Penn State Football gets love from analysts on first College GameDay of 2018
College GameDay showed some love for Penn State football on its first edition for the 2018 season.
ESPN College GameDay aired its 2018 season preview show on Saturday, and Penn State football received some high praise. The Nittany Lions were discussed as a part of a few different segments and received some love from a bit of a surprising source.
Hosted by Reece Davis, the preview show featured the predictions and opinions of three college football analysts — Desmond Howard, Lee Corso, and Kirk Herbstreit.
Herbstreit, a former quarterback at Ohio State, has been accused in the past of showing bias toward his alma mater. However, when he revealed his four picks for this year’s College Football Playoff, and his choice for the Big Ten Championship, he didn’t mention the Buckeyes.
Along with Alabama, Washington, and Clemson, Herbstreit selected Penn State as one of the final four teams at the end of the season. He predicted the Nittany Lions would fail to reach the championship game after loosing to Clemson.
Herbstreit felt Penn State would make the CFP after defeating Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship.
Corso also predicted that the Nittany Lions would win the Big Ten East and play Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship. However, Corso favored the Badgers (his eventual national championship pick) over the Nittany Lions.
Continuing the recognition for Penn State, Herbstreit and Howard both discussed running back Miles Sanders as being able to fill in for the departed Saquon Barkley.
Expectations are high for the Penn State offense this year, due in large part to the play of quarterback Trace McSorley. The senior signal-caller earned the vote of both Corso and Herbstreit as the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy. Herbstreit referred to McSorley as the “Baker Mayfield of 2018.”
For the first time ever, @KirkHerbstreit and Corso AGREE on a Heisman favorite. pic.twitter.com/C4DDIhSrk0
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) August 25, 2018
The two college football pundits rarely agree on anything, but it’s clear that both Corso and Herbstreit love McSorley and the Penn State offense this season.
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Of course, everything right now is just predictions. McSorley and the Nittany Lions get their first chance to show what they can do when they take the field September 1 against Appalachian State.