Realistic expectations for Penn State football in 2024

Penn State football was one of the best teams in the country a season ago, going 10-2 in the regular season before losing to Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl by two scores.

The Nittany Lions won every game they were expected to win but lost the big ones to Michigan, Ohio State, and the aforementioned Rebels of Ole Miss. It was kind of what fans have come to expect under James Franklin. He can win the games against inferior opponents with relative ease, but when the lights are bright, it seems like his Nittany Lions always freeze up.

If that happens in 2024 with 12 starters back and the 14th-best recruiting class coming in, we could be talking about a slightly uneasy seat for Franklin to be sitting in.

With Drew Allar back along with Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton and Julian Fleming transferring in from Ohio State, there is some real juice on this offense that has been missing for a while. The Nittany Lions did have the 12th-best scoring offense in the country last year but there were some outliers (Delaware, UMass, Michigan State, Maryland).

Defensively, Penn State should be elite yet again and the incoming transfer class may be just six deep, but AJ Harris might be the brightest new star on this side of the ball.

Penn State should be right up there in terms of Big Ten contenders.

But what should we realistically expect from this team in 2024?

Looking at the schedule, Penn State should start the year 5-0 with a big win at West Virginia in the opener. They'll play a close one at USC but ultimately come away with a win before falling at Wisconsin. Sitting at 6-1, the Nittany Lions will host Ohio State but drop another game to fall to 6-2 before winning four straight games to end the season.

A 10-2 record may honestly be good enough to make the playoff and that would take a lot of pressure off of Franklin.