Penn State will win the national championship this season.
PSU fans under the age of 38 have never seen this happen.
Fans under 50 probably old enough to appreciate what Pete Giftopoulos picking off Vinny Testaverde meant.
Since that January Friday night in Arizona, Penn State has had plenty of national championship caliber teams that, for one reason or another, haven’t gotten there But 2025 just feels different.
You’ve been reading about why it feels different pretty much every day since Notre Dame ended last year’s dream.
A lot of people believe that, by God, this is the year for Penn State, and I happen to be one of them.
Here are my seven reasons.
REASON NO. 1: DREW ALLAR’S EXPERIENCE
Drew Allar and the 2025 Nittany Lions quarterback room.
Penn State is the only team amongst last year’s Final Four that returns its starting quarterback.
In Columbus, the defending champs are counting on Julian Sayin, who’s thrown 12 passes in his college career.
In South Bend, the team that ended Penn State’s dream is rolling with CJ Carr, who’s thrown as many college passes as me.
In Austin, there’s Arch Manning, who just might be the best quarterback in the country.
But for all we know, Manning, owner of just 95 college passes, could be a flop.
Elsewhere in the top 10, Alabama, Georgia, Oregon and Miami are all rocking with new starting QBs, although Miami has an advantage with Georgia transfer Carson Beck already polished.
Clemson and LSU each have quality returners in Cade Klubnik and Garrett Nussmeier. But Clemson, which got boat raced in its lone Playoff game last year, and LSU, which didn’t make the dance, both have more to prove than Penn State does.
Allar has his critics, and those critics are right in that he has to prove he can come through in big games. But I’d take that over a QB who has to prove he can simply play, which is a situation a lot of top teams are facing.
REASON NO. 2: ALLAR HAS RECEIVERS
Devonte Ross hauls in a pass.
Penn State has lost six games since Allar became the starter ahead of the 2023 season. In five of them, the receivers didn’t do squat. In the most recent loss, the receivers literally didn’t do squat, not catching a single pass.
Something needed to change, and it did.
Penn State gave its receivers room a total makeover.
It now has an athletic freak in Kyron Hudson (USC transfer), a guy who went for more than 1,200 yards last season in Devonte Ross (Troy) and an All-ACC performer in Trebor Pena (Syracuse).
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.If Penn State’s receivers fail again, it won’t be because James Franklin and company didn’t address the problem.
REASON NO. 3: STAN DRAYTON
Stan Drayton takes to Beaver Stadium for the first time as the Nittany Lions running backs coach.
Unlike the receivers, Penn State’s running game has nothing to prove. Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen each have a chance to break the school’s career rushing record.
But what if new RB coach Stan Drayton makes them even better?
Drayton, who succeeded Ja’Jaun Seider after he left for Notre Dame, might be the best running backs coach in college football history.
How many RB coaches have won two national titles at different schools? Not many, and Drayton is one of them. So who knows what type of impact a guy like that might have on Penn State’s two stars.
Check out this quote from Drayton’s media availability earlier this month.
“The instincts are there, but not necessarily the understanding of what they’re doing,” he said. They were always reacting at a high level, at an elite level. Now it’s time to anticipate. In order to do that, you have to learn defenses. You have to understand how your formation’s going to set a defense and how that defense is going to fit that formation. You have to understand linebacker flow, you have to understand the indicators in pass protection. All of that stuff was not developed. So they had a huge learning curves as far as that’s going.”
There are certain things that Drayton can’t control, such as health (Singleton was banged up for most of last season). But if Singleton and Allen conquer that learning curve, that’s a scary thought for everybody else in college football.
REASON NO. 4: ANOTHER DYNAMIC DUO
Penn State has the best running backs coach duo in the country, and it might just have the best coordinator pairing as well. Andy Kotelnicki, 44, is an offensive wizard who’s still a rising star in the industry. Jim Knowles, 60, has already done it all, culminating last season when he ran the defense of the national champion Ohio State Buckeyes. Those Buckeyes were the only team to beat Penn State in the regular season, where Knowles got the best of Kotelnicki, holding Penn State’s offense to three points.
Now, the two are on the same team. Knowles will make the defense better, Kotelnicki will be even stronger in Year 2 at Penn State, and perhaps just as important as anything, Knowles knows Penn State’s offensive weaknesses and can help Kotelnicki correct them.
REASON NO. 5: NOLAN RUCCI AND ANTHONY DONKOH
It would have been easy for me to just write “the offensive line,” since it might be the best in the country and among the best in Penn State history, but I’m not going to cop out like that.
Something that could separate this offensive line from last years is having right tackle Nolan Rucci and right guard Anthony Donkoh on the field at the same time.
For most of last season, Rucci backed up Donkoh at RT, and Donkoh was arguably Penn State’s best lineman. Then, Donkoh got hurt, and had to miss Penn State’s last five games.
Fortunately for Penn State, Rucci was a monster at right tackle, and now, Donkoh has the opportunity to move to his more natural position at guard.
Remember, Donkoh came to Penn State as a guard, so he’ll be just fine. As long as Rucci’s late-season performance wasn’t a fluke, the right side of Penn State’s offensive line will be a force.
REASON NO. 6: MOTIVATION
Not much explaining needed for this one. Penn State could have won the national title last year and didn’t, and they’re still mad about it. Anger can be good at times.
REASON NO. 7: THE CLASS OF 2022
Everybody knew Franklin’s 2022 recruiting class was going to be epic. But one could easily argue that it’s exceeded expectations. We all thought Allar, Singleton, Allen and Dani Dennis-Sutton would be stars, and indeed they have been. But who would have thought Vega Ioane and Drew Shelton would have first-round pick potential or that Zane Durant would be on the shortlist for best defensive tackle in the country?
Two of the Class of 2022’s biggest stars have already moved on, with Abdul Carter and KJ Winston now being in the NFL.
The ones that are still in Happy Valley deserve to be rewarded by the Football Gods.
