No. 16 – Penn State
What Erick Smith Says
It’s hard to make sense of the Nittany Lions after they started with five losses last year and then finished with four consecutive wins. It would be easy to overreact to the lows given the loss of their two best players — Micah Parsons and Journey Brown — right before the season. Quarterback Sean Clifford had a major slump that coincided with the arrival of offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca. New coordinator Mike Yurcich is tasked with rebuilding Clifford’s confidence. A deep stable of running backs and wide receiver Jahan Dotson’s decision to forgo the NFL draft gives the offense some major pop. Two transfers — Temple defensive end Arnold Ebiketie and South Carolina cornerback Johnny Dixon — bolster a unit that should be closer to the usual high standard of the James Franklin era.