Penn State coach James Franklin likes the idea of modified preseason for college football. Nothing like the four-game NFL contrivance, of course. But maybe a controlled scrimmage, against a team like Delaware or Villanova, instead of a spring game. We bring that up to note how Franklin benefited from essentially a six-game preseason to begin 2015. Like most NFL preseasons, it brimmed with good moments (Rutgers, Indiana) and bad (Temple, the offense against Army), injuries and a team figuring out what to make of itself. Penn State was fortunate that the athletic department (including its previous administration) diagrammed a six-week stretch in which the football team wouldn’t leave Pennsylvania. In addition, the Lions scheduled winnable nonconference games (Temple aside) that former coach Bill O’Brien said would be necessary because of the former sanctions. Now comes the heavy lifting. Penn State finishes 2015 with a backloaded schedule that includes four Big Ten road games and four games against opponents currently ranked in the Top 25. Of Penn State’s remaining six opponents, five have winning records. The cumulative record of second-half opponents (28-8) far exceeds that of the first-half teams (17-16). The five teams Penn State defeated are a combined 12-16. …
Continue Reading: What looms for Penn State in Part II of 2015?
