Tag: Locked On Nittany Lions

James Franklin’s final US LBM Coaches Poll ballot revealed

See James Franklin’s final ballot in the US LBM Coaches Poll for the 2023 season. Who did he overrate or underrank?

Penn State head coach James Franklin is one of the many head coaches who has a ballot in the US LBM Coaches Poll throughout the college football season, but the ballots of coaches are not made public until the end of the season. Following the crowning of this year’s national champions, the Michigan Wolverines, USA TODAY released each voting member’s final ballot for the US LBM Coaches Poll, including Franklin’s.

Naturally, Franklin was among the coaches casting a unanimous no. 1 vote for Big Ten foe Michigan after the Wolverines completed a 15-0 season with Monday night’s College Football Playoff national championship victory over Washington, whom Franklin ranked second on the ballot. Franklin went with another playoff team at no. 3, Alabama, before sliding in Georgia at no. 4 and one spot ahead of Texas.

The rest of Franklin’s top 10 included Oregon, Florida State, Missouri, and Ohio State (respectively). The 10th team on Franklin’s list was Ole Miss, the team his program lost to in the Peach Bowl. Franklin ranked Penn State no. 11 on his ballot, one spot ahead of LSU.

Franklin ranked Iowa at no. 17. Only Barry Odom of UNLV ranked Iowa higher (no. 15). Franklin also ranked West Virginia at no. 20. Penn State opened the 2023 season with a home victory over the Mountaineers and the Nittany Lions travel to Morgantown to open the 2024 season.

Here is what Franklin’s full US LBM Coaches Poll ballot looked like at the end of the season;

  1. Michigan
  2. Washington
  3. Alabama
  4. Georgia
  5. Texas
  6. Oregon
  7. Florida State
  8. Missouri
  9. Ohio State
  10. Mississippi
  11. Penn State
  12. LSU
  13. Arizona
  14. Notre Dame
  15. Oklahoma
  16. Tennessee
  17. Iowa
  18. Louisville
  19. Oklahoma State
  20. West Virginia
  21. North Carolina State
  22. Liberty
  23. SMU
  24. Tulane
  25. Kansas State

You can see every coach’s final ballot here.

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Locked On Nittany Lions Podcast: Will Penn State play Virginia Tech?

Penn State has rescheduled two games lost in 2020, but the series with Virginia Tech has shown no signs of life.

Remember when Penn State was scheduled to play Virginia Tech for the first time in 2020? Then a global pandemic hit and threw some massive curveballs at the entire sports calendar. The Big Ten decided not to play football at all and eventually opted to come back with a conference-only schedule, so there was no chance to see Penn State make the originally scheduled trip to Blacksburg to face the Hokies in Lane Stadium.

Hope for seeing this series hit the field is looking pretty bleak at the moment. Penn State recently scheduled games against two other non-conference opponents from its original 2020 schedule with future games against Kent State and San Jose State worked into the future schedule, but the moment may have passed for Penn State and Virginia Tech to get a makeup game or series on the books.

In today’s Locked On Nittany Lions podcast, we review the recent changes to the future Penn State football schedules and more. Other topics discussed in today’s podcast include:

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Locked On Nittany Lions: Penn State offense will be theme of spring football this week

Expect plenty of discussion about the progress of the Penn State offense this week during spring practices.

Penn State opens another week of spring football practices this week, and the offense figures to be the main talking point in the ongoing coverage. Penn State will put some key offensive players in front of webcams for Zoom conference calls this week as questions about the offense will be addressed.

Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford will be one of the first players to get to meet with the media this week (he is scheduled for a Monday conference call). While there won’t be questions about his status since he will be entering his third season as the starter, Clifford will likely be asked about working with new offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich and how the transition is going for him.

What new things is Clifford working on with his new quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator (Yurcich serves both roles), and what is he seeing from his potential backups? Is Clifford even bothering to think about the possibility of Penn State heading to the transfer portal to add another quarterback to the depth chart?

Wide receiver Jahan Dotson will also be scheduled to meet with the media on Monday, and wide receivers coach Dana Stubblefield is scheduled for a Wednesday conference call, as is head coach James Franklin. Dotson will also likely be asked about what he is seeing from some of the other receivers on the team.

Wide receiver may not be quite the same looming concern it was heading into the 2020 season, but there is still some question about whether or not it will be a position that can be relied on regularly, outside of Dotson.

Also discussed in this episode is the reaction of Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin to Penn State’s pro day and what a Zach Snyder cut of Penn State football might have looked like given the reception to the recent release of the Snyder cut of “Justice League.”

Follow Locked On Nittany Lions on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and wherever else you get your podcasts. Or, you can catch today’s episode below and listen in your browser.

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What QBs in the transfer portal could be Penn State targets?

Locked On Nittany Lions Podcast: Today is Penn State pro day

Today is an incredibly important day for a handful of former Nittany Lions looking to make the move to the NFL. Today is Penn State’s pro day, with eight players participating in the event as NFL scouts and coaches observe what they have to offer. …

Today is an incredibly important day for a handful of former Nittany Lions looking to make the move to the NFL. Today is Penn State’s pro day, with eight players participating in the event as NFL scouts and coaches observe what they have to offer.

While linebacker Micah Parsons is pretty much locked in to being a first-round pick and Jayson Oweh and Pat Freiermuth are definitely going to be drafted in the upper half of the draft, the pro day event could be even more important for players like Lamont Wade and Steven Gonzalez.

How to watch Penn State football’s 2021 pro day

Also discussed in today’s episode is a story posted on 247 Sports this week circling one game on each preseason top 25 team’s schedule. It isn’t much of a surprise which school appears to be Penn State’s biggest opponent this season. But what top 25 teams might have Penn State circled on their schedule?

We also touch on the Big Ten’s announcement from Wednesday regarding attendance policies for the remainder of the spring sports schedules, and where we could be heading for the fall around the conference and at Penn State.

Follow Locked On Nittany Lions on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and wherever else you get your podcasts. Or, you can catch today’s episode below and listen in your browser.

Follow us on Twitter @NittanyLionWire and like us on Facebook for continuing coverage and commentary on the Nittany Lions.

Penn State Nittany Lions 2021 Football Schedule