Who's Been Shining So Far in Penn State Fall Camp? Reasonable Expectations For This Year?

We start off discussing the expectations for this Penn State season, the first under Matt Campbell, then we talk about who's impressed so far during fall camp as we count down the days until week one! #WeAre #PennState #NittanyLions #B1GFootball

Transcript

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What's going on, Penn State fans? Welcome into another episode of the 610 Podcast. I'm your host, Jay Hollyhan. We're back on after quite the hiatus. You know, throughout the summer it's it's always kind of tough to really, you know, you do the spring spring notes of what's been going on in spring camp, and then you kind of break for the summer, and then you wait around, and then we get to August, and it's time for fall camp, and we're really ramping it up for the season. There's buzz in the air. Uh we start thinking, we we start seeing the ads on TV. You know, if you're watching any kind of sporting event on whatever network, they'll start showing, whether it's the NFL or college football, you know, some uh some advertisements to really get you pumped up to endorse certain games that are coming up, whether it's for week zero or obviously week one in either of the two uh leagues, and then obviously, of course, we get to the prediction part of the summer where for the months of June, July, and August, we all spend time wondering uh who's gonna finish here, who's gonna be in the college football playoffs, who's gonna win this conference, who's gonna win that conference, and so on and so forth. So there's a lot of a lot of fun that comes with this time of the year around the game of football, and we're happy to sit here and talk about some of the notes that I've been looking through different articles throughout the last couple weeks. I can't be at, say, college, unfortunately, but we can react to what's been put out there like many a radio host and podcast people do all across the country if they're not in uh certain locations to cover said teams and really get their eyeballs on it uh before the season where everyone can really see and evaluate things uh from the comfort of your own home. Now, as we talk about Penn State football, let's kind of let's address where things are at and what's so different about this fall camp compared to ones in the years past. Well, it's not just there's a new quarterback. They're the the Drew Aller, highly touted, five-star kid. He's finally getting an opportunity here before the 2023 season to show what he can do as a starting quarterback for Penn State. He's going to be the first quarterback since Kerry Collins that is going to take Penn State to the next level, and he will be the first round quarterback selected from Penn State since Kerry Collins. It's not that. It's not. There's a new offensive coordinator. There's a new defensive coordinator. There is a new culture around the program. There's a new identity for the culture around the program in terms of what the standard is going to be on the field and the different kind of things within the game that Matt Campbell values differently than probably what James Franklin valued. And there's some news and notes that we're going to get into from that standpoint as well. But real quick, I've been seeing a lot of people talk about, I've seen other podcasters put out there, about what is, and we'll do our predictions here coming up shortly as we move closer and closer to the start of the season. But what is acceptable for Penn State right now? Is anything less than a double-digit win season, like a 10-2 win season, acceptable for Penn State? And I'll kind of give you a little preview. Honestly, from my standpoint, if they get to eight wins, if they get to nine wins, that's fine. This is a very laxed schedule. But let's be honest here. We got a first year head coach who has never coached in the top two conferences. Coming from Iowa State, the Big 12 and ACC are nothing like the Big Ten and SEC. As we very well know. And going from one to the other, a place in Iowa State where there's not as much national focus on Iowa State. Now, there have obviously been years where people say, hey, I think Iowa State's going to do well in the Big Twelve. Alright, well, we should see Iowa State be finish no less than third or fourth in the Big Twelve this year and give it a run for the Big Twelve championship game. And hey, making a bowl game and, you know, a highly touted bowl game in years past when we had the four-team college football playoffs, the New Year's 6th bowl game, hey, that was good for Iowa State. And in so many years that had been good for Iowa State as to where that program was before Matt Campbell took over. But now that he's a head coach of a national program like Penn State, there is a serious, serious type of and in some way, shape, or form, pressure put on him that he has never experienced as a head football coach. Because while at Iowa State, he was expected to lift that program up and bring it to being a winning program and stabilize that football program. The football program at Penn State has been stabilized. For many years. You know, since 2016. The recruiting classes have been good. They've been able to get those resources back that hadn't been there in s in in about five, six years, maybe even longer. And there was a lot of, as we know, ten win seasons and seasons that it just kind of was like, well, you can do this, but you can't get them to hear James Franklin. Well, Matt Campbell is trying to get them to that point, to the top of the Big Ten, stay at the top of the Big Ten, winning national championships, get back to playing in national championship games. And I've seen a lot of people sit there and really kind of and listen, you can feel however you want about James Franklin. But you can't sit there and tell me that a change wasn't needed in some way, shape, or form. I've seen way too many people, for reasons I just don't fathom, sit there and go, He didn't deserve to be fired. That Penn State fans look upon the James Franklin era as this glorious era that, granted, yes, he did bring Penn State back to the national prominence. But if we're going to talk about James Franklin bringing them back, let's also talk about Joe Moorhead. Let's also talk about Brent Pry. Let's talk about other guys that were really, really symbolic in that era. Jaywan Snyder and what he did with the running backs room. You look at the Penn State tight ends room that, you know, for many years, Ty Howell did an exceptional job as the tight ends coach at Penn State, and now as he moves on to Virginia Tech and joins James Franklin there as his offensive coordinator. There were a lot of great assistant coaches that came up there at Penn State that helped James Franklin do all that. So if you're going to talk about what we're missing in James Franklin, also talk about what you're missing in some of the other assistant coaches. And by the way, you're keeping on a Terry Smith. You're keeping on a Dan Connor, who a lot of people were curious as to whether or not he would stay on as a linebackers coach, a role that he assumed last year in 2025. And you know what? I think it's fair, and I think it's okay to have a cautiously optimistic approach towards the season because another part about this whole thing that we really don't know about is the most important factor. You're bringing on more than 40 transfers into this program that are now going to have to mesh with guys who were there on the team two years ago that went to the college football semifinals. That feel as though, like, hey, we were very much endorsing Terry Smith to stay on, in that we didn't want a ton of things to change around here. But now we're bringing in this new regime. But you guys who are coming in, you're gonna have to understand what it takes to play Big Ten football. We already know what it takes to play Big Ten football. We just need a better leader at the top. And for those guys that are coming in, they're saying, whoa, whoa, wait a minute. We know what this guy's preaching. We know the standard that Mack Campbell has. We understand the offense. We understand the defense. It's you guys that need to get in line. And whether or not there has been friction, I haven't seen a ton of reports out there about there being friction within the locker room with where that's regarded. But be that as it may, and whether that or not that is the case or isn't the case, be that as it may, it's still a football team that needs to come together. And that's the biggest challenge. That is the biggest challenge for this Penn State football team. You got a group of over 80, uh totaled 85 scholarship players and a total roster of 105 players that are on the team. The biggest challenge is how they're gonna mesh and how they're gonna grow as the season move for moves forward. There's gonna be some tough points throughout this season. I think people understand that, but I think the expectations of oh, we could be a college football playoff team. You gotta pump the brakes, people. You gotta pump the brakes with that talk. Because you ha and and it's fair to have hopes. And I think in your wildest of dreams, that's where this team will end up as a double-digit win team. That could be one of the teams that that's names will get called on or by the selection committee. But let's face facts. There's gonna be some growing pains. There are gonna be some times where I'm sure you're gonna wonder, Jesus, this guy really cut for this? Kurt Signetti? Hey, that's a could that be a once-in-a-lifetime case? I don't know, but that's its own separate case out there at Indiana. We'll see if that's what Matt Campbell is he made of that? I don't know. But I think the expectation right now has to be just get me to seeing growth as the season progresses. Now, for some other news as we get into this, some injuries. Linebacker Tony Rojas, edge rusher Max Granville, and tight end Andrew Rapelier are all back to being full participants for Penn State. Some other guys, tight end Gabe Burkle, safety Jeremiah Cooper, and linebacker Alex Tash are all working their way back to being 100%. Now, Gabe Burkle, who came over with Matt Campbell from Iowa State. Matt Campbell has said that Penn State is going to be running a base 12 personnel. So two tight ends on the field. The man who is running away, it feels like with the starting tight end spot, even though he's just, again, getting back to being a full participant, is Rapp. He's been receiving significant praise from offensive coordinator Tyler Mauser. And it looks like Rapp could be poised for a big season and could continue the type of play that we saw towards the end of last year. Now, tight end gave Burkle and Benjamin Brahmer, who both came over again with Mack Campbell from Iowa State. Brahmer, who totaled 37 receptions for 446 yards and six touchdowns last year at Iowa State, and Burkle had 26 catches for 302 yards and a touchdown. Those two are battling it out for that final or for that number two tight end spot. Now, Michael Motty, who is no stranger to having to go through this situation as a player, he is now back as the new director of football engagement for Penn State. Now, as I meant to talk about, as I was having that discussion with myself about the expectations for this season, again, Motty's the only guy who really knows what from one system to another what that really looks like. Transitioning from Joe Paterno to Bill O'Brien. And the only guy who can help Matt Campbell with this in his transition, you can't, I mean, obviously you're not going to look on James Franklin for advice. You could ask Bill O'Brien because, hey, it's kind of a little bit of a similar feel there. But the only guy who really understands it with the resources that he was also given, now it's a completely different age, of course, but Joe Paterno is the one man that he could really call upon. Because Bill O'Brien had his leaps and hurdles, and so did James Franklin. But it's good to have a guy like Michael Marty there, because hey, that's a guy who understands it. It's good to have Trace McSorley there and Dan Connor and Danton Lynn, which is a great defensive coordinator hire, and I'm sure Motty and Lynn have been able to reconnect, and I'm sure there's a lot of really good stuff, hopefully a lot of really good stuff that we're going to see from Lynn's defense coming up. But some other news and notes. Caleb Bacon, who's now heading into his sixth season. He's been getting reps at edge rusher. He is making the positional change from linebacker to edge rusher. He can be a potential game breaker and a real find here for Penn State as an edge rusher. He has six career sacks and 36 games played and 13 starts. He started all 12 last year for Iowa State. He also had nine and a half tackles for loss. Should be really interesting to see what Bacon can do in the position change. Looking elsewhere on the defensive line, Ikeena Isiago has looked good at edge rusher, and it looks like he'll be moving around the defensive line this year in a reserved role. Looking elsewhere now on the offensive side of the thing, offensive side of things, so we talked about rap. Now let's talk about the wide receiver room. Obviously, a wide receiver room that for Penn State has fallen on hard times in the last five or six seasons, I suppose. Brett Eskidson has shown flashes so far. One-on-one drill with Odavious Collins. He made a highlight reel catch. Eskidson is especially expected to probably be wide receiver one for Penn State, be Rocco Beck's top target. He started seven games last year for the Cyclones, had 30 catches for 526 yards and five touchdowns. It's expected. Eskidsen, Chase Sowell, who's also coming over from Iowa State, and Kobe Howard, a once top wide receiver recruit for James Franklin. Saw significant playing time at the end of last year, received high praise in that uh all too addressed or had to be addressed from athletic director Pat Kraft in that viral uh audio clip that was put out without obviously Krafts knowing, who spoke highly of Kobe Howard. It looks like it's gonna be Sewell, Eskidson, and Howard as the top wide receiver targets for Rocco Becht. Now, for Rocko Becht, his backup quarterback may be emerging right now before Matt Campbell's eyes. His redshirt freshman Alex Mansk has received high praise from Campbell, and it could be Mansk who will be backing up Becht to start the season. And hopefully we're gonna see uh Mansk and some of the other reserves really get some playing time and some significant playing time as hopefully Penn State will make quick work of their out-of-conference opponents to start the year. Now, more so on the trenches. Malachi Goodman, redshirt freshman. He has been impressive according to Campbell, the former five-star recruit according to 24-7 Sports, the 19th overall offensive tackle recruit in the country in 2025, is expected to be the starter for week one. Now, here's the thing that we talk about a lot about here on the trenches here. You'll if you're new to the podcast, you'll hear me talk about this a lot. I'm really going to be intrigued to see what Matt Campbell's going to do with the trenches for Penn State. We know that was really James Franklin's biggest shortcomings. In the trenches, Penn State could never match up with Ohio State. They never really could match up with Michigan. They weren't necessarily exposed against Notre Dame, but there were some clear issues there. There were also clear issues with other positions as well, specifically quarterback in a lot of those big games. We'll see how things develop. And I'm hoping that for the sake of Penn State football, as it looks to obtain and return back to being a national quote unquote powerhouse team of the teams that we saw in the eighties and the nineties, and where it looked like Penn State was just a tier below of getting to all those years under James Franklin. That is going to have to be the biggest foundation that Campbell is going to have to set. Now he does have, fortunately for him, he's got guys that he walks into a situation with like Malachi Goodman. You got Cooper Cousins there as well along the offensive line. You've got guys to draw from, Anthony Donco as well on the O-line. So hopefully that's gonna really serve well for Matt Campbell. We'll see where the defensive line comes along and things of that nature as well. So that'll do it for episode one here as we go over, we talk about, we give an overview and an outlook for where Penn State football is headed as we approach the 2026 football season. Thanks everyone for tuning in. And as always, we'll talk to you next time here on the Six Ten Podcast. As we'll be back with more Phillies, Eagles, Sixers, Flyers, and of course, Penn State football coverage throughout the month of August.