Penn State Schedule Prediction

One of the things that has become readily apparent going through this story is the fact nobody - more than usual - knows anything. You can guess the contours of a team, but a complete roster overhaul, a new coaching staff and a lot of outright unknowns makes “what do you think will happen in November” a big fat guess.

So sure, let’s just guess.

On paper I do think you can assume a few things. Penn State is going to enter the season with a long established coach/quarterback relationship and head into the season with options - but somewhat unproven ones - at most offensive positions. The line should be fine, but might take a bit to come together. The defense will be anchored around Tony Rojas but without obvious big names up front.

What does that all work out to be? Probably a 10 win team with this schedule.

WIN Sept. 5 Marshall (Home) [Loss Threat: Small]

A different version of this game would have put James Franklin up against former assistant Charles Huff, but Franklin is gone and Huff is currently in his first year as the head coach at Memphis after a stop at Southern Miss.

Penn State has had its fair share of Week 1 scares over the years but that usually requires the other teams to be any good. Marshall is not particularly good so we’re going to operate under the assumption that whatever Week 1 issues Penn State has, its talent will overcome those against a team like Marshall.

WIN Sept. 12 Temple (Away) [Loss Threat: Small]

Temple has been waiting to make the most of another home game against Penn State after knocking off the Nittany Lions in 2015. Temple has always been this “what if?” program within the state but the Owls have never been able to make the most of the momentum Al Golden and Matt Rhule generated. This game always stands to be one of those emotional regional rivalry contests that can make things closer than they should be, but this shouldn’t be close when it’s all said and done.

WIN Sept. 19 Buffalo (Home) [Loss Threat: Small]

There was a time when Buffalo looked like one of those sneaky mid major programs that would never make the playoffs but always give "good” teams a run for their money. Those days are largely behind Buffalo but MAC programs are always down to make things challenging. If Penn State has gotten through the first two weeks and has gotten better each subsequent week, this isn’t the game to worry about when it’s all said and done. Buffalo went 9-4 in 2024 but has won eight total games in the season prior and season after.