Penn State Football: Game-by-game predictions for 2020 season
By David Glancy
Penn State football has the talent to compete for a Big Ten title and a shot for the program’s first appearance in the College Football Playoff.
The Nittany Lions finished the 2019 season with another top 10 finish, New Year’s Six appearance and 11-win season in three of the last four years.
After the departures of Saquon Barkley in the 2018 offseason and three-year starter Trace McSorley last spring, the Nittany Lions are returning an experienced group on both sides of the ball. Offensive coordinator Ricky Rahne left the program to take the Old Dominion head coaching job in what may have been the biggest impact in the 2020 offseason.
Rahne’s departure will likely be seen as a net positive for Penn State fans. His offenses continued to rank near the top of the Big Ten and Power Five programs in scoring after Joe Moorhead left State College to take over the Mississippi State program, but Rahne’s situational play calling and usage of skill players often came under criticism, especially against opponents with comparable talent.
Rahne was replaced by Minnesota offensive coordinator, Kirk Ciarrocca, whose offense averaged 34 points per game in a record-breaking season which included an upset win over then 8-0 and No. 4 Penn State team. His offense put up a Minnesota record 3,293 passing yards and Ciarrocca is not looking to deviate approaches from the spread-style offense Moorhead originally implemented in 2016.
While coaches came and left, players graduated or went pro, and new recruits came in, the 2020 offseason has shook both the Penn State football program and the national landscape. The Nittany Lions are returning one of the most talented teams in the country but the status of the 2020 season remains in the air due to the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic. Pennsylvania cases are once again on the rise resulting in questions over the upcoming fall semester, while student ticket sales were appropriately delayed.
While it is impossible to predict the status of the 2020 season, we will take a closer look at Penn State’s opponents and provide a projected week-by-week prediction in what will hopefully be another great year of college football.