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Penn State Will Be Ohio State's Biggest Competition in Big Ten East

By Iain MacMillan

James Franklin will look to prove that last year's season was an unfortunate fluke.
James Franklin will look to prove that last year's season was an unfortunate fluke. / Scott Taetsch/Getty Images
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Nobody has any doubt that Ohio State is still the king of the Big Ten, but if any team is going to challenge them in the East division this season, it’s going to be the Penn State Nittany Lions.

It was an even more bizarre 2020 season for Penn State than what it was for most schools, as the Nittany Lions started their season 0-5, but then went on to win their final four games. It was their worst season under James Franklin, and the only one which resulted in a losing record.

A lot can be forgiven from the strange shortened season in the Big Ten in 2020, and now Penn State is re-tooled and re-focused for the 2021 campaign.

WynnBET has Penn State’s win total for the season set at 8.5, but given that they have the second best odds to win the conference at +800, the over 8.5 wins seems like a fantastic bet. Only Ohio State has better odds to win the Big Ten at -120.

The major area of focus on Penn State’s offense this year is turnovers. The Nittany Lions averaged 1.9 turnovers per game in 2020, which ranked 101st in the country. Despite ranking 36th in yards per game, they continuously shot themselves in the foot with ill-timed giveaways.

Quarterback Sean Clifford had a 23-7 touchdown-to-interception ratio in 2019, and he helped lead the Nittany Lions to an 11-2 record. He took a step back last season throwing for only 7.5 yards per pass, while also throwing nine interceptions compared to 16 touchdowns. If Clifford can get back to his 2019 form, expect Penn State’s offense to follow suit.

Penn State will need new talent to emerge on defense this year, especially in their front seven. Defensive tackle PJ Mustipher is their only returning starter on the defensive line, but they have high hopes for Temple transfer Arnold Ebiketie, who will serve as their top defensive end.

The defense will have all three starting linebackers return this season, but it was a unit that struggled in 2020. Curtis Jacobs will be expected to take a step forward, as he started eight games as a true freshman last year.

James Franklin has succeeded with this program in almost every season that he’s served as the head coach, and if he can find that success again in 2021, last year’s strange results will be looked at as just an unfortunate anomaly.

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