Penn State Football: Way-too-early 2020 game-by-game predictions

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA - OCTOBER 19: Sean Clifford #14 of the Penn State Nittany Lions celebrates after the game against the Michigan Wolverines on October 19, 2019 at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania. Penn State defeats Michigan 28-21. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images) /

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The 2020 Penn State football season is still months away, but it’s never too early to predict how the Nittany Lions will fare.

James Franklin returns a solid team in 2020. For the past few years, the Nittany Lions have been the Big Ten East’s biggest threat to take down Ohio State, but will that continue this season?

Sean Clifford is back for his second season as the starting quarterback after a breakout 2019 campaign, passing for 2,654 yards and 23 touchdowns while rushing for another 402 yards and five scores. He should enter the 2020 season as one of the best quarterbacks in the Big Ten and there’s an argument to be made for him being the league’s second-best gunslinger behind Heisman finalist Justin Fields of Ohio State.

The Nittany Lions also return Journey Brown who happens to be one of the best up-and-coming running backs in the entire conference. He rushed for 890 yards and 12 touchdowns on 6.9 yards per carry last season and figures to reach 1,000 yards this year.

The offense is in good shape and the defense will look to follow suit. Although Yetur Gross-Matos, Cameron Brown and John Reid are gone, this unit will be solid again.

Like many other national contenders, Penn State hasn’t been rebuilding under Franklin, but rather reloading.

How will the Nittany Lions finish in 2020?

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