Welcome back to our football season mailbag! I’m going to start off this mailbag with a statement on the betting line for the new Penn State regime’s first game in the blue and white, and how astounding I find it – at the writing of this post, it’s PSU by 24.5. This baffles me; this is a new team, a new staff, and they’re up against a team that could be the cream of the Sun Belt crop and actually won that conference two seasons ago. I’ll be happy with a double digit victory, and have completely tempered my expectations.

What, if anything, would make you stop cheering for Penn. St.?–LionsfanAllan

At this point in my life, I’m not sure anything would. It’s sort of the sunk cost fallacy after 45 years of fandom.

What would you consider success for season 1 under Matt Campbell? What are you most looking forward to?–JMO-PSU

Truly, the jury’s still out for me on this. I’m willing to give a lot more grace in year one than I think many fans are (especially with the VERY favorable schedule), and as long as we’re respectable and don’t have off-field issues, it’s almost going to be a wash for me.

This year, and the results on and off the field, can absolutely lay the groundwork for future success (or catastrophic failure). So in that respect, I guess, landing a better recruiting class will be a success, and most likely at least 8 wins will be needed to do that. But if we don’t make 8 wins (spoiler: I think that’s probably close to our floor, at least how it looks right now), then the botched coaching search that stumbled into a very good hire is going to appear worse and worse.

Hey. Welcome back Cari.

In a season full of question marks, what is the biggest one Penn State faces this season?

Ever been to Santa Fe? I have lived all over the place and there is nothing quite like it.–Jiminsantafe

Oh gosh, the biggest one? Probably how the team and the staff react to a much bigger stage.

Any time there’s a coaching staff, the new staff’s folks need to meld with the old staff’s folks (on and off the field) but that probably won’t be as big of a deal here, just given the number of men who came with Matt Campbell from ISU. So instead of that, I’m going for the big stage theory – Beaver Stadium is double the size of the stadium in Ames, and the fan base has very different expectations. How do the players (and the staff) react to that? Terry Smith and D’anton Lynn (and the other lettermen blissfully still on staff) can only prepare them so much.

And I haven’t been to New Mexico at all, as a matter of fact! I’m sure I’d love it, both the weather (dry means fewer migraines) and the vibes.

Why does every picture of Rocco Becht look like he should be the lead singer of a Christian rock band?–ckmneon

I literally laughed out loud while reading this question.

I’m attending the stripe out and havent been to a game in a long, long time. I have a few questions. where is the best place to park i plan on staying a bit, so a walk isnt a problem? how early should i plan on getting there (from western PA)? If/when i crash Smees tailgate, should i bring a rye or a straight bourbon?–Gestaltshift

Since it’s a 3:30 game, I’d say definitely get there well before noon – I think my crew will be in the tailgate lots ourselves before 9.

As for where to park, the most convenient option may be to park downtown (or where one of the CATA shuttles runs if you’re not planning on hanging out much after the game). If you are going to tailgate after the game, or head downtown, then the West Deck or Nittany Deck on campus (or if you’re to campus closer to 10 than noon, the East or Eisenhower Decks) would be a good option.

Admittedly as I don’t drink anymore I am not prepared to weigh in on your last question, but based on the responses Smee had to other commenters’ suggestions, scotch sounds like a good bet.

Which of the outgoing Penn State transfers would be starting for the 2026 Penn State Nittany Lions. I am limiting it to players that transferred this off season. Here’s a list excluding players that made a move down to FCS or Group of 6 schools or are pretty obviously not starter material.

Ethan Grunkenmeyer – QB – Virginia Tech
Jabree Coleman – RB – South Carolina
Jeff Exinor – WR – Virginia Tech
Tyseer Denmark – WR – Virginia Tech
Matt Outten – WR – Syracuse
Luke Reynolds – TE – Virginia Tech
Matt Henderson – TE – Virginia Tech
Andrew Olesh – TE – Oregon
T.J. Shanahan – OL – Florida
Eagan Boyer – OL – Florida
Michael Troutman – OL – Virginia Tech
Chaz Coleman – DE – not sure where he is, it was Tennessee
Daniel Jennings – DE – Virginia Tech
Zuriah Fisher – DE – USC
Xavier – Gillam – DT – Tennessee
Jaylen Harvey – DE – North Carolina
Cortez Harris – DE – Virginia Tech
Mylachi Williams – DL – Virginia Tech
Randy Adirika – DT – Virginia Tech
Keon Wyle – LB – Virginia Tech
Anthony Speca – LB – Purdue
DaKaari Nelson – LB – NC State
Amare Campbell – LB – Tennessee
Elliot Washington – CB – Clemson
A.J. Harris – CB – Indiana
King Mack – S – NC State
Antoine Belgrave-Shorter – S – Arizona State
Kenny Woosley – S – Virginia Tech
DeJuan Lane – CB – Tennessee

–Gerry Dincher

I honestly am not sure that there’s any real locks to start on this list. The best bets, in m opinion, would probably be Amare Campbell or Zuriah Fisher; in January I would have had Chaz Coleman at the top of this list, but boy, who knows what’s going on with that kid.

Others that would contend for starting roles would probably be King Mack, Dejuan Lane, and Luke Reynolds. Looking at this list, though, I’m struck at the lack of offensive players on it – that offense truly was stocked with vets last year, and it’s borderline criminal what happened to all that talent.

Here’s another take: Given reasonable success this season, how many of these former Staters consider returning?–ljdevine

I’m sure there’s a few, especially those (most of them) who went to programs that, on paper, aren’t anywhere near as prestigious as Penn State.

I already made a $20 bet, straight up with a Michigan fan on the game this year, what are my chances for a couple days of free drinking at my local bar?–BMAN13

Slim to none, I’m afraid. That’s easily the toughest game on our schedule, and the odds are low that we walk out with a win.

I caused the 2015 Temple game disaster by serving soft tortillas. Sounds odd, but through extensive research they were the only thing different. Hard tacos and of course tortillas chips were regular gameday staples beforehand, so it seems that cooking gets rid of the bad juju.

Since then I have scoured the house and removed them early on in game week. I kind of gave up last year and didn’t remove them starting with the game against Sparty, and of course Penn State ran the table. I’m at a crossroads in my superstitions and I don’t know what road to take.–mattinglywasking

SO IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT!

It’s not that our offensive line was swiss cheese and Christian Hackenberg looked like a deer in headlights while the owls rushed only three defensive linemen. It was mattinglywasking!

Listen, I’ve always been a proponent of the fan theory that “it’s only weird if it doesn’t work,” so please, you do you. But this is a new year and a new staff, and Temple has seemingly reverted more to the mean than they were back when former Penn Staters were at the helm. So I think you’ll be fine either way; maybe don’t go out of your way to buy soft tortillas, but don’t hunt them down to discard them either.

What part of the game experience are you most looking forward to this year, and it any different from past years?–48-14

Some of my favorite things are seeing the starting lineup on the big screen, the band coming out (and doing the floating lion), and singing the alma mater as I walk out hearing before the victory bell is rung. That’s not going to change this year, unless they’ve changed those things (that all predated Franklin).

whats your go to food and drink in the stadium–jim from boise

I typically only get water in the stadium – these are the perks of having a very stocked tailgate pretty close to one of the stadium gates.

Do you think the 5 yr play plan will help build more experience for future year teams with more true freshmen able to play all year and in any blow out? (or does the portal just cancel that?)–BMAN13

I think it will help, especially for coaches to be able to show freshmen that they’ll get playing time early.

I think it already had an impact on the Penn State volleyball team – on Sunday’s second game of the season, four true freshman saw significant playing time, including a true freshman setter than absolutely won’t be starting despite her talent (and in fact didn’t play in Sunday evening’s game).

So many athletes, in all sports and programs, come in far readier to play nowadays than they used to, and they’re looking for a place where they can see the court, field, or ice early. The five year rule absolutely assists with that.

Thoughts/feelings on Virginia Tech this season…are you rooting for them? Against them? Don’t really care?–vern05

I simply do not care (though I do think it will be interesting to watch the UVA-VT game later this season, after watching Beau Pribula’s performance in week 0).

Say what you want about NIL, but I think it will be a bad thing for PSU in the long run. Sure, you could have someone like Terry Pegula or some other rich folks striping checks every year but other schools in Texas, Florida or California have more of those people to match and exceed what PSU can generate due to the fact that PSU is not in an urban area and it traditionally (at least in the press) did not pay players. Pat Kraft (love him or hate him) will try his best to shake down enough alumni and corporate sponsors but (I feel) his pond is not overly deep compared to schools closer to larger population centers.–LarzLion

I don’t think the current state will last very long before there are more regulations and rules in place that will level the playing field a little more – especially if the SEC and other southern teams aren’t able to win the national title again this year. So while I see where you’re coming from (and I don’t agree or disagree), I’m not sure that it will matter too much longer.

With the new 5-year eligibility rules, does Necessary Roughness now become the best football movie ever made?–seemsez

Sure, it’s probably more apropos. But Little Giants will always have a special place in my heart.

What are your prognostications for the wrestling lineup this year?–mbailey71

Let’s preface this by saying I know absolutely nothing, and this is all pure (wishful) speculation on my part. But I’d love to see something like:

125 – Luke Lilledahl

133 – Marcus Blaze

141 – Masa Ono

149 – Shane Van Ness

157 – PJ Duke

165 – Mitchell Mesenbrink

174 – Jayden James

184 – Rocco Welsh

197 – Josh Barr

HWT – Cole Mirasola

James isn’t listed on the current roster (though his recent U20 Silver is a headline on GoPSUSports) so he may not actually wrestle, and with the five year rule I think Levi Haines may actually be eligible to wrestle again which would be pretty epic too.

What do you think the WNBA should do to rein in its infamously “physical” style of play?

Most coaches and players don’t actually like it.

Sue Bird said something about how they get 6 fouls in 48 minutes in the NBA vs 6 fouls in 40 minutes in the WNBA. Maybe go to 5 fouls? Then you have 1 foul per 8 minutes.

(Granted, there’s no problem here as the player was correctly given a flagrant 2 and automatic ejection).–Liongame

You’re not asking the right question – because the WNBA is absolutely a physical league, no doubt, but it’s arguably not even as physical as international womens basketball (side note: the US women are competing in Germany in the basketball world cup right now, and should have a victory under their belts by the time this mailbag is published).

There’s reasons why many tall, athletic women go into volleyball instead of basketball – if an athlete wants more of a physical contact sport, they play basketball, and otherwise they play volleyball, and both are having transcendent eras right now.

Ultimately the best way to curb this is through refereeing. If the physical play was more reined in and the referees called games and certain players the same across the board, I guarantee you that the physicality would be toned down, both domestically and internationally. But the refs seemingly are afraid of applying the rules consistently across the board, and aren’t helped by elected officials who don’t know ball inexplicably weighing in, and so this likely won’t be solved any time soon.

So, I’m a grad but haven’t been on campus in going on 30 years (haven’t lived anywhere close since graduation), but the daughter is college searching and wants to include dad’s alma mater on the list, so we are going to try and make it over to campus sometime this fall or next spring. I know campus is completely different, but more importantly: what bars will I find familiar and which won’t I recognize anymore? I used to frequent Zenos, the Physt, the Skellar (RIP), and the Brewery mostly.–MJBPSU

As a student over the turn of the 21st century, I was on campus shortly after you graduated. And the following bars from my undergrad time are still around:

Cafe 210 West

Phyrst

Lion’s Den

Zeno’s

The Shandygaff

And if you’re into something newer, I do enjoy Federal Taphouse, Local Whiskey, and Central Reservation.

What did you do for your summer vacation?–Homer Ozzie & The Straw

I took a few trips (to Myrtle and Canada), spent time at arts fest and people’s choice, and went to a number of minor league baseball games. But I definitely missed the Penn State sports!

Have you ever considered a career move to the public relations department of the WNBA?

Is the cookies-n-cream better at the Creamery or Myers Dairy?

10-2 seems to be the most popular prediction (not the prediction thread) for this year’s PSU team. Do you agree? If not…..what say you?

I saw a few weeks ago that Nike’s stock price was at a 20 year low. Is this because of PSU going with Adidas? Other reasons?

Will they ever connect I-370 to cross the Potomac to make it easier to get to Dulles Airport from Montgomery County, MD?–LarzLion

Lol, no. They wouldn’t want me as I’ve publicly tirade on their current cash cow more frequently than they would want to see.
It depends on what you like! I’ve always loved Meyer, ever since I was a kid, but the base on nearly every single flavor of theirs is vanilla. They take a vanilla ice cream and add flavors and mix-ins after the fact, to create something truly delicious; the Creamery, on the other hand, adds the flavor in before the ice cream actually is ice cream, so their base is chocolate or mint. That’s not going to make much of a difference for cookies n cream, which has a vanilla base itself, but gives a good idea of the difference between the two stalwarts.
I do agree. Nothing from 8-4 to 11-1 would be super surprising, though.
Nike’s stock has been going down for a few years now, so it may end up being that Penn State got out just in time. A few years ago, Nike bet on a direct-to-consumer strategy that hasn’t panned out, and they’re reverting on that now.
Absolutely not – there’s too many upper middle class earners with land and houses in the way, on both sides of the Potomac.

Why do so many real estate listings not include a floor plan? It’s one of the most important things when considering a house, yet like two-thirds of listings don’t have one.–bubba0077

I saw you post this on bluesky, and liked it there too! Nowadays especially, it feels like floor plans are easier than ever to have made. It’s a no-brainer.

What do you think is the best movie soundtrack? Who knows, I’ve probably asked this before, but I’m torn between Forest Gump and Goodfellas–LTFT5

There’s a clear difference between a movie score and a movie soundtrack, and I’ll die on the hill that The Empire Strikes Back is the best movie score of all time. Has there been a more iconic movie theme than the Imperial March? And couple that with the underrated Yoda’s theme and Han & Leia love theme, and it’s unforgettable.

In terms of a movie soundtrack, there’s two separate subsections as well – a soundtrack of a musical, which is in its own realm, and a soundtrack that compiles popular music (current or older, or a combination of both) to great effect. Some examples of the latter that I’ve loved over the years include Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Panther, Dazed and Confused, and the Bodyguard.

Taylor Swift made very heavy use of a few classic Roland synthesizer-sequencers on her latest album: the 808, 909, and 303.

Absolutely classic pieces of gear, but is this keeping it real or merely trying to give the appearance of keeping it real?–ckmneon

As a self-described Swiftie, I don’t really care which it is – the album was full of bangers (though it’s not in my top five of albums by her, which are Red, Folklore, 1989, The Tortured Poets Department, and Reputation).

Ever been to the Sy Barash Regatta?
Should the minimum age for driving be increased to 18?
Will Indiana repeat as national champs?
Best Halloween costume ever?
Is the pay here worth it?
When will we get Northwestern tickets?
How many classes should our starting QB take during fall semester?
Ohio — just horribly crappy or the absolute worst?
Are the new PMX Overlords douchebags or saviors?
Should public smoking be outlawed?
Dolly Parton — national treasure?
E-scooters — great innovation or OMG WTF?!
Dippy eggs — yes or no?
Ever had Filipino food and what one word best describes it?

–Smee

Never even heard of it – please tell me more!
No, too many 16 year olds need to drive themselves to their jobs in our society nowadays. It makes sense to me for the driving age to be the same as the standard employment age.
No, but I expect them to make the playoffs (last year was lightning in a bottle to go all the way)
I’m not sure if you’re asking about a costume i’ve worn or just one I know of. If the former, i’m not much of a dresser upper so I don’t have any real response; if it’s the latter, I always find the current event ones so amazing, especially since most of them age so terribly.
I don’t know of a single person who blogs for the pay, including anyone who’s ever written on this here site
In years past, all away game seats are allocated roughly 2-3 weeks prior to the game. So even if they could have been bought before now, seats likely wouldn’t have been confirmed or assigned yet; it doesn’t help in this situation, though, that the stadium isn’t finished yet – so I’m betting they’re worried that they may not be able to open up all of the desired sections prior to the grand opening vs PSU.
Jury’s still out, so I guess we’ll see. I did just download the SBN app and am cautiously optimistic?
I think having smoke-free halos around most buildings is sufficient enough – banning it in public completely goes a step too far, in my opinion.
Absolutely. She was the best of us, a model human being – smart and funny and bawdy and absolutely herself. She’ll be missed immeasurably.
Just ask Braden Davis – it’s definitely a WTF.
Dippy eggs are the best eggs
I haven’t, but I’d absolutely be down for Filipino food! I love trying new foods.

BSD Mailbag 9.4.26 – Yahoo Sports

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