Penn Stated: Talking Penn State Football with Donnie Collins

After the bye week, Penn Stated podcast hosts Donnie Collins (Scranton Times-Tribune) and Sam Fremin (Citizens Voice) return with plenty to discuss as the No. 6 Nittany Lions host UMass on Saturday.
Most of it, they freely admit, is absolute nonsense.
Head coach James Franklin's comments on nonconference scheduling made quite a national stir this week - centered in especially sensitive Michigan, as usual - but Donnie and Sam discuss whether it's much ado about nothing, the sign of things to come that might not be the best thing for college football, or both.
Of course, since everyone is talking about it, they discuss how a badly worded question at a press conference can still be a good question about what the future might hold for Penn State's offense.  Even if it makes Franklin's skin curl.
And, they spend the second segment bantering about their own hot takes on Penn State, the Big Ten and the college football world. 
Does Sam think James Franklin can ever win a national championship?
What does Donnie think is the worst division in major college football?
And, is college football as a whole really going down a path that's better than the one that hardly ever provided the nation with a definitive champion?
All that and more on this week's Penn Stated.

To contact Donnie, drop an email at [email protected], or send him a message on Twitter @PennStateTT.

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Penn State's defense so thoroughly dominated Iowa in the White Out last week, the numbers were difficult to believe. 
The helpless Hawkeyes went three-and-out -- or worse -- on eight of their 10 drives. They gained 2 total yards from the end of the first quarter until a garbage-time drive in the fourth. 
In a clinic on how creative, how explosive, the Nittany Lions can be, the question remains: Did the Nittany Lions set an impossible standard against a confused and overwhelmed Iowa team that came into the game unbeaten with a No. 24 ranking?
Penn Stated co-hosts Donnie Collins and Sam Fremin discuss whether there's possibly more big things coming with a Nittany Lions defense that has forced nine turnovers in the last eight quarters of football this season. With the innovative Manny Diaz calling the shots and a talented corps of youngsters like Chop Robinson, Adisa Isaac and Abdul Carter implementing them, anything seems possible right now for the Nittany Lions defense.
Donnie and Sam also talk about the Penn State receiving corps and its yet-undisplayed ability to make big plays, and there's a spirited debate about which team is the best in the Big Ten West division.
They also talk about much more pressing matters, like nicknames and coffee. 

To contact Donnie, drop an email at [email protected], or send him a message on Twitter @PennStateTT.

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Penn State-Iowa might be the second-most important rivalry in the Big Ten these days, and this weekend, it gets the White Out treatment at Beaver Stadium.
On this week's episode of the Penn Stated football podcast, hosts Donnie Collins and Sam Fremin discuss the potential for this matchup to be an emotional one after their charged 2021 matchup. Of what two games from the past did that one remind Donnie and Sam, and do they think head coach James Franklin won't give what happened that night at Kinnick Stadium a second thought this week?
They also broke down the 30-13 win over Illinois last Saturday. The defense was dominant, but what position on the offense concerned them the most?
And for good measure, Donnie and Sam delved into that ever-pressing question: If James Franklin were for some reason to leave Penn State at the end of the season -- which isn't going to happen, so stop even thinking about it -- should the Nittany Lions consider bringing Deion Sanders in to run the show?

To contact Donnie, drop an email at [email protected], or send him a message on Twitter @PennStateTT.

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He is a team captain.
A walk-on turned scholarship recipient.
A special teams maven.
A valuable linebacker who someday may be a starter.
But most of all, Wyoming Area grad Dominic DeLuca is "a nice guy."
That's a rare compliment in football, but teammates say DeLuca's attitude has helped unite the team and make him one of the most respected members of the locker room.
So this week, on the Penn Stated podcast, hosts Donnie Collins and Sam Fremin talk about the value DeLuca's outlook on his own career and the game has on the team, and the adulation he has received from his Pick-6 in the win over Delaware last weekend.
Donnie and Sam also debate:

• The potential pitfalls -- if there are any, of course -- of inserting different players in the starting lineup and playing more and more players on a weekly basis. 
• Head coach James Franklin's insistence that defensive coordinators should be prepared for backup quarterback Beau Pribula to play more when the game is on the line. Sure, he can run and is off to a nice start in relief. But is taking the ball out of Drew Allar's hands really what the Nittany Lions should be doing?
• What are AP Poll voters telling Penn State by moving teams ranked behind them ahead of them in back-to-back polls?
• The winners of the weekly Penn Stated Unsung MVP awards on offense, defense and special teams.

All this and more on the latest Penn Stated.

To contact Donnie, drop an email at [email protected], or send him a message on Twitter @PennStateTT.

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So...Drew Allar lived up to the hype.
Penn State's prized sophomore threw for 325 yards in his first career start and led the Nittany Lions to victory last Saturday against West Virginia. That didn't surprise hosts Donnie Collins and Sam Fremin, who talked in this week's episode of the Penn Stated podcast about what impressed them most about Allar's performance.
But, there was much more to dissect from the opener, including the somewhat controversial -- at least from West Virginia coach Neal Brown's perspective -- late touchdown scored on backup quarterback Beau Pribula's lone drive. Was that criticism justified, or just ridiculous?
Donnie and Sam also break down the performance of Penn State's highly touted defense and whether the Mountaineers' relative success running the ball Saturday might be a harbinger of issues to come for the Nittany Lions down the road.
Plus, find out who Donnie and Sam thought were the biggest surprises of the game, on both sides of the ball. Donnie also lists his Hidden Heroes of the week.

To contact Donnie, drop an email at [email protected], or send him a message on Twitter @PennStateTT.

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The 2023 season is just a few days away, and plenty is going to change for Penn State. 
What shouldn't is what should be clear by now.
Hosts Donnie Collins and Sam Fremin discuss the No. 7 Nittany Lions' season opener on this week's edition of the Penn Stated podcast, with a focus on the should-be starting quarterback Drew Allar and what he potentially brings to the offense. Do Donnie and Sam think the former five-star prospect can actually start off strong and be a catalyst against West Virginia?
Other topics on the agenda include the Big Ten's long-overdue policy requiring teams to release pregame availability data -- and why Donnie thinks this will be a sad goodbye to the halcyon days of the overly paranoid head coaches around college football. 
Donnie and Sam also discuss not just how West Virginia can pull off an upset, but whether it seems likely.

To contact Donnie, drop an email at [email protected], or send him a message on Twitter @PennStateTT.

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On Sept. 2, Penn State will storm onto Beaver Stadium for its home opener against West Virginia with a promising young offense that, someday, might be among the best in the nation.
They also enter facing a much less enticing reality. That "someday" could be further down the road, while their best shot to claim a national championship is the one that stands directly in front of them, led by a defense that is ready to be counted with the nation's best.
On this week's return of Penn Stated, host Donnie Collins and guest Sam Fremin of The Citizens Voice break down some of the bigger issues surrounding not just the 2023 season, but the program itself. How should Penn State -- and yes, its fans -- measure success this fall? What could this team be? And, more realistically, what is it?
They'll debate which game Penn State is more likely to win in the season series against Big Ten powers Ohio State and Michigan, and discuss whether any result outside of a College Football Playoff berth is going to be satisfactory enough for those who think the Nittany Lions' time has come.
Donnie also breaks down the state of the quarterback competition between Drew Allar and Beau Pribula, along with a rundown of the Northeast Pennsylvania players on the roster and their potential impacts this season.

To contact Donnie, drop an email at [email protected], or send him a message on Twitter @PennStateTT.

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There's a lot to talk about around the Penn State football program as June settles in, and Penn Stated host Donnie Collins hits on the biggest topics in this week's episode.

• Adjustments to the schedule make for a rather historic broadcast of an otherwise run-of-the-mill game against Delaware.
• A big recruiting weekend draws three solid prospects to Happy Valley and nets verbal commitments from each of them. What does that say about the state of the program right now?
• An intriguing prospect who signed as part of the 2023 recruiting class is no longer with the team. 
• And head coach James Franklin's comments on expected starting quarterback Drew Allar in an ESPN article published early in the week should draw plenty of attention -- and maybe even some concern -- from Penn State fans. Find out why Donnie thinks the Nittany Lions might be putting too much of the focus on their sophomore quarterback.

All that and more in this week's episode of Penn Stated.

To contact Donnie, drop an email at [email protected], or send him a message on Twitter @PennStateTT.

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It's the third week in May, about the halfway point from the last Penn State football game at the Rose Bowl on Jan. 2 to the opener Sept. 2 against West Virginia at Beaver Stadium.

But finally, the real 2023 Penn State football roster is starting to take shape.

On this week's episode of Penn Stated, host Donnie Collins talks about some of the news around the program this week. That includes the White Out Game schedule against Iowa, and the official enrollment of several transfer portal additions and members of the 2023 recruiting class. Which of them means the most for the Nittany Lions this coming season?

Donnie also discusses how the transfer portal has led to long-term roster management success for Penn State, where other schools have used it more as a quick fix. That was never more evident than this week, when Penn State landed a commitment from a freshman cornerback out of the portal that has Donnie intrigued.

To contact Donnie, drop an email at [email protected], or send him a message on Twitter @PennStateTT.

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It's as quiet a time as you're going to get around the Penn State football program, with spring practices over, summer camps a few weeks from being started, preseason camp a few months away and the season opener another month after that.
But there's still plenty to guess about when it comes to the future.
This week on the Penn Stated football podcast, host Donnie Collins discusses the recent announcement that the Nittany Lions will host West Virginia in a primetime game on Sept. 2, marking NBC's primetime debut broadcasting Big Ten games.
It's a big event, but could it be the biggest event of the season: Penn State's White Out game?
Donnie discusses that possibility, and the challenges of otherwise having the annual spectacle during a primetime game. If not West Virginia, what opponent would be the best to perhaps schedule as the White Out? That answer might surprise you.
So, too, will be the one thing Donnie hopes might stay somewhat the same -- although, he knows it won't -- about Beaver Stadium after a just-approved $700 million renovation project to the facility is completed by 2027 (or at some point thereafter, the way these construction projects tend to go).

To contact Donnie, drop an email at [email protected], or send him a message on Twitter @PennStateTT.

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