College football is filled with fascinating and heated rivalries that catch the attention of fans across the nation, but every once in a while, a rivalry that makes little sense on the surface arises.
When you think of great college football rivalries, you probably think of Ohio State and Michigan or Alabama and Auburn or Pitt and West Virginia. These rivalries last all year round, because not only do these teams play each other often, if not annually, they recruit against each other because of their proximity to their rival.
These rivalries make sense, but what about Missouri and Penn State?
No, the up and comer in the SEC and the Big Ten mainstay aren’t scheduling each other, but they are competing for two high-profile recruits in the 2025 recruiting cycle.
The two recruits the Tigers and Nittany Lions find themselves battling for are 4-star quarterback Matt Zollers and 4-star tight end Andrew Olesh, both from Pennsylvania. It’s not often Missouri comes up North to target recruits, but after an 11-2 season and a Cotton Bowl victory, head coach Eli Drinkwitz and company have momentum the program hasn’t seen in years.
Penn State was one of the first programs to offer Zollers, with the Nittany Lions extending an offer in November of 2023. His offer from Missouri came in the middle of January, but despite the head start from Penn State, both programs are on equal footing in this recruitment.
Zollers released a top four group of schools he will be focusing on, and that group consisted of Pitt, Goergia, Missouri and Penn State. Georgia is certainly a factor, but it has its eyes on other quarterbacks as well. For Missouri and Penn State, Zollers is the No. 1 guy.
As a junior at Spring-Ford High School in Royersford, PA, Zollers completed 62% of his passes for 2,917 yards, 37 touchdowns and just two interceptions. He added another 7 rushing touchdowns. He’s jumped up recruiting rankings, with On3 listing him as the No. 17 overall recruit in the 2025 class. Considering he’s released a top group; a decision could be coming in the coming months.
As for Olesh, he hasn’t released a top group or given any intentions of committing soon, but his recruitment has exploded since the calendar turned to 2024. Penn State offered him towards the end of January and then multiple big-time programs followed suit in February, including Ole Miss, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama and Missouri.
This is not uncommon in college football, once one national brand starts paying attention to a recruit, others follow.
Given the way his recruitment has taken off recently, it may be a while until Olesh comes to any type of decision.
With that said, could a decision from Zollers in the coming months impact what Olesh does? It’s possible, the two 4-star recruits’ high school are just 32 miles from each other with Olesh attending Southern Lehigh High School. With Olesh being a tight end, having a quarterback who you are familiar with attend the same college as you can be appealing.
For Penn State and head coach James Franklin, the draw is for these two recruits to stay home and bring more success to the premiere college football team in the state of Pennsylvania. Franklin has hammered home the motto “Dominate the state” in recruiting since arriving to Penn State in 2014. Missing out on this quarterback/tight end duo would be a tough pill for him and the fan base to swallow.
For Missouri, the Tigers can sell Zollers and Olesh on the idea of being key pieces of Missouri’s ascent up the college football ladder, and with the College Football Playoff expanding to 12 teams, the door has never been more wide open for new teams to contend for the national championship. Not to mention the very generous NIL donation the Missouri program just received, that may come in handy here.
Other programs are involved for the Pennsylvania duo. Georgia is very much in play for Zollers and the likes of Alabama and Michigan just entered the competition for Olesh, but the common variable in both recruitments being Missouri and Penn State is notable.
There’s a good chance these two recruitments lead to one of the best off the field rivalries in college football in 2024, and possibly beyond.