Booger McFarland explains why 2023 was a good, not great year for Penn State

On the final College Football Playoff rankings reveal of the regular season, the Penn State Nittany Lions climbed back into the top 10 at No. 10. The Nittany Lions have positioned themselves well for a likely New Year’s Six Bowl appearance following their 42- 0 route of the Michigan State Spartans in Week 13.

While getting selected to a New Year’s Six Bowl game is nothing to scoff at, it is likely not the end to the season that Penn State and head coach James Franklin had envisioned to start the year. And that is why during the College Football Playoff Reveal Show on ESPN, college football expert Booger McFarland deemed the Nittany Lions 2023 campaign a good one but not a great one.

“No doubt about it, beating Michigan State, as James Franklin said, setting themselves up to potentially be in a New Year’s Six Bowl. [It was a] good year, not a great year because you can’t beat Michigan and Ohio State,” said McFarland.

Heading into the season, plenty of college football experts believed that this was the year that Penn State would rival Ohio State and Michigan for the Big Ten East crown and a potential shot at the conference title, along with the College Football Playoff.

Unfortunately, when Penn State needed a win against either of their upper echelon rivals, its offense fell flat on its face. In both games, Penn State’s offense struggled mightily, putting up 12 points against Ohio State and 15 against Michigan. Outside of those two contests, the Nittany Lions only scored less than 30 points one other time this season — their 27-6 victory over Rutgers in Week 12.

The struggles of the Penn State offense resulted in Franklin making a move at offensive coordinator, parting ways with former OC Mike Yurich following the abysmal performance by the Nittany Lions against Michigan. In his place, running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider and tight ends coach Ty Howle have assumed the play-calling duties.

Franklin and Penn State have plenty to give themselves a pat on the back for this year: they are a 10-win club and will likely play in a prestigious New Year’s Six Bowl game. But, at the end of the day, the finish does not meet the expectations set by the Nittany Lions originally. And those two losses to Ohio State and Michigan are to blame, which is why the year has been good but not great, according to McFarland.