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Former Iowa State coach Matt Campbell arguably could not have asked for a better setup for his first season at Penn State. It is not too far-fetched to say that if things break properly for Penn State, it could find itself in the College Football Playoff conversation.
Looking at the schedule, Penn State avoids major Big Ten heavyweights, including Ohio State, Oregon and Indiana. All three are perennial conference championship and CFP contenders, with the Hoosiers attempting to go back-to-back for the first time in program history—a feat that would deliver the Big Ten its fourth consecutive national title. State College, Pa., and Ames, Iowa, don't belong in the same sentence, and Campbell will have to recognize that quickly to find sustained early success.
Campbell is extremely particular about relying on senior leadership to carry the team forward despite Penn State falling short of College Football Playoff expectations a year ago.
"I still would tell you that great leadership starts with your seniors, and that group has been tremendous," Campbell told reporters. "No matter how you got here and no matter what that journey looks like, you hold an abundance of knowledge and wisdom. The ability, from top-down, to start to give back and infiltrate our team, it's really important."
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A major area of criticism will be defense, as Penn State faltered down the stretch in getting off the field in a timely fashion, all the way up until the regular-season finale. To win in the postseason, defense is critical. Campbell is particularly high on hybrid defensive back Jeremiah Cooper Jr. When 100 percent healthy, Campbell expects him to be an anchor piece for a defense that didn't meet expectations when called upon last season.
"We have some great chess pieces — guys who can do a lot of different things based on the game plan, based on the week — and I think Coop is one of those guys," Campbell said. "He can play corner, he can play nickel, he can play safety. So I think really all those places you could see him line up within a game.
"It's just finding what that fit is," Campbell said. "I don't even know if we're 100-percent certain where that even starts. I think for us, it's really based week-to-week on where we can play him and where he fits in."
Should Penn State win the games it is supposed to and potentially split against heavyweights like Michigan and USC, it should be enough for the CFP committee to give the Nittany Lions a berth, even if it means not going to the Big Ten Championship Game come December.
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The stakes are simple: 12 teams get in. The Big Ten will be top-heavy if expert predictions hold true, and for Campbell, that could work wonders in Year 1 for a program that was only a few plays away two years ago from competing for a national title.
Now, Penn State must take advantage of the favorable schedule and capitalize by becoming one of the conference's biggest surprise teams this fall.
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