Penn State Football travels to Auburn Saturday for a contest that will be played on a steamy afternoon in front of a hostile SEC crowd.

It’s not often the Nittany Lions get a chance to show off their program to recruits in SEC country, but they’ll have a huge opportunity to do so this Saturday on the Plains.

The recruiting impact of this game is massive for Penn State Football.

When the Tigers came to State College last September, the matchup drew in more 7.6 million viewers on ABC.

Penn State Football’s 2023 recruiting class currently holds four commitments from blue-chip recruits from the south, including one from Selma, Alabama native Dakaari Nelson. The other three hail from the Sunshine State in Elliot Washington, King Mack, and Conrad Hussey.

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Penn State Football’s 2022 recruiting class signed 6 southern recruits in Zane Durant (FL), Omari Evans (TX), Cam Miller (FL), Kaytron Allen (FL), Cristian Driver (TX), and Alex Bachetta (GA). The Nittany Lions also brought in two keys transfers in Mitchell Tinsley (MO), and Hunter Nourzad (GA), who both grew up in the south.

That’s a boatload of southern talent that hasn’t been present in recruiting classes of the past. The Auburn series has shed light on what the Penn State Football program is all about, and recruits are taking notice.

If the Nittany Lions want to compete for championships, they have to continue to tap into the recruiting hotbed that exists in the southeast region.

A win Saturday in Jordan-Hare would go a long way in building Penn State’s growing brand down south.

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