Victory Bell Rings
Fansided

Penn State Football: 3 takeaways from the massive recruiting week

By Alec Whitaker

GLENDALE, AZ - DECEMBER 30: Head coach James Franklin of the Penn State Nittany Lions cleans the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl trophy after defeating the Washington Huskies 35-28 at University of Phoenix Stadium on December 30, 2017 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images)
GLENDALE, AZ - DECEMBER 30: Head coach James Franklin of the Penn State Nittany Lions cleans the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl trophy after defeating the Washington Huskies 35-28 at University of Phoenix Stadium on December 30, 2017 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 4
Next
STATE COLLEGE, PA – OCTOBER 31: Head coach Ryan Day of the Ohio State Buckeyes shakes hands with head coach James Franklin of the Penn State Nittany Lions after the game at Beaver Stadium on October 31, 2020 in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
STATE COLLEGE, PA – OCTOBER 31: Head coach Ryan Day of the Ohio State Buckeyes shakes hands with head coach James Franklin of the Penn State Nittany Lions after the game at Beaver Stadium on October 31, 2020 in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /

Winning big battles

Miami was involved for both Rojas and Robinson, but they weren’t alone.

Rojas also had the likes of Clemson and Georgia after him, while former Penn State defensive coordinator Brent Pry and Virginia Tech pursued Robinson.

In the end, Franklin, Diaz and key assistants like Ja’Juan Seider, Terry Smith and Anthony Poindexter won both of these battles.

If Penn State wants to be elite, they need to win recruiting battles against elite programs. Georgia and Clemson are certainly elite, and no one is recruiting better than Miami right now with new head coach Mario Cristobal.

Last year, Penn State football won a few huge recruiting battles. They landed Nick Singleton and Drew Allar against Notre Dame and Dani Dennis-Sutton against Georgia and Alabama.

Rojas and Robinson were two recruitments of that magnitude that the Nittany Lions won in the 2023 cycle. The recruitments of Elliot Washington and Tomarrion Parker also fall under this category.

As for Montgomery, even though his other finalists were Boston College and Virginia Tech, this recruitment wasn’t as easy as it looks on the surface. Both schools can offer early playing time, while Montgomery will certainly play early at Penn State, he has Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen only a year ahead of him.

That may not seem like a big deal, but to some recruits, especially at a position like running back where you want to go pro as quickly as possible, it can be.

Three big recruiting wins for the Nittany Lions this weekend.

Home/Football Recruiting