Snyder: Penn State’s Playoff window is open again   (2024)

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — One of the neatest things about living in a college town like thisis that reminders of football season are all around.

Whether hopping off the highway or glancing up from the other end of town, Beaver Stadium seemingly is always there, somewhere off in the distance. It’s the focal point as the leaves and colors change with the seasons in the background behind it. Many conversations at bars and restaurants, around the neighborhood and even in the produce aisle center around what will unfold in that stadium in the months ahead.

I’ve had countless conversations with fans in these very settings, where some love to ask how this player looks and what I really think about any number of college football topics or the question I’ve heard most this offseason: When will Penn State make it to the College Football Playoff?

It’s safe to say the narrative surrounding this season is more positive than it was a year ago when a neighbor flagged me down to ask bluntly if Sean Clifford had improved at all in the weeks following the Blue-White game. Nothing snaps a beat writer out of vacation mode quite like quarterback talk within seconds of returning to town.

The truth is these next two seasons are Penn State’s best chance since Saquon Barkley was on the roster to make a run at a spot in the Playoff. It also means if it doesn’t happen during these next two seasons, I might have to start grocery shopping with earbuds in to drown out questions from a fan base that has had four New Year’s Six bowl appearances to celebrate since 2016 but still longs for its first Playoff appearance.

In the current format with two teams performing at an incredibly high level within the Big Ten’s East division, the realistic opportunities for PSU to make a run at a Playoff spot have been limited. But now, this is one of those rare moments when the next two seasons could help set the course for this program for years to come.

The good news for Penn State is that the window of opportunity is cracked open right now. As Ohio State starts its next era with a new quarterback and as Michigan comes to Happy Valley for a noon kickoff in November, there’s a glimmer of hope around here that just maybe Penn State has turned a corner and has its best chance to strike.

Perhaps the Buckeyes won’t be quite as unstoppable as they were the past few years when they’ve had one of the country’s best programs. Penn State had three quarters of play to feel OK about against an Ohio State team that could’ve run away with the game last season but took until the fourth quarter to do so. By the end, the result was all too familiar for PSU, but maybe the fortunes will reverse as the quarterback from Medina, Ohio, whose offer from the Buckeyes didn’t come until late in the process, can help PSU do what it hasn’t done since 2016 when it beat Ohio State. That’s a lot to ask of Drew Allar as a first-year starter, but with another somewhat untested quarterback on the opposite sideline, the field just might be leveled a bit more than it has been. We’ll see.

Penn State’s offense now has another gear to shift into, making it even more potent as Nick Singleton wants to catch more passes out of the backfield. Allar’s special arm talent will have to live up to his recruiting pedigree, but if he’s indeed the talent that he’s believed to be, PSU has to take these next two seasons with him and do everything it possibly can to make a postseason run.

While the goal around here is to be in the hunt for a national championship every year, there are years when a roster is better suited to do so than others. Last season, it was clear PSU was in transition with a sixth-year quarterback who helped take the team further than everyone thought it could go. Given what younger players showed during that 11-2 season, it’s clear Penn State is trending in the right direction. The 2022 bridge year leads us to this.

In a Playoff field that has been dominated by Alabama (seven appearances), Clemson (six), Ohio State (five), Oklahoma (four) and Georgia (three), the talent gap that separates the top programs from the 2023 and projected 2024 versions of Penn State shouldn’t be as significant as previous years. Just getting into this conversation hasn’t been easy for PSU. Conversations about wins on the recruiting front, facilities, new contracts and name, image and likeness sometimes have taken center stage.

There’s a five-star quarterback at the helm and the former Gatorade national player of the year at running back. That’s a special combination of sophom*ores that many teams — even those PSU is chasing — would love to have. This is the kind of star power that it takes to start building a Playoff contender.

This 2023 roster also has three projected first-round NFL Draft picks — at left tackle, defensive end and cornerback. There’s sophom*ore linebacker Abdul Carter, who has the ability to be as impactful and disruptive as those who star on the best defenses in the country. There’s also sophom*ore defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton, another emerging star. He is poised to surge right as this program is positioned to do the same. Remember, Dennis-Sutton, a five-star prospect, picked Penn State over Georgia.

The collection of talent on the roster, highlighted by the 2022 recruiting class that was ranked sixth nationally per the 247Sports Composite, points to this season and next as showtime. If this roster isn’t good enough to make the final year of the four-team Playoff field, then the 12-team Playoff awaits in 2024.

That seems like a promising entry point for a Playoff appearance, but remember, Big Ten newcomers USC and UCLA will begin conference play in 2024. Schedules with those new opponents on them have yet to be finalized. Maybe Penn State will avoid playing Ohio State or Michigan in 2024, but perhaps it gets Lincoln Riley’s USC squad in its place. Making the Playoff field won’t be easy even as it triples in size.

What Penn State can’t afford is to miss the Playoff both in 2023 and 2024. Such a shortcoming would make it abundantly clear that even with what appears to be a special collection of talent, PSU would still be on the outside looking in. It would be a gut punch for a program that teetered on making the Playoff in 2016 — and can argue that it should’ve made it — but otherwise has had wonderful seasons that just haven’t been quite special enough to land a coveted Playoff spot. Surely, there’s a special kind of pain that comes with being on the outside looking in countless times. It has to be maddening to those who spend their days scouring tape looking for a slight advantage here and there, all while knowing the margins are razor thin.

Penn State can have great seasons these next two years, but if it’s not in the Playoff at least once with the talent it has, it’ll be viewed as a shortcoming by many. It’ll also raise the question of when it actually could happen.

This is simply the harsh reality of a sport in which the elites have found staying power while everyone else is scratching and clawing to try and join them.

After the 2024 season, in all likelihood, Penn State’s roster probably resets again. Maybe the door to the Playoff closes with that, maybe it’s wide-open because Penn State finally made it?

By that time, names like Allar, Singleton, Dennis-Sutton, Carter and Kaytron Allen likely will be appearing on NFL Draft boards while the rest of us will know for sure if this group was special enough to capitalize on a postseason opportunity that has eluded Penn State.

(Top photo of James Franklin: Scott Taetsch / Getty Images)