No. 7 Penn State Nittany Lions

Editor’s Note: We're counting the days until the Athlon Sports 2009 College Football Annuals hit newsstands by releasing one spot in our Top 25 every weekday. Keep checking AthlonSports.com to see who’s next in the countdown.

The icon is back. Penn State coach Joe Paterno defied those screaming for his resignation last year by taking the Nittany Lions to the Rose Bowl — after getting his hip replaced, of course. Secure in his position once again, JoePa has a team with the potential to win the Big Ten for a second straight year. That ought to keep those vultures away from him. Too bad he still has to contend with the media. At least he didn’t have to spend the winter and spring answering questions about his team’s off-field shenanigans.

Quarterback Daryll Clark is back to trigger the spread that has replaced the old vanilla Penn State attack and has established Paterno as something of a 21st century guy. Not bad for someone who played in the single wing at Brown. Clark has a couple of strong backs at his disposal — Evan Royster and Stephfon Green — but the Lions need help along the line and at receiver, where they will likely be bigger but not as fast.

The healthy return of Sean Lee (ACL) gives the defense a big boost and restores faith in Linebacker U. But the secondary must be rebuilt, not the worst thing given its performance against USC in Pasadena, and pass rushers are needed.

The Lions have some questions, but with a soft non-conference schedule and eight home games, they can wait awhile for the answers.

This and That

One In A Hundred Daryll Clark’s career interception percentage is 1.68. He’s on pace to break the school record of 2.02 percent, which belongs to Wally Richardson.

Blank Slate Penn State’s 2009 nonconference schedule may be a dud, but better things are in store. The Nittany Lions have lined up games against Alabama (2010-11), Virginia (2012-13) and Rutgers (2014-15) in coming years

Help Wanted Penn State loses its top three wide receivers from a year ago with Deon Butler, Derrick Williams and Jordan Norwood taking with them a combined 1,932 yards and 17 touchdowns. The four returning WRs caught only 29 passes among them in 2008.

Penn State Superlatives

RB Evan Royster and LB Navorro Bowman (pictured) are named Second-Team All America and First-Team All-Big Ten.

C Stefen Wisniewski and DT Jared Odrick are named Third-Team All-America and First-Team All-Big Ten.

QB Daryll Clark and OL Dennis Landolt are named First-Team All-Big Ten.

LB Sean Lee joins the All-Big Ten Second Team.

Your Turn

Tell us what you think! Agree or disagree with our rankings? Rank your Top 25 to be a part of Athlon's readers' consensus Top 25 poll.

Order your magazine! You can read the entire Penn State preview in Athlon Sports' 2009 Big Ten magazine, available for purchase now at the Athlon Sports store.

Come back often! Be sure to return to AthlonSports.com every day for complete preseason coverage, including the rest of the top 25, unit rankings, previews for all 120 teams, regional features and more!