BWI Live: A Penn State football podcast from Blue White Illustrated

Latest Episodes:

BWI Daily: Wrestling dominates Ryder, preview of postseason (with Greg Pickel) Feb 21, 2022

Show notes

Penn State wrestling concluded their dominance for the 2021-22 season by blanking Ryder 45-0 to cap an undefeated regular season. Reporter Greg Pickel joins the BWI Daily Edition to recap the win and give perspective to the team heading into the postseason.

They start with the fact that Penn State had a key lineup change on Sunday. As many had speculated, senior Brady Berge moved down to the 157-pound weight class to wrestle for the season’s final dual. But, according to Pickel, not only won, he gave Penn State something else. So is Berge set at 157? Pickel says there’s more to it than that and explains what he means.

To get a perspective on what the change means for head coach Cael Sanderson, Pickel discusses Creighton Edsell’s season at the 165-pound weight class and gives his thoughts on who helps Penn State score as many points as possible during a match.

T-Frank also asks Pickel to give his perspective on the latest undefeated season for the Nittany Lions. At times, it was an uneven year with lineup changes and injuries for Sanderson’s squad. S, 2hat characteristics made up this run? Senior Roman Bravo-Young is one player that T-Frank and Pickel have not discussed as much. Brave-Young burst onto the scene as a freshman with viral video-making moves during matches. How has the senior matured over the last four years? Also, what are his indications about a return for a COVID extension?

Finally, they turn their attention to the postseason. Is Penn State set up for a run at another Big Ten and NCAA Championship?

From there, they move on to discuss Penn State football, which is one month from the start of spring practice. So who are the players or positions that Pickel is interested in learning more about next month? He gives his thoughts about that, and then T-Frank follows up with a discussion about the defensive end position. Penn State has targeted several edge defenders in the transfer portal. Does that mean they’re unhappy with the progress of some of their younger players? Or is it simply a numbers game?

Finally, the duo wraps up by discussing the news that the College Football playoff will not be expanding until the current contract runs out in four years. T-Frank and Greg give their thoughts on the topic about if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

BWI Live: Big win for hoops and winter workouts for football Feb 21, 2022

Show notes

The Penn State football team is one month away from spring practice, and there is light at the end of the tunnel for the winter. At the same time, Penn State basketball is coming down the home stretch for their 2021-22 season. The BWI Live crew of Thomas Frank Carr, Nate Bauer, and Dave Eckert cover all of that and take your questions live at noon on YouTube.

As always, they'll start with football. Penn State is coming into the final weeks of winter conditioning. Who has made the most progress? Who is standing out? That information should be coming your way shortly with max testing day. It also means that new head strength coach Chuck Losey will have his media introduction. Hear what the BWI Live team expects.

The show will also touch on THON, Penn State athletics involvement this weekend, and the record-setting efforts by the organization this year.

After that, they'll take your questions and comments about Penn State football or basketball. Have an opinion? Please share it with the show live in the chat function, and the panelists will answer the best ones live on the show.

After that, the audience is encouraged to participate in this week's 2022 prediction game. This week's topic will focus on 2022 post-season honors. Which player is most likely to earn All-Big 10 honors? Who will make the highest team? Each panelist will choose a Penn State player and then give their reasons for selecting that player. The winner will be selected based on the most votes in the comments section at the show's end.

Finally, BWI live will look at the Penn State basketball coming up Monday night against Maryland. The Nittany Lions are one road and trying to string together a three-game winning streak. Can they do it? What are the key matchups to watch? Bauer and Eckert will break down the game and give their thoughts.

Tune in at noon on YouTube to BWI

BWI Daily: Hoops gets big wins, Dotson draft projection breakdown with Dave Eckert Feb 18, 2022

Show notes

This week, Penn State basketball took a step forward with two key wins in the Big Ten. First, they secured an upset victory over Michigan State on Tuesday night. Next, trounced Minnesota in a COVID-19 rescheduled game 67-46 yesterday afternoon to start a potential winning streak. Basketball reporter Dave Eckert joins the BWI Daily Edition to discuss that and a look ahead to a critical part of the Nittany Lions' schedule.

First, he and host Thomas Frank Carr have a fun discussion about the 2022 NFL Draft. Penn State's lone player that seems to be a projected first-round draft pick is wide receiver, Jahan Dotson. However, most mock draft sites see him as a late Day One pick. So T-Frank and Eckert go through the final seven teams in the draft to find the best fit for the former Nittany Lion.

The list includes:

25) Buffalo Bills

26) Tennessee Titans

27) Tampa Bay Buccaneers

28) Green Bay Packers

29) Miami Dolphins (via SF)

30) Kansas City Chiefs

31) Cincinnati Bengals

32) Detriot Lions (via LAR)

Which team has the right blend of talent, scheme fit, and need? T-Frank and Eckert discuss.

After that, they dive into Penn State Basketball's demolition of Minnesota on Thursday afternoon. What led to such a dominant performance? How did Penn State finally put a complete game together? T-Frank asks Eckert those questions and more about Penn State's back-to-back wins. Eckert also points out a pivotal bonus to the Lion's lopsided win over Minnesota that can serve them well late in the season. Additionally, he asks for updates on several key players and their performance in the most recent victories.

What is the status of Greg Lee? They wrap up the show discussing when Penn State needs to enter the conversation for postseason play under first-year head coach Micah Shrewsberry.

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BWI Daily: Mailbag with Nate Bauer Feb 17, 2022

Show notes

Penn State football is in the middle of winter conditioning, hard at work to shape the futuer of the football team for next fall. Who is emerging out of the crowd? Who isn't mentioned by assistant coaches each week? Senior Editor for Nate Bauer and host of the BWI Daily Edition, Thomas Frank Carr discuss that topic, and more. It's a mailbag episode of the Daily where they take your questions and answer them on the show. If you ever want to get a question on the show, follow @thomasfrankcarr on Twitter, or become a member of Blue White Illustrated, and ask a question on the Lions Den message forum.

They start the show with a quick recap of Penn State basketball's big win over Michigan State on Tuesday night. It resulted from several weeks of frustratingly close losses for the Nittany Lions under head coach Micah Shrewsberry. Bauer details how the game went down and what it means for the team going forward.

Next, they get into the questions asked by fans.

They start with a question regarding one of T-Frank's articles this week where he spoke to former Penn State lineman Eric Wilson. Was the offensive line overthinking their assignements due to critical evaluation by offensive line coach Phil Trautwein? First, T-Frank explains what he heard from Wilson during his conversation with the NFL hopeful on the Paydirt Podcast with Tom Hannifan. Then, Nate gives his thoughts on the situation and looks at the problem differently.

From there, they spend a good deal of time discussing which Penn State players are making noise in the assistant coaches' weekly tweets from winter workouts. Each Tuesday and Thursday, position coaches will single out the most competitive or outstanding player from their group to highlight on social media. How much should you read into this? Which players are getting mentioned? T-Frank and Bauer have a fun discussion about this topic from multiple angles.

They follow that up with questions about spring football, Sean Clifford, and even Penn State basketball recruiting. To hear the entire conversation, check out the episode.

BWI Daily: Ross Tucker Interview on J'ven Williams Feb 16, 2022

Show notes

When four-star offensive lineman J'ven Williams announced that he was committing to Penn State this winter, he thanked several people. One of those people was former NFL offensive lineman and host of the Ross Tucker football podcast, Ross Tucker. The former Princeton offensive lineman joins the BWI Daily Edition to discuss his role in J'ven's recruitment and fill host Thomas Frank Carr in on what type of person the Nittany Lions are getting.

Before getting to Williams, Tucker and T-Frank discuss Penn State's recent recruiting of former Ivy League offensive linemen from the transfer portal. Does Tucker think it's a good plan? And what is it like, jumping from the Ivy League to the NFL or Power Five football? As someone who did just that, Tucker gives his insight into the transition and what Penn State is getting by selecting mature players with playing experience at the offensive line position.

Also, as a former player who wanted to play for the university, would Tucker have made the same move? He reminisces about his recruitment and interaction with former Penn State football players in the NFL.

After that, Tucker opens up about his role in Williams' recruitment. He explains how they met and what he initially saw from the 6-4 sophomore. He also gives glowing reviews of Williams as a person.

From there, they discuss the improvements Williams made this past season that led to a Penn State offer. Tucker then explains how the Wyomissing lineman has been proactive in his approach to school. Where does he need to improve? Williams lines up in various positions for his high school offense, but they run a unique scheme. They discuss how that translates to the next level and what roles he could fit best for the Nittany Lions.

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BWI Daily: More portal options at O-line, wrestling update (with Greg Pickel) Feb 15, 2022

Show notes

Penn State football has another option on the transfer market for their offensive line, wrestling is set for their final dual and more this week. Reporter Greg Pickel joins the BWI Daily Edition to discuss that with host Thomas Frank Carr.

T-Frank and Pickel start with Penn State wrestling head coach Cael Sanderson’s comments from his Monday press conference. Did Sanderson give an update about where Brady Berge will wrestle for the postseason? Pickel gets into Sanderson’s comments about where the one-time retiree will fit going forward now that he’s back on the team. Penn State pulled him from the lineup over the last two weeks and Pickel gives his thoughts on the situation.

Next, they discuss the rest of the lineup and assess just how set Penn State is at their weaknesses from earlier in the year. Will Sanderson wrestle is best this weekend as a tune-up for the Big Ten Tournament? What did the team do in the bye week? Pickel gives his thoughts on what Sanderson indicated this week.

From there, they shift gears to discuss Penn State football’s season opening game against Purdue. The news came out late last week that the game will now be on Thursday night instead of the traditional Saturday slot. Is this a good thing for Penn State and head coach James Franklin? Pickel shares the sentiments of fans he’s spoken to and then gives his thoughts. T-Frank follows with his comments on the ability for the Nittany Lions to play more showcase games.

After wrapping up their discussion about the fall opener, T-Frank and Pickel move on to the transfer portal. Western Kentucky offensive lineman Cole Spencer put his name into the portal this week and has immediately drawn interest from multiple schools looking for an offensive tackle. Pickel gives the details about the situation.

After that, T-Frank gives a quick overview of Spencer’s performance last season before engaging Greg in a larger discussion about the portal. Is Penn State’s patient approach this year paying off? They’ve extended offers to several quality prospects in recent weeks and waited to land offensive lineman Hunter Nourzad this month. They discuss the merits of this approach while Pickel points out a critical difference between this offseason and last offseason.

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Recruiting Pod: Latest on 2023 LB Phil Picciotti, OL Cole Spencer enters transfer portal Feb 15, 2022

Show notes

With recruiting news slowing down in the middle of the February dead period, Greg Pickel and Ryan Snyder open up our Feb. 15 podcast looking back on a variety of Penn State-related NFL topics.

In addition to Haley and Scott winning it all, there are a handful players in their original Penn State class, the Class of 2014, who are having great careers in the NFL. That list includes Mike Gesicki, Chris Godwin, Amani Oruwariye, Jason Cabinda, among others. Of course, Micah Parsons' emergence, winning Defensive Rookie of the Year, was also a positive for the Nittany Lions. The guys discuss how his success should only help Penn State on the recruiting trail in the months ahead.

After that, they get into another Pennsylvania linebacker in Class of 2023 prospect Phil Picciotti. A four-star player from Pennridge, Picciotti recently finalized his spring visit schedule, which Ryan published Tuesday morning. They look at what's key for Penn State moving forward and a notable school who longer appears to be a serious contender with Perkasie native.

The transfer portal was also discussed. Penn State recently started following Western Kentucky offensive lineman Cole Spencer on Twitter this week. An All-Conference USA selection in 2021, Spencer has a host of schools who also appear to be interested following his entry into the transfer portal. Ryan discusses who those programs are, as well as two other transfer portal targets in Raiqwon O'Neal and Tyler Steen.

They finish out today's podcast discussing Penn State's rise in scholarship offers extended in recent years. During the first half of James Franklin's tenure, the Nittany Lions never surpassed 200 scholarship offers extended in a class. In 2022, they offered more than 360, and are on pace for even more in 2023.

Why the change? Ryan gives his thoughts.

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BWI Daily: Three player who need to ace the Combine Feb 14, 2022

Show notes

While the current Penn State football players are hard at work in the weight room getting ready for the 2022 season, eight former Nittany Lions are gearing up for the next step in their career. Starting Tuesday, March 1st, these players will put their skills to the test at the annual NFL Combine in Indianapolis in front of 32 teams.

Which players need to make the most of an impact? You can make a case for any one of them, but host Thomas Frank Carr has picked three players to represent the three critical data-gathering facets of the Combine.

After a quick introduction about the Penn Staters that won Super Bowl LVI, T-Frank starts with the interview portion of the Combine. Most fans are not aware of the 15-minute interview sessions outside of the skills testing on the field during the week in Indy. Players meet with interested teams in scheduled blocks of time to ask just about any question they want. While the most bizarre questions make it to the light of day, the more serious questions about play, performance, and personality don't. So who needs to ace the interview portion the most? T-Frank has a candidate that he thinks fits that situation perfectly.

Next, he focuses on the testing portion of the Combine. From the famous 40-yard dash to the vertical leap, one player needs to post excellent numbers more than the other seven representatives from Penn State. So why is Jesse Luketa the pick? After all, he just finished an impressive week at the Senior Bowl. T-Frank explains.

Finally comes the medical examinations at the Combine. Who has the most checkered injury past? Penn State does not give public details regarding injuries, so this is a murkier topic. Despite that, one player stands out.

Finally, T-Frank addresses one related topic to the Combine and the players mentioned on the show. Did some players, like Luketa, make a mistake by declaring for the draft? Would one more year of development change their draft slotting? T-Frank gives his thoughts on what he thinks is a warped perception of money, draft position, and value.

#PennState #NittanyLions

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BWI Live: Penn State in the Super Bowl, offseason work, Hoops Feb 14, 2022

Show notes

Two Penn State football players are Super Bowl champions this morning. The Los Angeles Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 in Super Bowl LVI last night in LA. Starting safety Nick Scott and backup corner Grant Haley earned their first Super Bowl rings as a part of the Rams. The BWI Live crew of Nate Bauer, Dave Eckert, and Thomas Frank Carr will discuss that and more on the BWI Live Monday Recap show.

They'll start with the Super Bowl and discuss the fanfare around the game, the moments that stood out, and the unique stories of Scott and Haley. While they'll only spend a short time on the game last night, they will discuss Penn State's next round of NFL hopefuls later in the show.

Before that, they'll look at the current Nittany Lions, who are amid winter workouts. The only window into that world right now is the social media tweets from positional coaches each day. Should Penn State fans read into this? Who needs to stand out? The group will give their thoughts.

Next, they'll look ahead to the spring. The official start date of spring practice came out last week, so with just over a month away, the trio will discuss the practices and what they're thinking about heading into next month.

After that, they'll take questions from the audience and hear what you want to talk about with Penn State sports!

Next, they'll get to the weekly competition between the panel. Which current Penn State prospect in the 2022 NFL Draft process will make the best pro? Each panelist will pick a player and explain why they think that player will be the best of this group. The audience is encouraged to vote on the topic to decide which argument is the best.

Finally, they'll break down Penn State basketball's 76-70 loss to Minnesota on Saturday. Bauer and Eckert will discuss the defensive issues and turnover that led to the loss for head coach Micah Shrewsberry's squad, but they'll mostly talk about his comments from after the game.

Shrewsberry called out the officiating for not giving Penn State's players a fair shake when calling fouls last week. Is that fair to say? Bauer and Eckert will examine the evidence and discuss it.

Live at noon on YouTube!

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BWI Daily: Mailbag with Nate Bauer, Super Bowl Preview with Solomon Wilcots Feb 11, 2022

Show notes

This week, Penn State football is amid winter workouts while the rest of the sports world is eagerly awaiting the end of the 2021-22 football season with Super Bowl LVI on Sunday. Host Thomas Frank Carr tackles both topics on today's BWI Daily Edition.

He answers the show by answering viewer mailbag questions with Senior editor of Blue White Illustrated, Nate Bauer. The two take questions from both Lions Den Forum subscribers and questions submitted on Twitter.

The first topic they dive into deals with the transfer portal. This week, Penn State just secured a commitment from offensive lineman Hunter Nourzad, but they have other holes. Will Penn State be able to fill those holes with a quality player before the start of the 2022 season? T-Frank and Bauer discuss.

Next, they tackle the question of the offensive line. In recent weeks, Penn State has been racking up victories in recruiting with offensive line coach Phil Trautwein. But what about the players on the roster? Are any players from the Class of 2020 ready? Who has the pressure to step up? Again, T-Frank and Bauer have differing views.

From there, they discuss several other questions, including clarifying T-Frank's earlier comments regarding the complexity of the offense under Mike Yurcich. They also dip into the world of analyst hires and ponder if Penn State is done adding talent off the field.

Finally, they discuss the retirement of Penn State strength coach Dwight Galt III. Did Penn State make the right decision by not opening up an external search? How has the transition from Galt to new strength coach Chuck Losey gone? Bauer and T-Frank give their thoughts on the matter.

After wrapping up with Bauer, T-Frank shifts gears and looks ahead to Super Bowl LVI in Los Angeles. Emmy award-winning broadcaster and former NFL player Solomon Wilcots joins T-Frank to preview the game from radio row in LA.

They start by discussing former Penn State safety Nick Scott, who has been having a phenomenal playoff run for the Los Angeles Rams after stepping in due to injury. Wilcots explains his game and what it takes to play well at safety in the NFL.

From there, they discuss the critical matchups and players that will determine the game's outcome on Sunday night.

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