Penn State football is coming off of an impressive 11-2 campaign in 2022 that saw them do what Heisman winner Caleb Williams couldn't. Coach James Franklin and the Nittany Lions knocked off the Utah Utes in the Rose Bowl to cap off a highly competitive season that was successful by a certain number of parameters.

Penn State football defeated the Pac-12 champions despite finishing as the third-best team in the Big Ten by most metrics behind Michigan and Ohio State. This season, the ‘Big Two' in the Big Ten have once again garnered most of the headlines.

That's a big mistake considering the talent level of the 2023 Penn State football team.

Famous alumni including Panthers running back Miles Sanders have quietly hopped aboard the Penn State Big Ten championship bandwagon. Sanders got 100% real earlier this offseason about the team's keys to College Football Playoff success in 2023. Franklin spoke highly of the team's quarterback position, calling his starter Drew Allar a potential ‘National Championship winning' difference.

An opening game beatdown of West Virginia football confirmed what many already know: Penn State is a going to be a problem this season.

The following are three key reasons why Penn State football is a big threat to Ohio State and Michigan this season.

1. Drew Allar- 

Penn State has had solid-to-good quarterback play under Franklin, who won his only Big Ten title in 2016. Trace McSorley and Sean Clifford are talented, but Drew Allar is on a different level. A former five-star, Allar possesses physical tools that previous Penn State QBs lacked including elite arm talent.

Allar and his talented receiving corps give Penn State the ability to win a shootout against Ohio State, Michigan and other top passing teams.

2. Nicholas Singleton-

Another five-star recruit, the talented sophomore is just scratching the surface of his potential at running back. Singleton has the speed and shiftiness to take any given carry to the house, something that Penn State football has lacked in recent years. Fellow running back Kaytron Allen also has home run speed and NFL talent.

Singleton accumulated over 124 yards and two touchdowns in a rout of Auburn last season showing immediately that he is ready for prime time.

Singleton, Allar and the passing game combine to make Penn State a much more explosive team than in years' past which will be needed against the big guns of the Big Ten.

3. The Schedule- 

The Nittany Lions' 2023 schedule sets up nicely to both challenge and help Franklin's squad this season. An upcoming road game against an athletic and defensive-minded Illinois team will give the offense a chance to show off its full repertoire.

A road game against Kyle McCord and Ohio State football on October 21 is the type of prime time challenge that superstars like Allar and Singleton relish. Penn State has an edge at quarterback and could win in Columbus for the first time since 2011.

A Happy Valley showdown looms on November 11 against Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines. Michigan has one of the top secondaries in the country, but its linebacking corps and defensive line will be tested by Singleton and the run game in a matchup that could decide the Big Ten East winner.