Penn State and coach James Franklin had their run of five straight years in the preseason coaches poll snapped on Monday. The Nittany Lions are just two spots out in the others receiving votes category.
Darron Cummings | AP file photo
Click here to subscribe today or Login.
Nick Saban and perennial favorite Alabama are back atop the coaches poll to open the 2022 season.
John Bazemore | AP file photo
For the first time in six years, Penn State won’t start the season ranked in the top 25 of the coaches poll.
Barely.
The Nittany Lions were two spots out of 25th in the others receiving votes category when the coaches preseason poll was announced on Monday. At 246 points, the Lions were just behind Iowa (248) and No. 25 Houston (257) for the last ranking.
Penn State stumbled to a 2-6 record after a 5-0 start a year ago and are 11-11 over the last two seasons.
The Lions can only hope things turn out as well as the last time they weren’t ranked by the coaches in August. After a 2-2 start in 2016, they became the nation’s hottest team, winning nine straight games to claim the Big Ten title, narrowly missing the College Football Playoff.
That season, Penn State was breaking in a new offensive coordinator in Joe Moorhead. This summer, it’s a new defensive coordinator in Manny Diaz and a new special teams coordinator in Stacy Collins. They are joined by second-year offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich.
“It’s gone well,” Lions coach James Franklin said Saturday at the team’s media day. “Manny has done a really good job coming in and getting adjusted. Obviously, the time that we spent at (Penn State’s annual coaches) retreat, kind of going through how we do things, how we operate — not only from a daily schedule, but also from a philosophical perspective — I think that’s been helpful.
“Year two with Coach Yurcich has been helpful as well. And continuing to build in the area on special teams with Stacy. I’ve been pleased with all those things.”
The campaign begins with a Thursday night trip to Purdue on Sept. 1 and features three games against teams ranked by the coaches in the preseason.
Penn State travels to face No. 6 Michigan, the reigning Big Ten champion, on Oct. 15. No. 2 Ohio State comes to Beaver Stadium on Oct. 29 and the regular season closes with a visit from No. 14 Michigan State on Nov. 26.
Three other opponents — Auburn, Minnesota and Purdue — also received votes in the poll.
Sitting at No. 1, as usual, was perennial national title contender Alabama. The Crimson Tide, who received 54 out of 66 first-place votes, lost in last season’s championship game to SEC rival Georgia, which debuted Monday at No. 3.
Clemson checked in at No. 4 and Notre Dame, ready to start its first season under coach Marcus Freeman, was No. 5.
Rounding out the top 10 after Michigan are Texas A&M, Utah, Oklahoma and Baylor.
Georgia got six first-place votes while the Buckeyes received five. Curiously, the final first-place vote went to No. 18 Texas. The poll does not reveal the coaches’ ballots except for at the end of the season.
Defending ACC champion Pitt was ranked No. 16. Wisconsin was the fourth and final Big Ten team in the poll at No. 20.
The Associated Press will release its own preseason top 25 poll next Monday.