It is no secret that 247Sports and CBS Analyst Josh Pate has been high on the Penn State Football program for a few years.
In 2022, coming off a disappointing 7-6 2021 campaign, Pate was among the highest on the Nittany Lions of any college football analyst through the industry, giving Penn State a ceiling of 11-1. In 2023, on Pate’s show “Late Kick”, Pate called Penn State “a real threat” to win the B1G and make the College Football Playoff for the first time.
Among the reasons for Penn State’s extremely high ceiling for the 2023 season, Pate, on his show “Late Kick”, points out that Penn State has “the highest rated quarterback” Penn State has ever had, “an incredible 1-2 tandem in the backfield,” and “a ton of experience on the offensive line” to pair with an “exceptional defense and defensive coordinator.”
Although Pate has always been high on Penn State, he went a step further on a recent episode of “The Late Kick Podcast” while sitting down with Penn State’s Brian Tripp.
While making the rounds during spring practices, Pate made a stop in Happy Valley to sit down with James Franklin and a number of the Penn State players, “see the interworkings of the Lasch Building”, and hosted his “Late Kick” show live from Penn State.
In his latest podcast episode, Pate compared the preseason vibes around the Penn State program in 2023 to the vibes he got from the legendary 2019 LSU squad that went on to a 15-0 season and won the national title.
“It’s a spot where resources aren’t going to hold you back,” Pate said, in recent clip of his show. “And you’ve got a staff that’s fully invested. You’ve got experience and longevity. You have a nucleus of guys here, staff, and you’ve got good talent. It’s a program to be taken seriously
“I remember in 2019, the feel that LSU had in 2019. Not afterwards, when everyone knew how good they were, but in the preseason. There a lot of those vibes that are being given off by [the Penn State] program.”
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From a program perspective, Pate argues that Penn State has the resources, staff, and talent to be taken seriously in the national scene.
According to Pate, Penn State is “set up for a sustained run” because of the way the Penn State program is built.
September can’t come soon enough for Penn State fans, as they eagerly await to see if Pate’s perception of the Penn State program can come to life on the field and live up to the lofty expectations that he and others have for the program in 2023 and beyond.
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Education: Saint Vincent College, Penn State Law School
Location: Washington, DC
Experience:Robert Casturo has covered Penn State football for NittanyCentral since 2022. Casturo previously covered Penn State football through a social media presence (@PSU_FB_Thoughts on X) since 2019. Casturo earned his bachelor's degree from Saint Vincent College in 2015, where he was a punter for 1 season on the Saint Vincent College football team and worked in the athletic department for 2 years as a student manager. Casturo earned his JD from Penn State Law in 2018 where he was a senior editor of the Penn State Law Review.
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