Things are looking excellent for James Franklin at the moment. His star draft candidates, Abdul Carter and Tyler Warren, both landed their NFL destinations within the first round. That too as part of the draft’s top 20 picks. Back home, too, the Nittany Lions‘ HC is making some big recruiting wins. Will Franklin’s wins translate into bolstering his chances of finally winning a CFP National Championship? Overall, the 2025 Penn State team seems to be a more promising version than its 2024 one, in a much-needed relief for QB Drew Allar as well.

Did Franklin begin with a poor team in 2024? Absolutely not. However, gaps started to show as the season progressed, especially in the WR room. Receivers Trey Wallace and Omari Evans did turn up to do the majority of the work. A huge help to them was Warren, who surprisingly had more season passes than the whole WR room combined.

“I think the objective is to be the best in the country at every position, and we’re working to become that,” WR coach Marques Hagans said earlier. “And until we become that, then yes, we do need help at receiver. So, we just got to keep building the room the right way, bringing in the right guys, and then when the opportunity presents, we just have to perform at a high level.” Now, Franklin seems to have answered his prayers in the transfer portal.

The Penn State HC managed to snag a commitment from Syracuse‘s star WR, Trebor Pena. The news comes just a week after his visit to campus. Pena can look to be a valuable addition to the WR room, which saw the exits of some key players and currently holds an inexperienced pool. The WR was Kyle McCord‘s go-to guy on the field, producing 941 yards and 9 TDs last year. Pena has one year of eligibility remaining. Given how he’s performed in the previous seasons, The Nittany Lions’ WR room finally has a star. Pena is the program’s highest-rated transfer and joins WR additions Devonte Ross and Kyron Hudson.

Roseby Lubintus, a 3-star high-school prospect, is also joining PSU. The OL received offers from Boston College, Florida, Michigan State, and others. James Franklin, however, was his chosen pick, the first person to offer him a scholarship. With Lubintus on board, PSU has now jumped up to the No. 5 position in the recruiting class, according to 247Sports Composite. In fact, Franklin scored this commitment from PSU’s currently underway Blue-White weekend. It’s likely that the HC can himself look to have a gala weekend, with hopefully more talents coming his way! All of these additions mean only good things for Drew Allar, who is zeroing in on doing better than his previous season.

Drew Allar is set on keeping the past where it is

After the Orange Bowl loss, Allar was yelling out his frustration in the locker room. The QB threw the game’s first interception, misjudging a throw directed at Omari Evans, which was caught by Notre Dame‘s Christian Gray. Allar looked like the most elite QB Penn State had in quite a few years, but he faltered towards the end, especially in the last four games. The Orange Bowl loss hit him hard. He told the press, “Yeah, I mean that it was a long week for sure, just with how everything happened (vs. Notre Dame), just a lot of stuff that, you know, was out of my control,” Allar said. “I was just not in a good state for that week after.”  

But now, it looks like all of that is a chapter in the past for Allar. “[Once] I stepped back in the weight room for this season, like two or three weeks after that game, you know, I was really able to flush it at that point because I had something to, you know, really look forward to and build off of.” Allar will be joining an improved offense from last year, which looks promising with its latest additions. OC Andy Kotelnicki is zeroed in on improving the strategies this year to help Allar achieve what he was meant to do. The QB finished 2024 with 3,327 yards and 24 TDs. He also decided to come back to Penn State for his last year of CFB. James Franklin owes it to him this time.

With what Trebor Pena did for Kyle McCord, he also seems to be a perfect fit for Allar. Both will look to finish their college careers strong, as is the mindset of the 2025 Nittany Lions team. With its new additions, can Franklin and Allar look towards recording a better finish this year?