I'm Baaaaack!

Why hello there my fellow Nittany Lions!  Have you missed me?  I know that I promised to be here throughout the offseason, and I did not live up to that promise.  I’m sorry for that.  Unfortunately, my personal life has been… less than ideal.  Finding the time, and mindset to write about the relatively uninteresting aspects of the usually boring summer months has been difficult.  But since talking about Penn State football is one of the great joys of my life, continuing the blog just seemed like the right thing to do.  With that said, I'm not sure if you're aware, but today marks exactly *clears throat* ONE WEEK until Penn State football!  WOO HOO!!!

Now, since my coverage may be admittedly spotty this season, please allow me to recommend some ways to stay up to date with all things Penn State football in my absence.  First of all, follow me on social media, most notably Twitter (@PSUOptimus) and Facebook.  I try particularly hard to post things on Facebook with regular frequency, and obviously all of my blog updates will be posted there as well.  My second recommendation is to check out the following websites:

- Black Shoe Diaries

- Fight On State

- Onward State

- Victory Bell Rings

- Lions247 (part of 247Sports)

- PennLive

- StateCollege

If you’re like me and you enjoy podcasts more than reading articles, might I suggest the following for your listening pleasure (Penn State and general college football related):

- Keystone Sports Network

- Black Shoe Podcast

- Onward State Podcast

- The Solid Verbal

- Shutdown Fullcast (part of SBNation)

Ok, with that out of the way, let's get back to MY commentary on the Blue and White.  I'll start with a recruiting update.  James Franklin continues to impress on the trail as he assembles one of the best collections of talent in the country.  The 2016 class currently sits in the top 10 nationally, and 2nd in the Big Ten (behind defending National Champs Ohio State).  Although classes like the one Penn State signed in 2005 included higher profile names like Derrick Williams (the nations #1 recruit during that cycle) and Justin King, from top to bottom, this current class may go down as the best in school history (seriously).  Not only does it address critical needs and infuse blue-chip talent across nearly every position on the roster, but it will help solidify depth for years to come that has been sorely missing in recent seasons thanks to the NCAA sanctions.  My biggest take away is the shift in focus from fixing holes to building for the future.  After an impressive haul of offensive linemen in 2015, the coaching staff felt freed up to address the impending departure of stud DTs Anthony Zettel and Austin Johnson with the 2016 class.  5-star DE Shane Simmons highlights the defensive linemen as a whole (followed by fellow DE Daniel Joseph), but it's the 3 DTs behind them, each rated as 3-star or above, that should really have fans excited.  The common understanding in football is that games are won "in the trenches" and between last year's collection of offensive linemen, and this year's collection of defensive linemen, the trenches at PSU appear to be stacked.  Now let's just hope the wins begin to pile up too.

Moving on, what would a preseason post be without my official 2015 Season Prediction?  So let's get right to it!  The defense is already elite, and could actually be even better this year with improved depth and senior leadership at all 3 levels.  So the prevailing logic is that IF the offense can improve, this team could be extremely formidable.  However, I’m going to take it a step further and say, the offense WILL improve, significantly.  The line will benefit from an incredible influx of depth with 4 returning starters, 4 freshmen taking off their redshirts, a graduate transfer from Stanford, and the #1 Junior College OT transfer in the nation taking over for Donovan Smith.  Akeel Lynch is a better back than either Belton or Zwinak in my opinion, and he’ll get plenty more carries as the feature back this year.  Also keep an eye out for freshman sensation Saquon Barkley out of Whitehall, PA who should be first in line to backup Lynch and provide a change of pace.  The WR corps is another year older and more experienced, yet continues to add talent in redshirt freshman DeAndre Thompkins and 3 highly touted recruits.  All of the pieces are finally in place around 3 year starter Christian Hackenberg, who will finally be in the same offensive system for consecutive years.  There's no more room for excuses this year as the combination of talent + continuity should equal enough to allow the former 5-star recruit to finally live up to the hype and justify all the NFL talk.  With a soft schedule, lights out defense, and even a little offensive improvement, I think everything is setting up for a special season.  My prediction: 10-2 with losses to OSU and MSU and a trip to the Holiday Bowl in San Diego, CA to take on a PAC-12 team.  I've always wanted to visit Cali in winter!

Alright, as I referenced at the beginning of this post, I anticipate cutting back on my posting this year due to personal reasons.  However, the hope right now is that I'll be able to do at least 2 posts per game (prediction and wrap up) and maybe an occasional third post depending on the week.  So I hope you will all join me for what is shaping up to be a very interesting season.  Things kick off next Saturday at 3:30 pm in Philadelphia as the Nittany Lions travel to Lincoln Financial Field (home of the Philadelphia Eagles) to take on little brother Temple.  The game will be broadcast live on ESPN but I hope to be in the parking lot tailgating long before then.  Check back on Friday for the first prediction post of the season, and as always, go State!