Penn State football at No. 1 in 2025: Why this national expert believes in James Franklin

Posted by author January 23, 2025 Football

Spread the love

Penn State football is starting to receive big-time props seven months before its next game.

Even “No. 1 ranking” big.

That’s what leading FOX Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt predicted Thursday as part of his “way-too-early Top 10 rankings” during his latest podcast episode.

Surely, the Nittany Lions, who won a school-record 13 games and just made a run to the College Football Playoff semifinals, will be a popular top-five pick among national prognosticators. They return many key pieces from their best team yet under coach James Franklin − from quarterback Drew Allar to 1,000-yard rushers Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen to star defensive linemen Dani Dennis-Sutton and Zane Durant.

And Klatt is bullish on Penn State for 2025.

In part, he said, it’s being able to follow a well-established plan of success around them. The one Michigan and Ohio State used to win the past two national titles.

“There is a clear blueprint in college football that has been now established over the last two years,” Klatt said in his podcast. “Everything runs in cycles, and right now the cycle is about veteran, experienced players. You got to have them, and it’s even more valuable when they come from your own program. When you can bring guys back to your program, and they know the drill, and they know the culture, and the culture of the team rests in those core players, you’ve got something special.”

His Penn State No. 1 details:

“Drew Allar has started 29 games, so he’s going to be one of the more experienced quarterbacks in college football. Singleton and Allen have started together since their freshman year, they’re now going to be in their fourth year. Four of five starters on the offensive line are back and they have depth, so they will be able to run the football to death.

“Year two with Andy Kotelnicki, everything he learned his first year as offensive coordinator at Penn State and operating with those specific players, is going to pay dividends.”

And while Klatt acknowledged the holes to fill at defensive end, linebacker and safety − and finding a new coordinator to run the show − he’s confident in reloading.

“What do we know about Penn State defensively? They’re always elite,” he said. “And I know and trust James Franklin will make the right (coordinator) hire because he has continued to make the right hire.”

Klatt’s No. 1 ranking does come with a caveat. He said these Lions must, finally, prove one last thing:

“Even in a run to the national semifinal they never beat a team they were even with. That was their big chance against Notre Dame, and they didn’t do it. They got to get over that hump. That’s the tipping point for James Franklin and Penn State.”

Frank Bodani covers Penn State football for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him at fbodani@ydr.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @YDRPennState.