penn State Nittany Lions have enough pieces in place on offense to compete for another Big Ten title, even though three of the top four receivers in school history graduated. Quarterback Darryll Clark accounted for a school-record 29 touchdowns last season and finished second in voting for Big Ten MVP honors. Clark was off limits in spring practice considering only true freshman Kevin Newsome, and two walk-ons are next in line at QB. Clark plans on avoiding contact this season after suffering a concussion to Ohio State last year. He’ll be sliding more and getting out of bounds instead of taking defenders head-on.
Running backs Evan Royster and Stephfon Green, along with tight ends Mickey Shuler and Andrew Quarless, have all been productive wearing a Nittany Lion uniform. Royster ran for 1,236 yards while averaging 6.5 yards/carry last season. Penn State has more height than last season at receiver, but they are clearly short in experience. Brett Brackett and Graham Zug have seen the most playing time, making seven starts and combining for 24 receptions and 3 TD grabs last season. The offensive line will be the biggest question mark. Stefen Wisniewski moves from guard to center and fellow returnee Dennis Landolt is back at right tackle. DeOn’tae Pannell, Johnnie Troutman and Lou Eliades are the leading candidates to fill in the other holes, but none has started a game.
Defense: Penn State’s new secondary looked like it was walking in the spring, not running. Cornerbacks A.J. Wallace and Knowledge Timmons and safeties Drew Astorino and Cedric Jeffries are the leading candidates to take over the starting spots. Wallace is the only one who had made more than one career start, though. Sean Lee, a two-year starter and potential All-American, returns at linebacker after missing last season due to a knee injury. Lee’s exact position won’t be decided until after Paterno determines how he goes about disciplining All-Big Ten pick Navorro Bowman, who violated terms of his probation in April.
Josh Hull replaced Lee midway through last season. If Bowman has to miss some games to start the year, Michael Mauti will start on the weak side with Lee manning the strong side. Penn State’s front four looks to be dominant again. Jared Odrick and Ollie Ogbu return at tackle, along with Abe Koroma as their reserve. They helped the Nittany Lions rank among the nation’s top 10 in total, rushing and scoring defense last year.
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