{"id":6693,"date":"2023-06-02T22:04:16","date_gmt":"2023-06-03T03:04:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/?p=6693"},"modified":"2023-06-02T22:04:16","modified_gmt":"2023-06-03T03:04:16","slug":"heather-dinich-reveals-why-penn-state-has-what-it-takes-to-challenge-ohio-state-michigan-in-big-ten","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/heather-dinich-reveals-why-penn-state-has-what-it-takes-to-challenge-ohio-state-michigan-in-big-ten\/","title":{"rendered":"Heather Dinich reveals why Penn State has what it takes to challenge Ohio State, Michigan in Big Ten"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three of the best teams in college football heading into the 2023 season play in the Big Ten East: Michigan<\/a><\/strong>, Ohio State<\/a><\/strong> and Penn State<\/a><\/strong>. ESPN\u2019s Heather Dinich<\/strong> thinks this could be best chance since 2016 for the Nittany Lions to break through and win the league again.<\/p>\n

The biggest question for Penn State is who the starting quarterback will be \u2014\u00a0though there\u2019s a fair assumption it\u2019s Drew Allar<\/a><\/strong> \u2014\u00a0and how well he will play. Assuming it is Allar, Dinich<\/a> made the case on the \u201cPaul Finebaum Show\u201d for why it could be Penn State making a trip to Indianapolis this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he can be \u2014\u00a0he doesn\u2019t need to be great. But if he can be good enough [for Penn State] to play at an elite level, there\u2019s enough talent surrounding him that this could be James Franklin\u2019s<\/a><\/strong> best team since 2016 when they won the Big Ten,\u201d Dinich said. \u201cSo Paul, I think that they have the potential to create a three-way tie with Ohio State and Michigan. If they can knock off one of those two teams \u2014\u00a0they have not defeated them both. But Penn State could definitely have playoff potential this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Penn State has had no issue at churning out pro-caliber receivers in recent years and current boasts one of the best running back tandems in the country in Kaytron Allen<\/a><\/strong> and Nick Singleton<\/a><\/strong>. The offensive line features maybe the best lineman in the sport in Olu Fashanu<\/a><\/strong> and the defensive front seven is chock full of proven and ascending playmakers. <\/p>\n

But as Dinich noted, Penn State hasn\u2019t beaten both the Wolverines and Buckeyes in the same season. Barring doing that this year, the best they can hope for are unexpected stumbles or a three-way tie. <\/p>\n

And beating both Michigan and Ohio State in 2023 would be a massive feat for Penn State (or any team).<\/p>\n

Dinich dove in to the Buckeyes and how things stack up in 2023. Ohio State, like Penn State, will be breaking in a new quarterback and Kyle McCord<\/a><\/strong> and Devin Brown<\/a><\/strong> are both talented options, both highly-rated as recruits. Even if they don\u2019t have the buzz that Allar might, there\u2019s no reason to doubt the Ohio State offense under Ryan Day<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n

And besides, the Buckeyes have some bigger questions on the defensive side that need answering.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike when you talk about Ohio State, you\u2019ve got that razzle-dazzle offense. I mean we are talking about elite talent. Marvin Harrison Jr.<\/a><\/strong> and all those guys. Kyle McCord, if he\u2019s the quarterback, whoever it might be, has an amazing supporting cast around him,\u201d Dinich said. \u201cCan the defense take another step under Jim Knowles? That\u2019s going to be critical. And it\u2019s not like they were bad last year, but don\u2019t give up so many big plays. I was in his office, I talked to Jim Knowles<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I\u2019ll never forget this: On his desk, next to his computer, was stress-relief tea. And I kind of looked at him and, you know, that kind of sums it up where he was. But, he was very cognizant of the fact they\u2019ve gotta get better. And he thinks that they\u2019re in a position to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Right now, though, Dinich is taking the Wolverines to three-peat as Big Ten champions \u2014\u00a0with the caveat that she \u201creserves the right to get smarter\u201d and alter her pick as the season gets closer.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the difference between them and Michigan is Michigan has these veteran guys and is the experience there. And J.J. McCarthy<\/a><\/strong> at quarterback and we saw what they were able to do down the stretch and Blake Corum<\/a><\/strong> returning at running back. So I\u2019m going with Michigan, early, to win the Big Ten right now because of that, because of J.J. McCarthy,\u201d Dinich said. <\/p>\n

The post Heather Dinich reveals why Penn State has what it takes to challenge Ohio State, Michigan in Big Ten<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three of the best teams in college football heading into the 2023 season play in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6693","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\/6693","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=6693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6693\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}