Penn St Nittany Lions 2016 NCAA Football Preview
PENN ST NITTANY LIONS
Big 10 Conference – East Division
2015 Record – 7-6
ATS – 4-9
2016 MEGALOCKS Opening Power Rating Rank
East Division – #4
Conference – #8
2015 Recap
We are going to consider the season a disappointment. It started out with a home loss to Temple when they gave up a sack seemingly on every offensive play. They finished it off with four consecutive losses including a bowl loss to a depleted Georgia team with an interim head coach. We think their best win was home to San Diego St and sure hope it was not the home win vs Buffalo.
2016 Preview
OFFENSE
The offensive line has to be a WHOLE LOT better this season if they plan on winning more than seven games. They have given up a comical 83 sacks the past two seasons (39,44) but the good news is that the OL has some experience now and should improve. The question is how much ?
If new OL coach Mike Limegrover can get the big boys playing well the Nittany Lions’ offense has the potential to do some damage. They are set at RB with 1st Team Fr AA Saquon Barkley coming back for his sophomore season (5.9 yards per carry LY) and a great set of WRs including Chris Godwin who caught 69 balls for over 1100 yards and 5 TDs. That is 16 yards a pop.
Issue. Who is going to distribute the football to all these weapons ? The leading candidate for the starting QB job is Trace McSorley who got in a bit of work last season (40 attempts) but he is going to be in for a tough assignment facing the big boys in the Big 10.
DEFENSE
Last season Penn St finished 14th in the FBS in total defense (324 yards per game allowed) and a major reason for that was the dominating pass rush that led to a remarkable 46 sacks ! In fact, the Nittany Lions finished first in the country in sacks per game (tied with Arizona St) and our biggest concern on defense this season is how they replace that production. They lose well over half of last season’s sack total including a whopping 15.5 from 1st Team AA and 3rd round NFL draft pick Carl Nassib. Overall we feel that the defense will be decent under HC James Franklin but note that they do have a new DC.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Penn St should be fine in this area. PK Tyler Davis was 8/8 in shared duty last season but they could use an improvement in the punting game and some spice in the return game. This unit could really make a difference in the win column if they find a major upgrade somewhere.
MEGALOCKS ATS Value Rating (10) 5.0
MEGALOCKS says:
The schedule is going to be helpful this season. There is a light sprinkling of difficult games along the way but no killer stretch without a breather. We are worried about the OL, the pass rush and the QB situation but any kind of significant surprise on the roster could really make a difference. We still see them as being a big notch below Ohio St and Michigan but they should be able to hold their own against teams like Michigan St and Iowa.
Overall, we give the NITTANY LIONS a 5.0 ATS Value Rating (Average) this season. The first two seasons under the Franklin regime have netted a 14-12 record to go along with a 10-16 mark ATS (38%). The questions that we have about the roster are offset by the fact that people may be a bit leery of backing this squad, particularly with a new QB, and the way they have treated bettors the past few seasons. We just cannot be too certain how things will play out. Pick your spots.
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Website
http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/m-footbl/
Forum
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News
http://www.blackshoediaries.com/
http://www.pennlive.com/pennstatefootball/#/0
http://bleacherreport.com/penn-state-football
http://www.nittanynet.com/news/penn_state/football
http://www.statecollege.com/penn-state-page/sports/
https://twitter.com/PennStateFball @PennStateFball
https://twitter.com/nittanyrich @nittanyrich Richard Scarcella
https://twitter.com/audsnyder4 @audsnyder4 Audrey Snyder
https://twitter.com/BobbyFlo7 @BobbyFlo7 Bob Flounders