Penn State Football: Game-by-game predictions for 2020 season

When highly-recruited Justin Fields decommitted from Penn State in June 2017 to attend Georgia, he was not expecting to return to State College to face James Franklin’s program.

In what was expected to be a cold reception, the Buckeyes may take advantage of an empty or near-empty Beaver Stadium. After a 2016 loss and a come from behind one-point win in 2018, no program in the country could benefit more than Ohio State by missing out on a hostile road crowd.

Despite an early injury to Sean Clifford in Penn State’s 2019 matchup in Columbus, no team gave first-year head coach Ryan Day’s team a tougher regular season game than the Nittany Lions. Penn State took advantage of turnovers but after rallying down from 21-0 to 21-17, failed to complete the comeback.

Experience at quarterback and offensive line, a strong group of running backs, a talented defense and a primetime White Out had all the makings of a potential upset, potentially vaulting the Lions back into playoff contention.

Penn State should be expected to hang with Ohio State in what should once again be the Buckeye’s toughest regular season game. While the Penn State secondary should improve upon a season where they finished second to last in the conference in passing yards, Fields and his talented offense make the comeback which could vault the Ohio State quarterback into the Heisman frontrunner.

Record: 5-2, 2-2

Penn State finishes a difficult October schedule with a Halloween matchup against Tom Allen’s Indiana Hoosiers. While Penn State owns a 22-1 all-time record against Indiana and James Franklin holds a 4-0 record against Allen, the Hoosiers continue to play as a program on the rise in a difficult Big Ten East.

The Nittany Lions extended a three-point lead late in the fourth quarter last fall to hold on for a seven-point win, a year after surviving a five point victory at Bloomington in 2018.

While the Nittany Lions should come away with a win against Indiana, Franklin’s staff knows the Hoosiers are no rollover. Indiana has out-gained Penn State 554-417 yards and 462-371 yards in the past two seasons. Allen’s offense has torched the Penn State secondary and an early deficit could prove difficult to overcome against an Indiana team looking for their first nine-win season since 1967.

Michael Penix Jr. brings experience at quarterback after taking Peyton Ramsey‘s starting role last season before missing the Penn State game due to an injury. Along with talented receivers Ty Fryfogle and Whop Philyor, the Hoosiers should be one of the better passing offenses in the conference.

Fortunately, the Lions should win the line of scrimmage and hold off what may be the most talented Indiana team in program history.

Record: 6-2, 3-2