Penn State recruits believe in preseason championship hype

Penn State has championship-level expectations in the 2025 season. 

Coach James Franklin’s program is coming off a 13-3 (8-1) season where they won a pair of College Football Playoff games before falling to Notre Dame in the semifinals by a field goal.

Penn State has to replace all-world tight end Tyler Warren this season and see if it fixes the wide receiver issues that plagued it last season. But trendy NFL Draft prospect Drew Allar returns at quarterback along with running backs Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton. The threat of that one-two punch at running back will keep defenses somewhat honest. 

Penn State enters the season at No. 2 in the polls so it really is going to be all about if James Franklin can get over the hump. The Nittany Lions have the 16th best recruiting class in the country right now which is good for 5th in the Big Ten.

Four-star offensive lineman Kevin Brown is the jewel of the class. He thinks the program is poised to make an even deeper run. 

“They have everything they need to win it all,” Brown said. “They need to focus and compete every day while staying injury free and healthy.

“Coach Franklin runs a tight ship–super efficient and competitive. No better guy for the job than him!”

Penn State beat out Stanford and Wake Forest to land rising offensive lineman Ben Eziuka. The Michigan native went into great detail on what Penn State needs to do to get over the hump.

“I think they have everything they need this year to win,” Eziuka said. “And they are more motivated than ever being so close to the national championship and getting all those seniors and returners back that came back to win a natty shows how serious the team is about it. They just need to finish. 

“Finish drives, finish games and finish the job. Last year they were right there and at the last second self inflicted wounds cost them an opportunity to play for a natty. This year they just got to stay focused throughout the game and never let up and they will easily get the job done!”

Tight end Pierce Petersohn has the look of the next big thing at tight end for Penn State. The Minnesota native thinks the preseason predictions for Penn State are dead on. 

“I think Penn State has definitely earned the attention,” Petersohn said. “Guys wanted to return that could’ve left to the NFL Draft. Then they maintained the roster and didn’t lose a bunch of guys to the portal. As a commit that’s a good sign, guys want to stay at PENN STATE! 

“It’s pretty cool to hear talks about the national championship but just focusing on one game at a time. As I mentioned they have a good roster, but the games are not played on paper so they gotta go out and execute!”

Expectations may be the highest they’ve been since Franklin arrived at Penn State. The final hurdle for him and the program is winning the national championship. The quest begins Aug. 30 against Nevada.