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By Neil Rudel
nrudel@altoonamirror.com
Some nitpicking as Penn State approaches one of three soft spots on its schedule (Northwestern and UMass are the others):
n The NCAA takes its share of flak for terminal lack of oversight -- or overreach -- but its rule of allowing football players to participate in as many as four games without losing the chance to redshirt is a good thing. And it could come into play for the Nittany Lions' matchup today with Delaware (noon, Peacock only). Penn State should overpower the Blue Hens pretty quickly, which could trigger a quarterback progression from Drew Allar to Beau Pribula and, by the fourth quarter, maybe true freshman Jaxon Smolik, which would give the fans who hang around something to keep an eye on.
n The Nits played five true freshmen against West Virginia -- DE Jameial Lyons, S King Mack, LB Tony Rojas and CBs Zion Tracy and Elliot Washington II. A couple of them were on the field when WVU punched in a late second touchdown.
n Neal Brown's comments about James Franklin permitting a final score with six seconds left, saying "at some point, it will come back around," were misguided given the circumstances (the Lions' second unit was in the game, and Brown had been calling timeouts). Brown will be fortunate to be around for when it could "come back around," and that will be determined by how the Mountaineers play this season.
n Penn State opens 2024 in Morgantown, which has night game written all over it.
n Some Penn State fans were turned off by Brown who, after the Nits were only penalized once for five yards, said, "Either they blocked the cleanest of anybody in the history of college football or there were some missed calls ... (There were) zero holding penalties."
n But were they turned off enough to pull for Pitt when the Panthers visit WVU next week?
N The biggest decision James Franklin faces vs. Delaware will be on the starting placekicker. Sander Sahaydak lost the No. 1 job during the WVU game by missing field goals from 38 and 34. Columbia transfer Alex Felkins was inserted and hit from 25. This is Sahaydak's third season in the program, and unless Franklin goes back to him today, his dreams could have ended in one half. Here's hoping he gets another chance, but with anything under 40, it could be a last chance as the No. 1.
N Clemson coach Dabo Swinney is taking a beating after the Tigers' mistake-filled loss at Duke on Monday night. Swinney has drawn a line in the sand against the transfer portal and NIL, and while many, including me, have reservations about the message both trends are sending, the reality is those who don't accept change are doomed to be defeated by it. Swinney was asked about the portal again this week and, of course, he said it had nothing to do with the Tigers' performance. Alrighty then.
N Against WVU, Penn State got positive contributions from these players who arrived via the transfer portal: Felkins, Malik McClain, Dante Cephas and, previously, Johnny Dixon.
N Considering he was a candidate for national defensive awards, Abdul Carter is off to a poor start. Two examples: 1) The disclosure this week that he was cited for marijuana possession for an incident Aug. 8; 2) He made just one tackle against the Mountaineers, and that didn't come until the fourth quarter.
N The Lions' highly-acclaimed defensive end "room" - at some point, the word "position" was replaced by "room" - accounted for zero sacks vs. West Virginia. More was expected from Chop Robinson, Adisa Issac and Dani Dennis-Sutton. In addition, the defensive front was vulnerable to the run, especially early.
N Penn State's unbeaten team of 1973 - the first team in college football history to go 12-0 - will be recognized today. Honorary captains vs. the Hens will be Mark Markovich and Ed O'Neil, two of the captains from that team, which, unfortunately, probably means Heisman Trophy winner John Cappelletti can't make it.
Rudel can be reached at nrudel@altoonamirror.com. He will respond to brief questions and comments in Gameday.