Penn State Football’s Starting Experience Reminiscent of 2017 Squad

After Penn State went a surprising 11-3 in 2016, winning the Big Ten and losing a scintillating nail-biter in the Rose Bowl, the Nittany Lions remained locked and loaded for the 2017 season.

James Franklin’s fourth squad at Penn State that year returned an experienced and deep roster that had 359 career collegiate football starts, including an impressive and necessary-for-success 88 starts along the offensive line.

Penn State was stacked.

That 2017 team returned eight players with at least 20 career collegiate football starts, and two of those — steady and wise wide receiver DaeSean Hamilton (38) and savvy and hard-hitting safety Marcus Allen (33) — had over 30. 

The other six: offensive linemen Brendan Mahon (29) and Andrew Nelson (27); linebacker Jason Cabinda (23); tight end Mike Gesicki (23); cornerback Grant Haley (22); and running back Saquon Barkley (20). It was a smart, talented and mature — on and off the field — group.

And, Penn State was oh-so-close to making the leap from great to elite. But, back-to-back narrow and harrowing losses at No. 6 Ohio State, 39-38, and at No. 24 Michigan State, 27-24, ruined a perfect season. The 2017 Nittany Lions finished 11-2.

Still, Franklin showed he knows what to do with those kind numbers, given the returning starts in 2016 (276 overall starts, 91 at O-line) and 2017 (359, 88).

So, in some ways, the run-up to 2023 feels a bit like 2017, as the Nittany Lions were 11-2 in 2022, and have high expectations for the season ahead — as I noted here last week.

Experience counts.

STARTING TO PEEK/PEAK AT 2023

Penn State’s roster in 2023 features 26 players who have made a combined 324 collegiate starts — 175 on offense, 149 on defense, and 88 along the O-line (just like in 2017).

The 2023 Nittany Lions have seven players with at least 20 collegiate starts, though two of those are newcomers: wide receiver Dante Cephas (20, Western Kentucky) and D-lineman Alonzo Ford (25, Old Dominion) have not started a game for PSU. The other five are: O-linemen Hunter Nourzad (28) and Caedan Wallace (27), wide receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith (26), linebacker Curtis Jacobs (23) and safety Keaton Ellis (20).

Among the three team co-captains named to date, only Ellis has started a game. QB Drew Allar and LB/special teams ace Dom DeLuca, the other two co-captains, have yet to make a start in college.

Penn State’s offensive line in 2023 has six players who have made a combined 88 starts, tied for second-most in the Franklin Era. They are: Nourzad (28 overall, 8 at Penn State), Caedan Wallace (27), Sal Wormley (13), Olu Fashanu (10), Landon Tengwall (5) and Drew Shelton (5).

Now, it takes much more than experience to win big-time in the Big Ten. There’s talent, maturity, resolve, coaching, luck and more.

CAVEAT EMPTOR

So, a few caveats about those returning starts:

1. The Penn State receiving corps has a ton of starts, with 58. However, the majority of those have not been at Penn State. Lambert-Smith has 26 career starts, spread across three seasons at Penn State. Cephas, who transferred this summer from Western Kentucky, had 20 starts there, while Malik McClain, who enrolled in January 2023, had a dozen starts over two seasons at Florida State. 

2. Of course, collegiate starts aren’t the only measuring sticks of a player’s worth, potential or ability. For example, defensive end Chop Robinson, in 25 games at Maryland (2021) and Penn State (2022), has only one career start. Still, he could be an All-American this season.

Presumed NFL first-round draft pick Fashanu has just 10 starts as a Nittany Lion. Nick Singleton, a 1,000-yard rusher as a freshman, started just eight games in his career. Another potential first-rounder, cornerback Kalen King, has 11 career starts, and the next Linebacker U star, Abdul Carter, has made just seven starts, all last year as a true freshman. 

3. Do pre-portal starts = post-portal Penn State starts? In other words, are 25 starts at ODU or 20 at Western Kentucky equal to the Big Ten?

Franklin buttressed the Nittany Lions’ meaningful playing experience in a big way via the offseason portal. Transfers with starting experience — a combined 89 games — are the difference between a fairly average returning set of starts (235) and an overall number (324) that is second-best in Franklin’s 10 years at Penn State.

Collegiate starts not at Penn State, by player: Ford, Old Dominion (25); Cephas (20) and Nourzad (20); McClain, Florida State (12); cornerback Johnny Dixon, South Carolina (9); running back Trey Potts, Minnesota (2); and Robinson, Maryland (1).

As for the answer to those questions: We’ll find out soon enough, especially in The Horseshoe on Oct. 21 and at high Big Noon in Beaver Stadium on Nov. 11.

CAREER COLLEGIATE STARTS RETURNING

Here’s a look at returning starts for Penn State since 2011: