Of All the Things That Made Zero Sense Last Season, the Nittany Lions’ Historically Pitiful Turnover Luck Was One of Them 

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HOPE might be the foulest, most dangerous four-letter word in the English language, but even so, there’s an air of optimism wafting over the 2021 Penn State football season for a couple reasons.

I’d waste 300-400 words waxing poetic about those reasons but A) by now, you already know what they are, and B) I really wanna cut corners and crank this blog post out because a pool float with a highly-caloric fruity adult beverage in the cup holder awaits. But, for our seven-month coma patient readership, here’s a quick list:

 Yurcich hire. 

Dotson/Walker/Brisker return. 

Normal-ish spring practice. 

Normal-ish fall practice (no jinx). 

James Franklin’s full Transfer Portal cart.

Home-field advantage is back.

One factor, though, that doesn’t get as much play as those just listed – and one we’ll explore for as long as I can stand being cooped up indoors on this postcard-perfect afternoon — is Penn State’s historically wretched 2020 Turnover Luck and the unlikelihood of lightning striking twice in 2021.

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In Tune with Penn State Football’s More-Spit-Than-Polish Tradition, an Underhyped Core of Key Players are Tasked with Turning Things Around

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Black Shoes. Basic Blues. No Names. All Game.

It’s a memorable slogan we all recognize, a sly bit of marketing attributable to Penn State’s former branding guru Guido D’Elia, who understood and cleverly seized on a paradox: The best way of preserving the program’s stoic, old school mentality in an age of disposable glitz was by embracing the sales process, packaging up its essence and proudly advertising it. The resulting catchphrase just might make an especially appropriate rallying cry for this year’s Nittany Lions, a group intent on emerging from the long shadow cast by a lost 2020 season that, however unconventional, nevertheless featured the worst start (0-5, friends, lest you’ve forgotten) in the august 134-year history of Penn State football. 

The team will undertake this task with a roster noticeably short on individual starpower. No Names.

Around this point in the Summer, the first real signs of Autumn’s approach start becoming evident in Happy Valley. The Town&Gown Football Annual joins the national preview mags on newsstands. The latest shipment of replica jerseys hits the racks of local outfitters. So whose face should grace the magazine covers this time around? Whose jersey number should Nike appropriate for one final season in the revenue-hoarding sun?  Recently, luminaries like Saquon Barkley, Trace McSorley, and Micah Parsons have been no-brainers in those roles. Owing to a variety of factors, this year’s team has no such obvious spokesman. 

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Coach Nick Codutti talks Wide Zone Read in the Mike Yurcich Offense Keystone Sports Network · Q4 Mike Yurcich Offense 07 – 15 – 21 KSN Podcast: Mike Yurcich Offense

Mid-July = List Season Across College Football Media, so We’ll Toss Our Sweat-Stained Hat in the Ring and Rattle Off Some Penn State Starters Who Can and Can’t Afford to Miss Many Snap This Season 

Sponsor: For The Blogy’s preseason coverage is sponsored by FANATICS. Gear up for College Football season with Nike’s 2021 Penn State sideline collection of polos, t-shirts, hats, pullovers and more right HERE.

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REPLACEABLE

Jahan Dotson

Before you all lift your pitchforks in unison, give us a sentence or two to outline our rationale because we really flip-flopped on whether Dotson belonged in the ‘Replaceable’ or ‘Irreplaceable’ bin. Presumably, those who clicked-off the blog at the mere sight of Dotson’s name probably did so because A) he topped the Big Ten in receiving yards (884) and receiving TDs (8) in 2020 B) that cool catch vs. Ohio State and C) as Sean Clifford learns his 4th new offense in 5 years, the fortified chemistry between he and Dotson should help smooth out early bumps in the learning process.  

True, true, and true. But if Dotson did miss time in 2021, would it really be the end of the universe? Mike Yurcich has proven throughout his college play-calling tenure that his system makes the receiver, not the other way around. Stud pass-catchers like James Washington and Marcell Ateman have been JAGs at best in the NFL. Heck, in 2015, David Glidden racked up 866 receiving yards with Yurcich calling the shots. 

Who the hell is David Glidden, you ask? Precisely.

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Introduction

There has been a lot (too much?) talk in the off-season about Penn State’s need to upgrade its quarterback situation going into the 2021 season. Every time any FBS quarterback hit the Transfer Portal, message boards and Twitter exploded with speculation about Penn State’s interest, and whether said quarterback would be an upgrade over Sean Clifford. Heck, a vocal few even wondered if a strong spring from Ta’Quan Roberson or true freshman Christian Veilleux could be enough to supplant the incumbent quarterback. 

All that talk made for great fodder from January to April, but it’s almost a foregone conclusion that Clifford will be the Game 1 starter in Madison, making him the 3rd three-year starter for Penn State in succession. That begs the question: as Clifford enters his third (and presumably final) season under center, how has his statistical performance compared to the numbers compiled by the previous two starters – Christian Hackenberg (2013-2015) and Trace McSorley (2016-2018)?

The answer, as you’ll see, is almost smack-dab in the middle. 

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In Less Than a Decade, James Franklin’s Signature Line Has Gone From Battle Cry to Whisper to Something Worth Shouting Once Again 

On a dreary, rainy, #basic January Pennsylvania afternoon that won’t wind up pictured in any travel brochures shelved up at Denny’s, newly-hired Penn State coach James Franklin literally opened his mouth, figuratively lifted his leg, and definitively marked his territory during his 2014 introductory press conference when he said:

“Our recruiting philosophy: We are going to dominate the state. We’re going to dominate the state. …That is going to be our plan, and I’m calling all the high school coaches, I’m calling all the people in the state, that we need to come together like never before. And I think with everybody pulling the rope in the same direction, there’s no reason why we can’t take this program where everybody wants it to be.”

In retrospect, the genius of that quote (and the reason it stuck) wasn’t the slogan itself – although, hand up, it was catchy as heck – but rather the time at which Franklin spouted it. Though draconian NCAA sanctions were eventually truncated in September 2014, remember when Franklin initially took the job Penn State was still two full seasons away from being permitted to compete for the Big Ten title or even earn a bowl invite. 

No postseason. No trophies. No rings. 

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On Tuesday, the Highest-Ranked Pennsylvania Prep Ballcarrier Since 2017 Became the Highest-Ranked Member of Penn State’s 2022 Recruiting Class

On a streaming platform 99 percent of us didn’t know was a thing, a comforting storyline we once took for granted played out again in spite of CBS Sports HQ’s primitive production value – Pennsylvania’s premier prep playmaker picked Penn State!

After a fleeting one-weekend flirtation with Notre Dame that had Penn State’s message board mafia chomping their digital fingernails, Nicholas Singleton – a coveted 4-star running back out of Governor Mifflin High School in Reading  – finally took James Franklin up on that scholarship offer doled out back in the summer of 2019 by verbally committing on Tuesday to come play college ball in Happy Valley next season. 

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The 11th Hour Addition of the Former Florida State Defender Marks a Break From the Norm Compared To Penn State’s Previous Portal Pickups

All it took was six months for James Franklin to experience his first Mid-Portal Crisis. 

That’s not to say awarding the 84th penultimate scholarship to dismissed Florida State defensive back A.J. Lytton is the equivalent of a purchasing a motorcycle, or a pair of skinny jeans, or an 96-month-financed Corvette, or anything else super desperate or cringey, but it does raise a few eyebrows because the move really clashes with Franklin’s earlier Transfer Portal rescues. 

Harvard OL Eric Wilson. Baylor RB John Lovett. Duke DT Derrick Tangelo. South Carolina DB John(ny) Dixon. Temple DE Arnold Ebiketie. What do all those guys have in common? Well, for the most part, each of them were either middle-of-the-road or under-the-radar recruits out of high school who shone brighter than their Rivals/247 stars once they reached college. For various reasons – coaching changes, the want to play on a bigger stage – all 5 portal players relocated to Penn State as established, high floor, high character, plug-and-play options to start Week 1 or see substantial snaps at positions of need.

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