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Soft schedule will help Lions’ record

UNIVERSITY PARK – A very favorable early season schedule has most of the media members who cover Penn State believing the team will get off to a good start and win eight or nine games this season.

Here’s a breakdown of the predictions:

Neil Rudel, Altoona Mirror – 9-3: “I think they’ll get off to a good start. To me, the real key games are the swing games like at Maryland, at Northwestern, and Michigan here.”

Philip Cmor, Altoona Mirror – 9-3: “Honestly, looking at the schedule, I wouldn’t be shocked at 10 wins. The first month and a half should give the young Lions a lot of time to gel; the Maryland, Illinois, Northwestern and Michigan games are all winnable.”

Cory Giger, Altoona Mirror – 9-3: “The soft schedule early on sets up for the team to build a lot of confidence. Once they get into the meat of the conference, we’ll find out how good this team is.”

Rich Scarcella, Reading Eagle 8-4: “I think the offensive line will be improved, but I think the kicking game will be an issue and that’ll cost them a few games.”

Mark Brennan, FightOnState – 9-3: “A very favorable schedule along with better across-the-board talent and depth will lead to a three-win regular-season improvement over 2014.”

Nate Bauer, BlueWhite Illustrated – 8-4: “All summer I’ve been predicting 7-5. I hate to do this, but this team and schedule are shaping up to exceed my expectations. I still see a ton of toss-up games, but this group is in a much better position to succeed in tight contests this time around.”

Bob Cohn, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review – 9-3: “It’s a pretty soft schedule. Every one of these [first six] teams is below their weight class, but will that prepare them for Ohio State? Every game is winnable, the question is, how winnable?”

Josh Moyer, ESPN – 9-3: “Penn State has a very favorable schedule. I don’t know if they’ll be better than Michigan this season, but I still think they’ll end up with a better record.”

David Jones, Patriot-News – 8-4: “I think they’ll stub their toe against somebody. Rutgers and Maryland both hate them, which is hard to deal with. It’s inevitable that they’ll drop an easy one, but their early schedule is so easy.”

Bob Flounders, Patriot-News – 8-4: “The Michigan State and the Ohio State games are definite losses to me I think they can win more but I also think theres going to be one non-conference game to bite them.”

Jacob Kaucher, WTAJ – 8-4: “I think they come out of the gate really strong. but I just feel like theres a few swing game losses that will sneak up on people.”

Joe Juliano, Philadelphia Inquirer – 8-4: “I think the non-conference schedule benefits them but the Big 10 competition will be very tough.”

Donnie Collins, Scranton Times-Tribune – 8-4: “It’s hard to predict because everyone else in the division is so good, and I think Penn State could be right there with them, but there are still some roster concerns.”

Derek LeVarse, Wilkes-Barres Times Leader – 8-4: “I think special teams will be a big deal and may cost them a few games.”

Mark Wogenrich, Allentown Morning Call – 8-4: “They have to take advantage of the first six games of the season.

Mike Gross, Lancaster Online – 8-4: “If the team is only slightly better than last year, then that will be enough to get an extra win or two. they have a lot of guys with experience now.”

Audrey Snyder, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – 8-4: “They’ve got a very soft schedule going into Columbus there’s a few toss-ups but the White Out game will be a great contest between Harbaugh and Franklin.”

Jordan Rodrigue, Centre Daily Times – 8-4: “They have a lot of returning experience, they’ll have depth at every position, and everyone has that chip on their shoulder.”

Frank Bodani, York Daily Record – 8-4: “A safer pick for a team with a breezy opening half of the schedule and more depth and experience … but still big questions. The biggest key is keeping Christian Hackenberg healthy and happy. Can a new left tackle on a shaky offensive line help make that happen?”

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