It’s time for some Penn State football and this week the Nittany Lions open their 2021 season against No. 12 Wisconsin, opening the year on the road against a Big Ten foe for the second-straight season. Not only is it a big opportunity for Penn State to pick up a win on the road against a ranked team, but more importantly it’s a chance to start a season that reverses all the bad tastes left in the mouths of fans who watched the Nittany Lions begin 0-5 in 2020.
The whole year won’t come down to this moment, but many of the ongoing storylines that could determine the overall success Penn State has in 2021 will start on Saturday. Here are five to keep an eye on as the Nittany Lions’ hit the field.
Clifford:
At this point you hate to beat the obvious things over the head too much, but at the end of the day Penn State is going to go much in the way that Sean Clifford does. Clifford, to his credit, is probably not as bad as his 2020 resume might suggest and nothing gives him the chance to prove it like playing on the road – again – in an opener against a Big Ten team. Clifford has been solid on the road but he has never given off an intimidating vibe in those environments. That might be hard to quantify but Clifford can go a long way toward showing that he’s among the Big Ten’s most experienced quarterbacks if he plays like one.
If Clifford plays well, Penn State wins. It’s that simple this week. It might be that simple every week.
Offensive Line:
Somewhere, Christian Hackenberg would like to remind you that it’s a lot easier to throw the football if you are standing on your own two feet and not looking at the sky. As much as Clifford gets the blame and the credit for however Penn State’s season goes, if he doesn’t have the time to figure things out it doesn’t matter what he does with the ball. So yeah, it’s not all on Clifford, and the offensive line — working in new pieces — is as big of part of that puzzle as anything else. Can it gel and gel quickly? That might be a tough ask on the road against Wisconsin, but at least showing signs of competency can go a long way. The good news: Penn State has its tackle spots figured out, and nothing keeps a quarterback safer than a solid blindside.
Defensive Line:
This doesn’t have quite the existential concern that other positions do, but without some familiar faces on the defensive front this is at least a group to keep an eye on. Wisconsin isn’t really a drop-back-and-stand-around team so don’t expect a ton of sacks, but if the Badgers can’t run between the tackles that’s a good sign in the long run for Penn State. Groups like this usually take a few weeks to find their rhythm, especially with a handful of new names in new positions, so this is more a matter of first impressions. Along those lines, how does Jesse Luketa look at his dual defensive end and linebacker role? Maybe the most interesting hybrid position of the Franklin era so far.
Linebackers:
Brandon Smith looks — if looks mean anything — like the next big linebacker to roll through Penn State. This group was fine in 2020 but nothing overly special and much like a lot of units on this team has room to improve. That is ultimately the story of Penn State football in 2021: Just get a little bit better and the mistakes that cost you games in 2020 will turn into plays that win you them in 2021. Linebackers didn’t have as much to do with those losses, but nobody has complained about a unit getting better and this group certainly could at least live up to its potential.
Overall:
When it’s all said and done, Penn State’s season won’t absolutely come down to this game. Sure, winning on the road against a Top 25 team is good, but Week 1 is Week 1, and as Penn State’s 2016 season proved, a lot can happen between those two points. So sure, the result matters, but if the Nittany Lions lose on a last-second field goal just ask yourself the question “how did they look, results aside?” If that answer is more positive than not, that’s all that really matters. Certainly if message boards have taught us anything, it’s that things are very subjective, but if Saturday’s game makes you feel good about things, ignore the result and keep that in mind. If it doesn’t, well, it’s just football after all.
