Committany Nation: What This Victory Means For Recruiting And Twitter Reactions

Welcome back to Committany Nation! As always, if you have any recruiting questions or (mean) comments, feel free to tweet me at @PatKoerbler.

Recruiting Impact Of Penn State’s Victory

Anyone who’s been following recruiting this year knows that while Penn State has put together a pretty solid class, there were questions from recruits about where this program was headed under James Franklin. Despite the roster limitations that Franklin has faced during his tenure in Happy Valley, back-to-back seven win seasons didn’t inspire a ton of confidence. It was becoming apparent that Franklin needed a strong 2016 season, and a “signature” win of sorts to get back that mojo that he brought to Penn State in January 2014.

It’s safe to say that the Nittany Lions knocking off No. 2 Ohio State counts as Franklin’s signature victory, and that said mojo is back. To put it simply, this was the most important win since at least Ohio State 2005 — and really, this could prove more impactful than even that game.

Just three weeks ago, Penn State was trailing Minnesota 13-3 at halftime, and fans and media alike were calling for Franklin’s job. Fast forward to today with the 24th ranked Nittany Lions now staring at a potential 10-2 record at season’s end, and it’s hard to believe this is even the same program. Franklin will no longer have to answer to his job security. He’ll no longer have to answer to questions about getting a signature win. He’ll no longer have to sell what his vision for this program is — instead, he’ll point to Marcus Allen and Grant Haley’s block-6.

Now, this doesn’t mean that Penn State will begin to recruit at an Alabama or Ohio State level. And I’m not even sure how significant of an impact this win and this season will have on 2017, just because so many of those recruits are already committed to other programs and the Nittany Lions really don’t have a ton of room left in the class. But make no mistake about it, Saturday’s victory will prove to be a major stepping stone to top 10 level classes going forward.

Twitter Reactions

Not surprisingly, recruits were active on twitter following Penn State’s victory.

2017 OG Mike Miranda (Commit)

2017 LB Brelin Faison-Walden (Commit)

Analysis: Faison-Walden has flirted with a number of schools, most notably Michigan. Having him on campus this weekend was obviously huge. We’ll see if he’s now back to being fully committed to the Nittany Lions.

2017 WR Mac Hippenhammer (Commit)

Analysis: From left-to-right: Brailyn Franklin, Brelin Faison-Walden, Yetur Matos, Mac Hippenhammer, (EDIT: It’s Jaylen Harris), and Cam Sullivan-Brown

2017 CB Lamont Wade

Analysis: Granted I don’t have proof this is about Penn State, but I am a connect the dots guy, so let’s assume Wade is talking about the Nittany Lions. Anyway, Penn State needed a strong season to help sway Wade, and this win should help. Will be officially visiting Happy Valley for the Iowa game.

2017 CB D.J. Brown (Commit)

2018 DE Micah Parsons (Commit)

Analysis: Parsons’ father admitted a few weeks ago that he wanted to see Penn State beat one of the big three: Ohio State, Michigan, or Michigan State. Here you go, Mr. Parsons.

2018 RB Ricky Slade

Analysis: Tom VanHaaren of ESPN believes that Slade was most impacted by the atmosphere/game.

2018 WR Shaquon Anderson-Butts

2018 OG Blaine Scott

2018 TE Jeremy Ruckert

2018 DE Tyreke Smith

2018 DT Aeneas Hawkins

2018 DB Kwantel Raines