{"id":58805,"date":"2024-07-01T21:06:21","date_gmt":"2024-07-02T02:06:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/?p=58805"},"modified":"2024-07-01T21:06:21","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T02:06:21","slug":"penn-state-among-five-programs-under-the-most-pressure-in-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/penn-state-among-five-programs-under-the-most-pressure-in-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Penn State among five programs under the most pressure in 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"

Penn State offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki<\/a><\/strong> acknowledged the pressure of the job<\/a><\/strong> he walked into. Coming from Kansas, a traditional doormat of the Big 12, the Jayhawks were under pressure to improve from nothing to something, and consistently build upon it. <\/p>\n

At Penn State, he said, the pressure he is under is at once familiar, even if slightly changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe difference is, the improvement for Penn State and what that looks like if we improve, is to be the best in the country,\u201d Kotelnicki said. \u201cThat\u2019s the only difference. It\u2019s how you manage it. But we all just gotta get better. <\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day we\u2019re competing and every day there\u2019s that \u2018pressure\u2019 to go out there and beat somebody.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last weekend, PFF College put words to it. <\/p>\n

Evaluating five college football programs under pressure in 2024, the Nittany Lions are included in the list. And, they\u2019re there for reasons now plenty familiar to Penn State fans. Having traversed the decade-long era of the College Football Playoff without an appearance under its four-team format, a new, accomodating arrangement is set to lower the bar to entry.<\/p>\n

Why Penn State football is under pressure in 2024<\/h2>\n

From the story:<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Making the College Football Playoff will be an easier task in 2024 with 12 teams participating, which means there are no excuses for James Franklin<\/a><\/strong> and Penn State not to qualify in what feels like a make-or-break year for the program.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Whether or not that\u2019s true is certainly up for debate. Franklin is entering the third season on a 10-year contract extension signed in November 2021. But, the piece continues, the personnel now in place to help get the program over the hump is seemingly capable of delivering. And, especially true on the offensive side of the ball, that conversation begins with quarterback Drew Allar<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u201cQuarterback\u00a0Drew Allar<\/a>\u00a0did not progress as hoped last season in an offense that struggled to protect him and generate downfield production. Allar tallied only 12 big-time throws with an 8.0-yard average target depth on 391 attempts. He brings sky-high potential, however.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cOhio State transfer\u00a0Julian Fleming<\/a>, who recorded an 11.5-yard average target depth in 2023, should help Allar as his new top target.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Scouting the Nittany Lions\u2019 defense<\/h2>\n

Meanwhile, on the defensive side of the ball, PFF is anticipating a maintained standard of excellence that has been demonstrated through the Nittany Lions\u2019 most recent seasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Nittany Lions will once again rely on the defense that carried them a season ago, a unit that ranked first in the FBS in pass-rushing grade (91.5) and second in EPA per play against (-0.256). They return stars\u00a0Abdul Carter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Kevin Winston Jr.<\/a>,\u00a0who are both top-25 draft prospects on\u00a0PFF\u2019s 2025 draft big board<\/a>. Winston\u2019s 92.8 PFF tackling grade led all safeties in college football, while his PFF overall grade ranked second (89.2).\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Combined, those elements have Penn State sharing commonalities with other programs suffering from the same fatigue waiting to get over the hump. Though different in nature, the desires of Florida and Miami fans coming off disappointing seasons, as well as those of Ohio State, Ole Miss, and Penn State, each of whom produced double-digit win totals a year ago, set the table for a high-stakes 2024 season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know how good the defense can be, and if Allar can improve, the offense could be what puts Penn State over the top this season. Otherwise, there could be major shake-ups coming.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Talk about it with our premium members in the Lions Den, here!<\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Penn State among five programs under the most pressure in 2024<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Penn State offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki acknowledged the pressure of the job he walked into….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58805"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58805\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58838,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58805\/revisions\/58838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}