Penn State Football: 5 Bold Predictions for Nittany Lions in 2018
By Shane Lunnen
5. Penn State earns another New Year’s Six bowl game
The last two years have been pretty exciting around Happy Valley. A Big Ten championship and two New Year’s Six bowl game appearances. The thrilling Rose Bowl loss to USC was a heartbreaker, but beating Washington in the Fiesta Bowl was the biggest bowl victory for the Lions since the 2006 Orange Bowl win over Florida State.
Just about a season and a half ago nobody would have predicted the run the Lions were about to embark on. They were sitting at 2-2 after losing to rival Pitt and getting utterly destroyed by Michigan in Ann Arbor. At halftime at home against Minnesota, the Lions were down 10 points. They had a second half comeback and won in overtime. The win kick-started the team to eventually what we see today. James Franklin and his staff has been recruiting at a phenomenal level and the results are showing on the field.
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Despite the loss of star power, this year’s edition of Penn State has plenty of talent to still compete. They have a really good shot at winning at least 10 games, putting themselves in the discussion of a third straight New Year’s Six bowl game. While they may not reach the playoff, another big-time bowl game is nothing to sneeze at for a program left for dead six years ago. Franklin is steering the ship and it looks like the Lions will be in the thick of the national championship race for years to come.