Penn State Football had a monster weekend on the recruiting trail, landing not one, but two 4-star defensive tackles.

The Nittany Lions added two massive – both literally and figuratively- pieces to their 2024 class with the additions of Liam Andrews and T.A. Cunningham.

Here are key takeaways from a key weekend for Penn State Football Recruiting

1. Deion Barnes showing his worth

There was some skepticism when James Franklin named Deion Barnes the defensive line coach after John Scott Jr’s departure to the NFL ranks.

Barnes was a star player at Penn State, a well respected high school coach and turned heads as a grad assistant, but he never coached at the college level before.

Despite this, Franklin still went with his man.

Barnes rewarded Franklin this weekend by landing him two future stars on the defensive line. Andrews is a top 100 recruit while Cunningham is a former 5-star who say his ranking drop a bit after moving high schools a couple times.

Regardless, Cunningham, along with Andrews, has a ton of upside and has the potential to be a game changer in the college game.

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2. Got his wish

Remember when Michigan ran all over Penn State back in October 2022?

You probably tried to forget, but it’s hard to.

After that game, Franklin said he wanted to get bigger on the defensive line, well he did that this weekend.

Andrews is listed at 6-foot-5 and somewhere between 260-270 pounds. Cunningham is even larger, listed at 6-foot-6 and 270+ pounds.

Once both these guys get on campus and get in the strength and conditioning program, they should both easily exceed 300 pounds with those large frames.

It may take a couple seasons, but this duo could be who stops the Michigan rush attack that terrorizes the Nittany Lions lately.

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3. Keeping up

Penn State Football is keeping pace with the other two powerhouses in the Big Ten East, Michigan and Ohio State, in the 2024 recruiting classes.

The Buckeyes currently have the No. 2 class in the nation while the Wolverines are at No. 4.

The Nittany Lions aren’t far behind in the No. 6 spot with 24 commits.

Ohio State leads the way in blue-chip recruit ratio with 18 total commits with 16 of them being blue chippers. Michigan currently holds 26 commits with 19 of them being blue-chip recruits.

Meanwhile, Penn State is on Michigan’s heels with 16 of its 24 commits being 4 or 5-stars. The arms race in the Big Ten continues to heat up.

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Alec Whitaker

Penn State Football Recruiting Analyst at NittanyCentral

Alec Whitaker is a 2021 graduate of Penn State University earning a BA in Journalism and a minor in History. He is an avid sports fan and spends his free time co-hosting podcasts on his YouTube channel, Whitaker Media. Prior to arriving at NittanyCentral, Whitaker covered Penn State Football and Penn State Football recruiting for VictoryBellRings.com, part of the FanSided network.

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