Heather Dinich makes the case for Penn State over Texas as preseason No. 1
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Heather Dinich knows what the preseason Coaches’ Poll revealed on Monday. The poll put Arch Manning and Texas on top as the preseason No. 1 team.
But the ESPN college football analyst was here to say on Tuesday morning during an appearance on Get Up that, just maybe, it should be Penn State at No. 1 instead of Texas.
“Penn State should be the No. 1 team in the country. On paper, they have far fewer questions than Texas. Drew Allar is going to be a better quarterback (this season). He’s going to improve his NFL Draft stock,” said Dinich, who also pointed to Allar having 2 top-notch running backs behind him and an elite defensive coordinator in Jim Knowles on the other side of the ball.
The Nittany Lions have been knocking on the national championship door during the James Franklin era, getting to the College Football Playoff semifinals last season. With star Allar putting the NFL Draft off for another year and returning to State College, Penn State is positioned to make another deep run in the 2025 Playoff.
The Coaches’ Poll placed Penn State at No. 3 on Monday, behind No. 2 Ohio State and those Longhorns led by Manning. So, it’s not like the preseason poll ignored how good the Nittany Lions could and should be this fall. The poll just didn’t give Penn State the ultimate distinction of being No. 1.
The initial AP poll will be revealed next week, so its preseason No. 1 has yet to be determined.
The coming months will tell if Dinich was right on the money with Penn State, or if Texas was indeed the right choice to be preseason No. 1.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
