Greg McElroy shares how close Penn State is to winning national championship
Greg McElroy did not rule out Penn State as a national title contender in 2023 or within the near future.
The Nittany Lions won the Rose Bowl last season, despite losing to Ohio State and Michigan in the regular season. Other than the two College Football Playoff participants, Penn State and James Franklin beat everyone on the schedule.
After bouncing back from 2021, Franklin and Penn State might be on the shortlist of title contenders this fall.
“Penn State would be a team that has been close before and has at many points in James Franklin’s tenure,” McElroy said on Always College Football. “They have gone toe to toe with Ohio State. Now I know that they haven’t always necessarily won the games, but they have been competitive and compared to the rest of the Big Ten East, not named Michigan the last couple of years, they’ve played them closer than pretty much anybody.
“So Penn State has gone toe to toe against top tier competition before they’ve won Rose Bowls. They’ve played really, really high level football at times. They would be a team that I think could go over the hump very soon. If they get the quarterback position situated.”
Franklin did not shy away from Penn State’s preseason media accolades in the spring after a great ending to the 2022 campaign.
Top 10
- 1Breaking
DJ Lagway
Florida QB to return vs. LSU
- 2
Dylan Raiola injury
Nebraska QB will play vs. USC
- 3
Elko pokes at Kiffin
A&M coach jokes over kick times
- 4New
SEC changes course
Alcohol sales at SEC Championship Game
- 5
Bryce Underwood
Michigan prepared to offer No. 1 recruit $10.5M over 4 years
Just as coaches do, he kept it in the present and only focused on one thing at a time.
Penn State ended with a Rose Bowl victory over Utah, signaling to some that the Nittany Lions could gear up for a Big Ten and College Football Playoff run this fall. Franklin didn’t buy into any preseason hype.
“That’s what everybody does in the offseason,” Franklin said. “You know, again, we finished the season well, we got a ton of talented players coming back. We still have some question marks. But that’s what the offseason is about those types of conversations. I get it. We’re just trying to get better today. I thought we had a good practice today. We got to be ready to play well against West Virginia and see where it takes us.”
After back-to-back seasons where Penn State did not quite meet expectations, Franklin and company won 11 games for the first time since 2019. At that time, Penn State had three 11-win seasons in four years, including a Big Ten title.