3 takeaways from the 2022 Big Ten football season

Penn State football is good again

The NCAA sanctions on Penn State dropped in 2016 — two years after James Franklin was hired. From 2016 through 2019, the Nittany Lions seemed to be right on Ohio State’s tail and were far better than everyone but the Buckeyes in the Big Ten.

In 2016, Penn State football won its first Big Ten Championship since 2008, finished 11-3, and lost a close one to USC in the Rose Bowl. In 2017, the Lions got to 11 wins again with a win over Washington in the Fiesta Bowl.

2018 was a down year for Penn State, which saw the Lions finish 9-4 overall with a loss to Kentucky in the Citrus Bowl. In 2019, however, Penn State once again won 11 games, finishing the season with a win over Memphis in the Cotton Bowl.

That’s three 11-win seasons, three top-10 finishes, two NY6 bowl wins, and a Big Ten Title in four years. Although Penn State is yet to make a Playoff, it seemed like it was just a matter of time.

In 2020, everything changed. Penn State lost five straight games in its 4-5 campaign (during the Covid year), but because of the pandemic, it was not taken too seriously. 2021 was supposed to be a huge year for Penn State, but injuries derailed its season after a 5-0 start.

Despite making it into the top-4 with a perfect record after five games, Penn State football finished the 2021 season 7-6 overall and unranked. This year, not much was expected of the Nittany Lions.

Is Penn State talented? Yes, more so than most teams in the nation, actually. But with an 11-11 record from 2020-21 and tons of unproven talent, no one could see more than 8-4 from this year’s roster.

Once again, Penn State started the season 5-0 and was top-10 this year. A 41-17 loss to Michigan had some calling Penn State fraudulent, though the Lions finished the season strong.

Now, for the fourth time since 2016, Penn State has won 10 games in a single season and will likely head to a NY6 bowl. If the Lions can win it, Penn State will be top-10 with an 11-2 overall record yet again.

While Penn State was not a Big Ten Title contender this year, the program is back to being nationally relevant and in the top-10. Given how young the Lions’ roster is right now, I think PSU will be in the Playoff very soon, perhaps as soon as next season.

Penn State needs to overcome the other two giants of Big Ten football: Michigan and Ohio State, but I could see it happening. OSU should take a step back and the Nittany Lions get Michigan at home next year, so you never know.