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Neil Rudel's Commentary

Nits’ top priority is to stop Illini run game

Some nitpicking as the Nittany Lions hit the road: n The strategy Illinois is likely to employ today against Penn State (noon, FOX) shouldn’t be a mystery. Bret Bielema has made his reputation by developing a strong run game behind a big offensive line, first at Wisconsin and now at Illinois. He’s 3-3 in his career vs. the Lions, 2-3 with the Badgers and 1-1 while guiding the Illini. Two years ago, facing seemingly no chance at Beaver Stadium, the Illini came in as 24-point underdogs and shocked Penn State, winning 20-18 in an unwatchable nine overtimes. It marked the ...

PSU point-counterpoint: What is your biggest reason for optimism with this team? (Rudel)

Allar has already elevated ceiling on Nits’ potential By Neil Rudel It really boils down to Drew Allar. Yes, Penn State has plenty of talent at nearly every position, but to get to the College Football Playoff, you need “The Guy.” Times have clearly changed since the Nittany Lions’ finest hour — beating Miami 14-10 for the national championship in 1986 — and nowadays it takes scoring 40 points to be crowned. And you can’t do that with John Shaffer at quarterback — nothing against Shaffer, who was the consummate winner and leader. You can’t even do it with, though ...

Allen, Warren showcase Lions’ depth

UNIVERSITY PARK — One of the biggest challenges for coaches of the most talented teams, be it football or basketball, is the fact that there is only one ball. That may have been on James Franklin’s mind last week as — unsolicited — he went out of his way to praise Kaytron Allen, an excellent back but someone who hasn’t received the preseason publicity of running mate Nick Singleton. Franklin opened his weekly press conference Tuesday by saying, “I just want to make sure that our fans and everybody that follows Penn State closely knows how fortunate and blessed we are to ...

Chance to see backup QBs this afternoon

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 ...

With college football expanding the playoffs, should the season be 11 games?

Right up front, this is Delaware week, and there are no slam-dunk topics. Cory and I both saw nothing overly flagrant about the late touchdown with six seconds left last week, which happened to cover the spread, but West Virginia had been using timeouts to prolong the game, and the Nittany Lions’ backups were in. So that was off the table. But what about this game? I’m sure you’re excited about it – if, that is, you were able to sell your tickets. And how many of you have a subscription to Peacock in order to see the game? Thought so. Maybe you can somehow pirate it from ...

Young QB Allar lives up to billing

UNIVERSITY PARK — James Franklin approached this season with the idea that he didn’t want first-year starting quarterback Drew Allar to shoulder too much of the load early. So much for the preseason plans. Largely because of Allar, the Nittany Lions controlled their season opener and ...