Penn State second half predictions: Offense, defense MVP, and final record

Who will Penn State's MVP be on offense and defense in the second half? And what will the Nittany Lions final 2021 regular season record be?

Those are the topics of today's Blue-White Illustrated mailbag, as Nate Bauer, David Eckert, and Greg Pickel make their predictions before the team starts a full week of prep for Illinois. Kickoff is set for Noon next Saturday at Beaver Stadium, and ABC will televise the contest.

Before then, it's time to make some picks for the final six games.

Dave: I'll go the safe route with Jahan Dotson. He's the best player on Penn State's offense and I don't think it's particularly close. Penn State might have to do some creative things to get the ball in his hands if Sean Clifford isn't available for an extended period of time, but generally I would expect him to continue to be the talisman that he has been for the Nittany Lion offense up to this point in the season.

Greg: Call me crazy, but I'm not giving up on Noah Cain just yet. Penn State has to get its ground game going, and while it's possible that another Nittany Lion back will be the one that shines, I'm sticking with Cain, who I think will be ready to roll after a rest, rehab, and recovery period bye week. Expect to see a better No. 21 during the second half of the year.

Nate: This might be more of a forecast of what has to happen for Penn State to be as good as it will need to be in the second half of the season offensively, but I’ll go with Keyvone Lee here. Just considering the complexion of Penn State’s offense to date, sure, Jahan Dotson would probably be a safe bet, but I’m working under the mindset that the Nittany Lions’ opponents will have an easier time devoting more resources to taking him away with a quarterback that isn’t necessarily equipped to counter some of those efforts. Conversely, Lee and the Nittany Lions running game have to get going. I don’t know if or when it all will mesh between the offensive line and Penn State’s running backs, but Illinois and its 85th-ranked rushing defense seem like a good opportunity to start that process next week.

Dave: I'm going go make a bit of a contrarian pick here with Ellis Brooks. I think his contributions through six games have gone slightly undervalued by both Penn State fans and possibly the media. He's been great, especially against the run. That's going to take on added importance with Mustipher out for the season, and I'm banking on Brooks to get it done.

Greg: My pick is a tandem, but it's not right to pick one and not the other: Ji'Ayir Brown and Jaquan Brisker. It's true that the Big Ten really doesn't have many quarterbacks to fret over, but it's also a fact that the final six games will feature better opponent quarterback play than the first six, and that puts the safeties squarely in the spotlight. They will need to make big plays for the Nittany Lions to reach the heights they want to, and here's betting that both will rise to the occasion.

Nate: Arnold Ebiketie has already established himself as an incredibly important, contributing piece to the Nittany Lions’ defensive puzzle this season and I don’t expect that to change in the second half of the year. Granted, Mustipher’s absence might change the calculus for some of the offensive lines and pass protections the Nittany Lions will face this season (as could an ill Penn State offense impact the need for opposing offensive coordinators to feel compelled to throw the ball), but the Temple transfer’s production to date is a solid reason to believe he’ll continue along that path in the season’s second half.

Dave: Just a little behind-the-scenes look here. I'm filling this out after Greg and Nate, so I can see that they've both picked 10-2, which means I'm going to get yelled at. But I'm sticking with the 9-3 prediction I made before the season. I don't think the Nittany Lions are winning in Columbus, and there are a few other games where they could stumble down the stretch, most notably against Michigan and Michigan State. Sean Clifford's status adds a certain degree of uncertainty to all of this as well. I just feel like that's the most likely outcome, but I certainly would not be surprised to see PSU go 10-2.

Greg: I made Penn State a 10-2 team back in the summer, and I'm sticking with that, even if the uncertainty surrounding Sean Clifford will greatly impact this by the time all is said and done. Winning at Ohio State was always going to be an extremely uphill battle, but as long as No. 14 is in for most of the second half, I'm comfortable keeping my call from August.

Nate: This is more difficult than a preseason prediction, at this point, given the juncture this program is currently at. After all, how many games, if any, will Sean Clifford miss? What will the impact be toward the defense of P.J. Mustipher’s absence? How many others lost for the Iowa game - John Lovett, Jon Sutherland, and Devyn Ford - will miss time the rest of the way? Surely, the answers to those questions will play a significant role in where Penn State goes from here in actuality, let alone in how I’d project them to finish.

Taking the optimistic outlook for Penn State that all but Mustipher will be back sooner rather than later, I still think many of the program’s goals can still be met this season. At Ohio State and Michigan will both serve as major hurdles the rest of the way, particularly in Columbus if Clifford isn’t able to go. But with a defense and special teams units that are equipped to keep them competitive in just about any game they play, I’ll stick with the same 10-2 I said in the summer.

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