Penn State Nittany Lions - 2021 College Football Season Preview & Win Total Prediction
Playing in just the Big Ten last year Penn State looked sloppy at first, but then won the final 4 games to finish 4-5 on the year. When it comes to the coaches, this year could show some changes in Happy Valley with a new offensive coordinator, but will Mike Yurcich bring in a lot of the explosiveness of Texas?
Offensively Penn State is coming in playing good last year, but the Nittany Lions need to have a better rushing attack. The leading rusher for the Nittany Lions only gained 438 yards from scrimmage. The good news is the wideout positions are fairly secure and could help contribute to a budding passing attack this year.
The Nittany Lions could have a good stretch on the defensive backfield. However, the defensive backfield for Penn State could be in trouble as the Nittany Lions only have one player coming on the line. The lack of returning experience could make it difficult to keep the pressure up on the opponents quarterback this year.
A big question for Penn State is if the kicking game will show up this year. Last year Penn State ended up missing a total of 9 field goal attempts, which is very disappointing for the Nittany Lions who fizzled quite a bit in the red zone and while it may not have changed the outcome in some games would have definitely made them more interesting.
Penn State is coming here after starting to improve last year at the end of the season. However, the Nittany Lions are coming in without much of a rushing attack and a defense that is not that good on the year or experienced. Look for the Nittany Lions to struggle in some of the Big Ten games this year and that has the Penn State finishing on the under. Win Total Prediction, Under 9 wins.