Not only did Penn State get their season started with a bang when dominating West Virginia on the road to silence some of the critics, they were able to utilize that performance to help themselves on the recruiting trail.
Almost immediately after the game on Saturday finished, the Nittany Lions got some great news when wide receiver [autotag]Matthew Outten[/autotag] flipped his commitment from Virginia Tech to Penn State.
Whether it was the offense looking much better that made him think he could envision himself playing in this program or not, landing the productive high school wide out is important for [autotag]Marques Hagans[/autotag] in the 2025 cycle.
However, that wasn’t the only big news on the recruiting trail coming out of Week 1.
Longtime offensive lineman recruit [autotag]Malachi Goodman[/autotag] has made up his mind.
https://twitter.com/Hayesfawcett3/status/1830999979948941393
This is a massive recruiting win for [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] and his staff as they were able to land the third-highest ranked player in the state of New Jersey, beating out the likes of Auburn, USC, Alabama and Georgia who he also took official visits to earlier in the summer.
“The biggest factor was development. The main reasons I committed to Penn State are the coaching staff, how I feel about the offensive line group and I like Coach [Phil Trautwein] a lot,” he said per Ryan Snyder of On3.
At 6-foot-5 and 315 pounds, he is considered to have a high ceiling based on his young age that allows plenty of room to grow once he starts working with the staff at Penn State.
Rated as a four-star recruit in the class of 2025, he comes in at No. 130 in the cycle according to On3’s Industry Ranking which now makes him the highest-rated player in the Nittany Lions’ class.