Penn State didn’t land Trey Tagliaferri, but the Nittany Lions still ended up with a reason to smile.
Notre Dame’s sudden loss of its 2028 quarterback commit has sent Penn State fans and analysts into a quiet victory lap, especially after the way the timing played out. The Fighting Irish watched Tagliaferri, a Bergen Catholic quarterback, back off his pledge and then commit to Oklahoma one day later. For Penn State, the whole sequence looked a lot less painful because the program had already secured its own quarterback target just 24 hours earlier.
Victory Bell Rings analyst Sydney Ciano pointed to that sequence as the key reason Penn State came out looking smart. James Armstrong committed to Penn State on Thursday, then followed it with a message saying the “best in PA stay in PA.” Ciano noted that Armstrong is the No. 12 ranked quarterback in the class and the No. 5 prospect from Pennsylvania, according to Rivals Industry Ratings, and called him exactly the kind of in-state talent Penn State needed while building out its 2028 class.
That’s where the Tagliaferri angle comes in. Ciano argued that when the Notre Dame decommitment happened, some observers may have wondered whether Penn State coach James Franklin should have pushed harder for the New Jersey native. But Franklin stuck with Armstrong, and that decision now looks even better with Tagliaferri headed to Oklahoma.
There’s also the detail that Tagliaferri took an unofficial visit to Penn State before choosing Notre Dame. It was his third trip to Happy Valley and his second since Campbell took over. Even with that connection, Penn State didn’t chase him once Armstrong was in the fold.
“At quarterback, though, Campbell shouldn't turn his head away from Armstrong,” Ciano added “And, luckily, he didn't. He has his guy and sticking by Armstrong was the right choice.”
Notre Dame, meanwhile, is back to sorting through the 2028 quarterback board after a decommitment that reportedly caught even people close to the program off guard. The timing made it sting more, too, because the Irish had apparently held back on other top quarterback options while Tagliaferri was committed.
Kingston Preyear is one example. He dropped Notre Dame from his favorites just a few days after Tagliaferri announced his commitment, and that came just before the New Jersey quarterback backed off his own pledge.
If Notre Dame had already been operating under the assumption that Tagliaferri was their guy, Preyear may now be out of reach. Freeman and his staff will learn more on July 10.
For Penn State fans, it’s a rare chance to enjoy a Notre Dame setback from a distance. It doesn’t change the Nittany Lions’ own recruiting haul, but it does leave them feeling pretty good about how things shook out.
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