By Andrew J. Cassavell
Collegian Staff Writer
Ed DeChellis insists last year’s weak nonconference schedule was never in the plan.
Instead, the head coach called the way the matchups fell into place “the perfect storm on the negative end.”
This season, however, DeChellis said a stronger Big Ten, coupled with some tougher nonconference matchups, leaves less of a chance for another such storm.
“It’s a good schedule and a fair schedule,” DeChellis said. “You have to win some games nonconference-wise and there’s some games on there circled that will be very, very important to us.”
He noted matchups against Virginia Tech, Virginia and Temple as some of the games the team has “circled” already. He also said the Charleston Classic, which features Miami and South Carolina will provide the Lions with opportunities for quality wins.
Despite the tougher schedule, however, DeChellis said there is no way to tell just how good it is until the season gets underway, pointing to a victory over Georgia Tech last November.
At the time the Lions saw it as a crucial out-of-conference win, but by the time selection Sunday rolled around, the Yellow Jackets had fallen to 12-19 and last place in the ACC.
The Lions were left without a quality nonconference win, and were subsequently left out of the field of 65….
Read it all: Schedule stimulates Penn State – The Daily Collegian Online.