Penn State Football: Is 2020 the year for the Nittany Lions?

Penn State football has everything it needs to make the playoff, but can the Nittany Lions get past Ohio State to make the dream a reality?

Since 2016, the Penn State Nittany Lions have posted three 11-wins seasons, have won two New Year’s Six bowl games and have won a Big Ten title. Unfortunately for the Nittany Lions, they always find themselves on the outside looking in of the College Football Playoff.

Aside from 2016, the year they won the Big Ten, Penn State has missed out on the playoff and the primary reason is their inability to defeat the Ohio State Buckeyes. Despite having late fourth-quarter leads in their 2017 and 2018 matchups, Penn State has not been able to topple their toughest opponent.

Heading into 2020, the expectations is still the same: this is a team good enough to make the playoff but needs to get past the Buckeyes first. Now granted, the Nittany Lions are always considered the toughest opponent on Ohio State’s schedule but does not mean much to them if they are not coming out victorious when these two go head-to-head.

Penn State has had the probabilities of making the College Football Playoff with just one loss, but following their losses to Ohio State in 2017 and 2018, they followed it up with heartbreaking losses to Michigan State and in 2019, the Nittany Lions entered their matchup with Ohio State with one loss already after losing to Minnesota two weeks prior.

So the argument can be made the only thing standing in the way of Penn State making the playoffs are themselves.

But all of that is a thing of the past as the Nittany Lions look to get over the hump in 2020 and make their first playoff appearance. So what can be expected from their offense and defense in 2020? And with the conference-only schedule, how will their season play out?

Well, look no further as all your questions can be answered here.