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Penn State quarterback room dips in annual ESPN rankings

The Nittany Lions are a few spots down from where the 2022 QB room ranked.

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Drew Allar, 2023 QB rankings

STATE COLLEGE, PA — Ahead of every college football season, ESPN ranks the top quarterback rooms in the sport. Seeing as QB is the most important position on the field, this ranking is a pretty important indication of how a team’s offense will perform throughout the year — ESPN ranks the entire room, not just the team’s starting quarterback. This week, ESPN released its 2023 QB rankings, and the Nittany Lions — led by sophomore Drew Allar — found themselves a few spots lower than they did a season ago.

Where did Penn State football rank in 2022?

With Sean Clifford and Drew Allar headlining Penn State’s quarterback room in 2022, ESPN ranked the Nittany Lions at No. 11 nationally a season ago. After winning the Rose Bowl and finishing 11-2 overall, Penn State football lost two of its three QBs from the 2022 room — Sean Clifford is graduating, and Christian Veilleux has entered the transfer portal.

With only Drew Allar remaining from last year’s room, many thought that this preseason dip in the rankings was inevitable; after all, no one has truly seen Allar or Pribula play ball yet.

Where do Drew Allar and Penn State fall in the 2023 QB rankings?

This year, Penn State comes in at No. 15 nationally in the 2023 QB rankings — just four spots down from last year’s rankings despite losing 2/3 of the room and a veteran starting quarterback. With the nation’s No. 1 recruit from 2022 — Drew Allar — at the helm this year, Penn State fans are hoping for much bigger and better than what the program got under Sean Clifford.

Behind Drew Allar is fellow sophomore Beau Pribula, who has been turning heads during spring ball this far, and could find himself a stand alone role on the Penn State offense this year. According to James Franklin, his most attractive trait is that he boasts an opposite skillset than what Sean Clifford and Drew Allar have.

Behind Pribula at QB3 is true freshman Jackson Smolik.

What is the expectation for Allar & Co. this year?

After four years of Sean Clifford, all Penn State fans are ready to turn the page. While Clifford’s teams had some great seasons — such as 2019 and 2022 which both won 11 games and New Year’s Six bowls — he was never enough to get the Nittany Lions to the next level. Now, Penn State needs to get more from the massive Drew Allar and his counterparts.

As I have written before, the Penn State Nittany Lions do not need Allar to be elite in 2023 to make the CFP. That being said, if Penn State wants to win a national title, elite is the only thing that can be expected of Drew Allar. We will know a lot more about this year’s offense on September 2nd when Penn State kicks off its 2023 season at home against West Virginia; for now, the expectations for Allar and Co. are all over the place.



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FOOTBALL

Penn State football defenders respond to statement performance

The Penn State football defense sent a statement to everyone in the country last night with their performance.

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Penn State football, Adisa Isaac, defensive unit, Manny Diaz
Penn State's Adisa Isaac celebrates after recovering a fumble during a White Out football game against Iowa Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023, in State College, Pa. The Nittany Lions shut out the Hawkeyes, 31-0.

The Penn State football defense has been elite early on this season. Against Illinois, they forced five turnovers including four interceptions. Then, last night on the national stage the defensive unit shut out Iowa 31-0. They also caused another four turnovers last night, all came from forced fumbles. So, that’s 9 turnovers caused in the past two games, Manny Diaz has this group dialed in. After the game, we caught up with Adisa Isaac and others who shared their thoughts on this statement performance.

Penn State football defenders respond to statement performance

Defensively, Penn State allowed 76 total yards of offense, total domination from start to finish. Iowa finished the night averaging 1.2 yards per rushing attempt. This unit understood the assignment on Saturday night and they took care of business. We asked Adisa Isaac about his thoughts on this statement performance.

Isaac said, “We have a dominant defense. That shouldn’t be no secret but I feel like we just showed in a shutout against a ranked opponent that we have some stuff that’s flowing and it’s only going to get better.”

He wasn’t the only one. After the game star linebacker, Abdul Carter tweeted “BEST DEFENSE IN THE COUNTRY!!!! #WEARE.”

It shows the energy and the confidence that this unit is starting to play with. It’s at the perfect point in the season for Manny Diaz to have this defensive unit firing on all cylinders. As for Iowa offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz, he will have to pick up the pace on his lofty goal of scoring 25 points per game. After the Penn State loss, Iowa is only averaging 21.25 points per game.

The pass rush got home

One of the questions James Franklin was asked earlier this week surrounded the topic of lack of stats from star defenders. One of those players was potential 2024 first-round pick Chop Robinson who picked up his first sack of the season. This was also a strip sack where Robinson caused a turnover. Amin Vanover and Adisa Isaac also collected sacks against Iowa last night.



Thank you for reading Basic Blues Nation. Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest news and insights on your favorite Penn State athletics. For feedback, questions, concerns, or to apply for a writing position, please email us at [email protected] or direct message us on our social media. Also, be sure to check out our new site shop. It’s due to your support that we can become one of the market’s fastest-growing Penn State sports outlets!

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BREAKING: Penn State football lands 4-star LB, top 100 player nationally

Penn State lands top 100 nationally ranked linebacker DJ McClary after the whiteout weekend.

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Penn State football, DJ McClary, 2025 recruiting
Sep 23, 2023; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin shakes the hands of invited recruits upon the team’s arrival prior to the game against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Beaver Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O'Haren-USA TODAY Sports

The whiteout is one of the biggest weekends for the Penn State football team. Not only because of the game that was played. But arguably more importantly, it allows Penn State to showcase its greatness to recruits. The atmosphere, the fans, the community, all of these elements factor into a player’s decision to commit to Penn State. James Franklin made sure that he thanked each player and parent after the game as well for making it to State College. Now, DJ McClary has made his decision to join the 2025 recruiting class for the Nittany Lions.

Penn State football lands 4-star LB, top 100 player nationally

Earlier this week, a crystal ball was placed by 247sports Brian Dohn for DJ McClary to land at Penn State. Now, McClary has made his decision to play his college football at Linebacker U. McClary is a four-star recruit and he is a top-100 recruit in the 2025 recruiting class according to 247sports composite rankings. He is from Jersey City, New Jersey, and chose Penn State over Ohio State, USC, Tennesee, Michigan, and several other schools.

DJ McClary is currently the 3rd highest-rated player in New Jersey and is a massive addition to the 2025 recruiting class at Penn State. James Franklin is hopeful that this is one of many commitments that will result from the 31-0 victory over Iowa. After watching the defense last night, how would you not want to play linebacker at Penn State?

Re-racking the 2025 recruiting class

After recently losing Jaelyne Matthews to a de-commitment this is how the 2025 recruiting class is shaping up for Penn State. Four-star RB KiAndrea Barker, three-star S Omari Gaines, and now DJ McClary.

The Nittany Lions are optimistic that they can land four-star running back Tiqwai Hayes who will make his decision tomorrow.



Thank you for reading Basic Blues Nation. Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest news and insights on your favorite Penn State athletics. For feedback, questions, concerns, or to apply for a writing position, please email us at [email protected] or direct message us on our social media. Also, be sure to check out our new site shop. It’s due to your support that we can become one of the market’s fastest-growing Penn State sports outlets!

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FOOTBALL

JUST IN: Penn State football moves up in the latest AP Poll

The Penn State football team has received its next set of rankings in the latest AP Poll.

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Penn State foootball, AP Poll, James Franklin,
Penn State quarterback Drew Allar prepares to throw a 3-yard touchdown pass to KeAndre Lambert-Smith during a White Out football game against Iowa Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023, in State College, Pa. The Nittany Lions shut out the Hawkeyes, 31-0.

The Penn State football team is coming off one of its more dominating performances in recent history. Defeating the No.24 ranked Iowa Hawkeyes 31-0. Not only did Penn State shut out Iowa, but they also controlled the entire game in all three phases. James Franklin and his coaching staff had this team prepared to go to battle last night and they did just that. Now, that the game is past us, it’s time for the next set of rankings in the AP Poll to be released.

Penn State football moves up in the latest AP Poll

Penn State entered the matchup against Iowa as the No. 7 team in the AP Poll. Obviously, the Nittany Lions took care of business and have shown that they can be one of the best teams in the country. But around the country, many teams held their own.

Ohio State went into South Bend as the No. 6 ranked team. The Buckeyes defeated No. 9 Notre Dame 17-14 on a last-second rushing touchdown. This has boosted their ranking as the Buckeyes are now the No. 4 ranked team. Penn State will get their chance to defeat the Buckeyes on October 21st when they travel to Columbus, Ohio.

This week, Penn State received the No. 6 ranking in the AP Poll. It’s challenging to move up the AP Poll when no chaos occurs ahead of your team. That’s the position that Penn State has found themselves up to this point. But now, with Ohio State and Penn State taking care of business they were able to move up. The Washington Huskies are closely trailing Penn State and they’re certainly another team that we need to keep an eye on moving forward.

Nittany Lions next challenge

Penn State hits the road again next weekend. They will face a hungry Northwestern team. This will be another 11 a.m. central time kickoff for the Penn State football team. James Franklin will need to get his team motivated to play in this next conference challenge. The Wildcats are coming off of an overtime upset victory over Minnesota. The matchup will appear on Big Ten Network (BTN) next Saturday.



Thank you for reading Basic Blues Nation. Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest news and insights on your favorite Penn State athletics. For feedback, questions, concerns, or to apply for a writing position, please email us at [email protected] or direct message us on our social media. Also, be sure to check out our new site shop. It’s due to your support that we can become one of the market’s fastest-growing Penn State sports outlets!

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