Penn State Football: Extensive Spring Ball Preview for the Nittany Lions

Penn State was rolling at the end of October 2011; the team was 8-1 with the only blemish an early loss to top-ranked (and eventual national champion) Alabama, it was in the driver's seat for a Leaders Division title and Joe Paterno had just broken Eddie Robinson's Division I record for most career wins.

And then all hell broke loose.

Penn State fans are still having to get over the shock of no Joe Paterno on the sideline for the first time since 1949, but PSU fans are also appreciative of the opportunity to just get back to football. New head coach Bill O'Brien will have no shortage of adulation in the first couple years. And it starts now, in spring practice.

Important Dates

Penn State began spring practice on March 26, and the annual Blue-White spring game is April 21 at 2 p.m. at Beaver Stadium.

Biggest Question Marks

Quarterback

Good God, does Penn State need an answer at quarterback. The Nittany Lions have struggled mightily and famously at this position since Daryll Clark graduated in 2009, with Rob Bolden and Matt McGloin splitting snaps rather evenly over the last two seasons.

Bolden is a former 4-star QB prospect who became the first true freshman to start a season at QB for Paterno, and McGloin became the first walk-on quarterback to start a game at QB for Paterno that very same year. Neither has been terribly successful, but McGloin has had a small edge in that he's only been about half as terrible as Bolden.

Redshirt freshman Paul Jones is now in the mix at quarterback, and he was a fairly highly touted prospect, but the real prize for Penn State's 2012 class of recruits may still be yet to come. That would be former Maryland QB Danny O'Brien, who visited Penn State last week and was on the sidelines of PSU's first practice yesterday in a Penn State windbreaker (per ESPN's Adam Wittenberg).

(Photo via Kevin McGuire)

As mentioned before, if Penn State can land Danny O'Brien, the Nittany Lions are in great shape for the Leaders Division crown; Ohio State is ineligible for the postseason this year and Wisconsin is in just as dire straits at QB as PSU. Meanwhile, Illinois, Purdue and Indiana look like non-factors. So getting Danny O'Brien's transfer could have some major positive consequences for Bill O'Brien and the Nittany Lions right off the bat.

Secondary

Penn State loses safeties Drew Astorino and Nick Sukay to graduation, and cornerbacks D'Anton Lynn and Chaz Powell have similarly moved on. There's some talent behind these guys—Adrian Amos is a promising safety, for example—but overall depth is shaky enough that Curtis Drake (2011 WR/Wildcat QB) moved to cornerback, which looks like a good physical fit.

Offensive Line

Penn State says goodbye to tackles Quinn Barham and Chima Okoli, and guard Johnnie Troutman is also graduating. Line quality and depth have both been question marks for the past few years at Penn State, so let's be charitable and say there are opportunities for players to step up.

According to Bob Flounders of The Patriot News, Coach O'Brien mentioned junior guard Adam Gress as someone who has made strides in offseason conditioning; at 6'6", Gress is big enough to switch to tackle too, so look for him to make the "best five" somewhere on the line come fall.

Early Predictions for 2012

As of today, the only team whose windbreaker Danny O'Brien has worn in public is Penn State, so let's say the Nittany Lions land him. The entire offense is going to be in a bit of flux as it adjusts to Bill O'Brien's coaching style and vice versa, so with a quarterback that didn't have drills in spring practice with the receivers, expect some stumbles out of the gate (especially with a dodgy defense at the edges).

Luckily for PSU, the schedule is easy enough that the only real trouble spot in the first half of the entire season is a trip to Virginia in Week 2, and the Big Ten Blog would like to remind you that there is no such thing as an FBS game that an ACC team cannot lose. Seven wins ought to be the minimum for 2012 here, and if PSU's defense coheres into a solid unit quickly, we could see a 9-3 (6-2) regular season from the Nittany Lions—and that may be enough to get to Indianapolis in December.