STATE COLLEGE | After the Blue-White Game on Saturday, Penn State football coach James Franklin made a pit stop for the "Hype Cam" in the Beaver Stadium tunnel. Franklin delivered an animated pitch, as many of his players did, for a social media video plugging the Nittany Lions' season-opener Aug. 30 against Nevada.

Spring storyline: The Nittany Lions snagged Jim Knowles, who just coordinated the No. 1 defense in college football last season at Ohio State. Penn State made him the highest-paid coordinator in the country ($3.1 million). Knowles will begin molding the Nittany Lions defense this spring, with plenty of talent to deploy.

See why the Penn State receivers may finally be able to uphold their part of a national championship-caliber team.

Importantly, Franklin and Penn State always focus their portal attention on players they recruited in high school or have some other connection to. While the Nittany Lions didn’t offer Campbell during his prep days, Penn State’s Rojas — a fellow Virginia native — has already made votes of confidence for Campbell on social media.

The top transfer portal linebackers still available include Amare Campbell (from North Carolina), Andrew Simpson ( Boise State) and Shay Taylor (Ohio University). Frank Bodani covers Penn State football for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him at [email protected] and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @YDRPennState.