Penn State has been an excellent program over the past few years and probably would have competed for a league crown in the Big 12 or Pac-12 but unfortunately is stuck in the Big Ten East with superpowers Ohio State and Michigan. What to expect from the 2023 Nittany Lions? Here’s the preview for your college football betting odds to win the NCAA National Championship.
Penn State Nittany Lions 2023 College Football Season Betting Guide | MyBookie College Betting Preview
Penn State Nittany Lions | Big Ten Conference during the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season
School: Pennsylvania State University
Head coach: James Franklin | 9th season
Home field: Beaver Stadium | 106,572
Penn State Odds to Win Championship:: +2500
Odds to win Big Ten: +600
Regular-season win total: 9.5
Penn State played 10 teams during the 2022 regular season that were unranked. The Nittany Lions won them all, usually easily. They played two ranked schools in Michigan and Ohio State and lost both by double digits. So yet again, no better than third in the Big Ten East for Penn State when it easily would have been the best team in the West Division last year. Since Coach James Franklin arrived in Happy Valley, Penn State is a combined 4-14 (.222) against Michigan and Ohio State, compared to 45-16 (.738) against the rest of the Big Ten.
PSU capped the 2022 season with an impressive 35-21 win over No. 8 Utah in the Rose Bowl. The Nittany Lions put up 448 yards of total offense in the program’s second all-time Rose Bowl win. They reached the 11-win plateau for the 19th time in program history. Since 2014, Penn State owns wins in three New Year’s Six bowl games, joining Alabama (7), Ohio State (6), Georgia (5) and Clemson (4) as the only FBS schools with three or more wins in that span.
In his final college game, QB Sean Clifford led the way for the Nittany Lion offense, going 16-for-22 with 279 yards and two touchdowns. Clifford became Penn State’s all-time leader in total offense, eclipsing Trace McSorley’s mark of 11,596 yards and the winningest starting quarterback in program history with his 32nd victory to break a tie with McSorley.
Drew Allar will take over under center. Last year as Clifford’s backup as a true freshman, Allar appeared in 10 games and completed 35-of-60 passes for 344 yards and four touchdowns. He also ran for 52 yards on 18 attempts with one rushing score. If Allar can play at a consistently elite level, this could be Franklin’s best team since 2016, when Penn State won the Big Ten but was left out of the College Football Playoff.
“Although we’ve had some good (quarterbacks) here, that’s probably been the difference between us winning three New Year’s Six bowl games and getting into the playoff and winning a national championship,” Franklin said, “is having an elite quarterback that can make the plays that change games.”
The evolution of Penn State’s running game will be a critical component to the Nittany Lions’ attempt to win the Big Ten. PSU has averaged more than a yard fewer rushing against Michigan or Ohio State (3.27) than the rest of the Big Ten (4.28). The Lions have one of the top running backs returning in the Big Ten in sophomore Nicholas Singleton. Last year, he posted a Penn State freshman record 12 rushing touchdowns. Singleton (1,061) and Kaytron Allen (867) became the first true freshman teammates in Big Ten history each with 700 or more rushing yards in a single season. Allen is back, too.
Up front, the Nittany Lions welcome back a likely 2024 NFL first-round draft pick in left tackle Olumuyiwa Fashanu, along with five other linemen who started at least five games last year. Fashanu was expected to declare for the 2023 draft but opted to return in a surprise.
The defense is led by linebacker Abdul Carter, who had a stellar year as a true freshman, totaling 10.5 tackles for a loss and a team-high 6.5 sacks. Fellow linebacker Curtis Jacobs opted to return after mulling an early departure for the NFL Draft and cornerback Kalen King was the Big Ten leader last year with 21 passes defended. Penn State has bolstered its depth and experience at the defensive line position, creating competition between several veteran defensive tackles including redshirt senior Hakeem Beamon, senior Dvon Ellies, sophomore Zane Durant and junior Coziah Izzard.
“I think our depth is better than it’s ever been since we’ve been here,” Franklin said. “So, what I’m hoping is that we can play a lot of guys on offense, defense and special teams to be as healthy in the fourth quarter and as healthy at the end of the season as possible and the postseason too.”
Penn State should go 3-0 out of conference as it hosts West Virginia on Sept. 2, Delaware on Sept. 9 and UMass on Oct. 14. That’s one of the easiest non-conference schedules of any Power 5 school, although WVU was pretty good when the game was scheduled years ago.
Michigan visits Happy Valley this year and probably will be the lone home game where Penn State is a dog. It has to visit both Ohio State and Michigan State but at least avoids Wisconsin and Minnesota from the West Division (but not Iowa, which visits Penn State).
Penn State Nittany Lions 2023 Season Prediction
Penn State finishes 9-3, fails to reach Big Ten title game again
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2023 Penn State Football Schedule
| Week | Date | Opponent | Venue | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All times ET | ||||
| 1 | Sep. 2 | West Virginia | Beaver Stadium, University Park, PA | 7:30pm ET |
| 2 | Sep. 9 | Delaware Blue Hens | Beaver Stadium, University Park, PA | 12:00pm ET |
| 3 | Sep. 16 | at Illinois Fighting Illini | Memorial Stadium, Champaign, IL | 12:00pm ET |
| 4 | Sep. 23 | Iowa Hawkeyes | Beaver Stadium, University Park, PA | 7:30pm ET |
| 5 | Sep. 30 | at Northwestern Wildcats | Ryan Field, Evanston, IL | Time TBA |
| 6 | Oct. 7 | OFF | ||
| 7 | Oct. 14 | UMass Minutemen | Beaver Stadium, University Park, PA | Time TBA |
| 8 | Oct. 21 | at Ohio State Buckeyes | Ohio Stadium, Columbus, OH | Time TBA |
| 9 | Oct. 28 | Indiana Hoosiers | Beaver Stadium, University Park, PA | Time TBA |
| 10 | Nov. 4 | at Maryland Terrapins | SECU Stadium, College Park, MD | Time TBA |
| 11 | Nov. 11 | Michigan Wolverines | Beaver Stadium, University Park, PA | 12:00pm ET |
| 12 | Nov. 18 | Rutgers Scarlet Knights | Beaver Stadium, University Park, PA | Time TBA |
| 13 | Nov. 24 | at Michigan State Spartans | Ford Field, Detroit, MI | 7:30pm ET |
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