Penn State Football: 5 holiday wish list items for Nittany Lions in 2019

4.  10-0 Start before the Ohio State Game

This may be a tall order with a new starting quarterback and having to replace a few seniors like star cornerback Amani Oruwariye and quarterback Trace McSorley. Still, this should be the goal for Penn State next season.

The Nittany Lions have three easy nonconference games at home to start this season, and Pitt will likely be the greatest challenge of those three games.

Then, they open Big Ten play with Maryland and Purdue. Those games could be difficult, but Penn State should be the better team in both games.

The following three will be the most difficult games in their opening ten games. Playing at Iowa is always a challenge, and Michigan comes to Happy Valley after stomping on Penn State in 2018.

Also, Michigan State will still have Brian Lewerke, and Penn State must travel to East Lansing to play them. Penn State has not beaten Michigan State since 2016.

Finally, Minnesota and Indiana should be winnable games before the big game against Ohio State. Urban Meyer may be gone, but Ohio State and Penn State could be two of the top four teams in the nation by the time they play each other.

Penn State should be undefeated before playing a rivalry game that will likely determine who makes the Big Ten Championship Game and likely the College Football Playoff.