Penn State football: two “toss-up” games that will define the 2022 season

Coming off the heels of an underwhelming 7-6 season in 2021, Penn State must now find a way to bounce back nationally in the coming year. Wins, rankings, and bowl games will be crucial for the image of Penn State football and the fans’ opinion of James Franklin. Here are the two “toss-up” games that will tell us a lot about Penn State football in 2022.

Toss-up game 1: at Auburn

In 2021, the Auburn Tigers (who finished the season 6-7) came to State College to take on Penn State in the white out. Though Penn State escaped with a 28-20 win over the then-ranked Tigers, the Nittany Lions must now travel to Auburn, AL, for the rematch.

This season, Penn State comes into the year with many new question marks all over the field. From quarterbacks to linebackers, this year’s team will look much different than last season’s squad. Though this could be a good thing (considering Penn State finished 2021 with a 7-6 record), this is cause for some worry within the PSU community.

On the flip side, Auburn comes into this season with many of the same questions and is not predicted to be above .500 by many outlets. Why could this game be a “toss-up” then? Simple: Penn State football must travel to SEC country this time around. In the Alabama heat, facing a challenging environment of die-hard Auburn fans, Penn State needs to remain focused to come away with the win.

Toss-up game 2: Michigan State

Over the past few years, Michigan State and Penn State have gone back and forth in their series. In 2019 and 2020, Penn State knocked off the Spartans, but in 2021 MSU got its revenge.

In 2022, Michigan State will be in year three of Mel Tucker–who led the Spartans to an 11-2 record and an NY6 win in his first full season as head coach–and will have some hurdles to overcome. With a new roster and no Kenneth Walker III, Michigan State may be less daunting come time for their game with Penn State.

Currently, Vegas has MSU at seven wins in 2022, which does not mean much, but that paints a picture of what the experts think of the Spartans roster.

The bottom line

Assuming Penn State wins the games they are supposed to win, the Auburn and Michigan State games could be the difference between 8-4 and 10-2. The five most daunting games on the schedule are Purdue, Auburn, Michigan, Ohio State, and Michigan State. If Penn State wins 2-3 of these games and beats the less-talented programs as projected, a 9-3 or 10-2 season is expected.