STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — With the NFL Draft and spring practice in the rearview, we’re inching closer to another Penn State football season.
Thanks for another great round of questions.
In hindsight, did James Franklin choose the wrong QB to hitch his wagon to? Will Levis’ name is being bandied about as a top 2023 draft pick. — Lee Y.
We’re in the midst of what feels like Will Levis mania. Kentucky’s quarterback is appearing in the first round of many early 2023 NFL mock drafts. He also walked the red carpet at the Kentucky Derby last weekend and will be a camp counselor at the Manning Passing Academy next month.
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Personally, I don’t know if Levis will become a first-round pick. I was surprised when I saw his name mentioned so often, but there’s always a lot of intrigue with big quarterbacks who have big arms. He certainly is that. That big arm was part of what made him so appealing to Penn State’s staff when they recruited him, before they turned him into a battering ram while it cycled through offensive coordinators during his time in Happy Valley.
For the time being, it does look like Penn State let a good one get away. If I had to pick between the two right now for this upcoming season, I’d pick Levis. How Penn State used Levis in his final season was baffling, making it understandable that he left. As Levis told me at the time of his transfer: “I don’t want to be known as the guy who goes in and puts his head down and runs the ball.”
He exited Penn State with 133 rush attempts and 102 pass attempts. For all that was made of his arm, Penn State didn’t give him much of a chance to throw the ball in games. Levis made a spot start against Iowa in place of Sean Clifford when Penn State bottomed out at 0-5, but he fumbled and was replaced by Clifford later in the same game. Clifford kept his starting job from there on out.
At the time, the entire narrative surrounding the program was that the 4-5 season was a product of the lack of spring practice and the oddities and challenges of the COVID-19 season. Knowing what we know now, with a 7-6 record in 2021 to add to 4-5, it certainly feels like Penn State should’ve given Levis more of a shot even after he struggled in the spot start and was benched. At the time, though, coaches were banking on Clifford jumpstarting the offense, which he did as the Nittany Lions finished with four consecutive wins. Add in a stellar start to last season, and nobody was second-guessing the Levis departure for a chunk of 2021.
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But now, with all that is known about the two, it’s a valid argument that Penn State might have picked the wrong quarterback.
2021 comparison
| QB | Comp% | Yds | TD | INT | Y/A | Rating | Rush Yds | Rush TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
61.0 | 3,107 | 21 | 8 | 7.3 | 134.4 | 163 | 2 | |
66.0 | 2,826 | 24 | 13 | 8.0 | 148.3 | 376 | 9 |
Which current Penn State football player has the biggest potential NIL payoff? — Robert M.
Quarterback Drew Allar enrolled when Penn State hadn’t yet launched an NIL collective, but if the five-star freshman becomes what recruiting rankings and the eye test suggest he can, he’ll have the most NIL potential. Quarterbacks are usually the face of a program, so there likely will be some marketing and branding opportunities there that won’t exist for players at other positions. I’ll give Allar the edge over someone who could be a very close second: his classmate, Nick Singleton.
Being a Pennsylvania high school standout at Penn State gives Singleton a little bit of a different audience than Allar in that fans might feel more connected to him because they had a chance to watch him play high school ball, given that he grew up less than three hours away from Penn State. The Gatorade national player of the year impressed this spring, and it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he becomes a starter as a freshman. The Success With Honor collective had an autograph session after the Blue-White game, and Singleton was there already signing.
Although throwing West Virginia and Syracuse on the schedule every couple of years is a decent option in my opinion, they don’t seem to have the fan base overly excited. Are there any rumors of other potential nonconference games that may be in the works? — Jeffrey W.
The second game of the home-and-home series with Virginia (remember the Sam Ficken game in 2012?) never happened. At this point, there’s no reason to believe it will. The Virginia Tech trip was scrapped during the 2020 COVID-19 season, and though a Brent Pry-James Franklin game would be fun and Penn State has an open slot in 2025 (games vs. Nevada and Villanova are already scheduled), Virginia Tech no longer has an opening.
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With nine conference games in the Big Ten, there isn’t that much wiggle room. Making things more challenging, Penn State opened with a Big Ten game at Wisconsin last year and now starts at Purdue on a Thursday this year. The Big Ten East is difficult enough that needing to add a marquee nonconference opponent isn’t as appealing to those in the football building as it is to fans. Though the Auburn trip this year will be a great change of pace for Penn State fans, it may not be ideal that the Nittany Lions are playing Big Ten and SEC road games in the first three weeks.
For now, unlike some other schools, Penn State has no announced nonconference games past 2028, with Syracuse recently announced for 2027-28. Through 2027, the only opening is in 2025, when Virginia Tech’s return trip to Beaver Stadium was originally slated to happen.
Future Penn State nonconference games
Trying to forecast what college football will look like — whether it’s Big Ten divisional structure or the size of the Playoff — in the coming years makes future scheduling all the more challenging right now. Selfishly, I’d love to see more marquee nonconference opponents, but Penn State is probably more likely to get Old Dominion than Alabama at this point.
If you could list the three biggest reasons in order for Ohio State’s dominance over Penn State as far as recruiting, what would they be? — Andy M.
During Franklin’s tenure, Penn State has played Ohio State better than most but has still gone only 1-7. The early part of that time was impacted by sanctions, and since then, Ohio State has been chewing up and spitting out just about everyone else too. Still, it’s easier to sell a place to recruits when they can remember actually watching the team’s national championship. Penn State, like many others, just isn’t in a position to do that, with one AP top-five finish (No. 3 in 2005) and three Big Ten titles (2005, 2008, 2016) in the past 27 seasons since going undefeated in 1994.
With every New Year’s Six bowl bid, every College Football Playoff appearance and every championship, there are more eyeballs. Meyer’s 83-9 record, complete with three Big Ten titles and a national championship, re-established Ohio State at the elite level, and that’s continued under Ryan Day. If Meyer never coached a game at Ohio State, who knows what life in the Big Ten would’ve been like for Penn State and everyone else?
The reality is Penn State isn’t the easiest place to attract talent because it’s in Central Pennsylvania. Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are both about three hours away in either direction. The local airport services a few flights per day. With Columbus being much larger, there is more to see and do and fewer logistical hurdles. Penn State has to continue trying to improve its facilities and selling the White Out atmosphere and the large stadium because some parts of recruiting it can change (winning more games, winning more head-to-head vs. Ohio State, facility improvements, NIL) but other parts it can’t (location, Ohio State’s run of success).
Now, as I write this, Penn State (No. 3) has surpassed Ohio State (No. 5) in the very early 247Sports Composite team rankings for 2023, but the Nittany Lions have two more commits and there’s a long way to go.
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Crystal ball time, Audrey. Fast forward to one year from now. What are the chances Christian Veilleux, Drew Allar and Beau Pribula are still all with PSU? I’d put the chance at about 4.26 percent. — John T.
Whenever I update my Excel sheet of Penn State’s scholarship players, I’m reminded of how quickly a roster can change from one year to the next. No position is more important or more difficult to maintain depth that at quarterback. In all likelihood, whoever loses the starting job next spring — if it’s determined next spring as opposed to next summer, the latter of which would could really put the QB who loses the spot in a bind — may be gone. That’s college football in 2022.
History suggests the competition will drag into preseason camp, which is what happened when Trace McSorley beat out Tommy Stevens and when Clifford beat out Levis, and if so that might give Penn State a little more insurance. Regardless, the good news is Penn State has all of this season to prepare for life after Clifford. Should this season go south, it might even have a new starting QB at some point this fall.
(Photo: Barry Reeger / Associated Press)
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