UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (WTAJ) — Penn State opened up Training Camp on Wednesday as the Nittany Lions opened up practice for the media to watch. There’s a lot of buzz in Happy Valley as Penn State is coming off an 11-2 season that was finished off by a win in the Rose Bowl, which has some wondering if this is the year the Nittany Lions make it into the College Football Playoff.

The Nittany Lions have a strong nucleus of returners on offense and defense. Offensively Penn State brings back a strong core on the offensive line, which will be blocking for one of the best running back tandems in the country with Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen. Singleton set a Penn State record for touchdowns as a freshman with 12 and also added 1,061 yards. They became the first Big Ten freshman duo to each rush for at least 700 yards. With a strong running game that will open up the passing lanes at quarterback for phenom Drew Allar, who brings a lot of hype as a five star recruit.

Defensively Penn State returns all their starting linebackers and most of the defensive line from a unit that led the Big Ten in sacks with 42 and tackles for loss. The only question marks on the defense will be how they replace Joey Porter Jr. and Ji’Ayir Brown in the secondary, but they have a plethora of options to fill those roles.

Penn State is now one month away from their season opener in primetime at Beaver Stadium against West Virginia. The game theme will be the Helmet Stripe, which last saw an appearance against Michigan in 2021.