1) Wisconsin......1-2 and will not be in the top 25 anymore
2) Ball State....1-3
3) Auburn....3-1 and should have lost to Ga State yesterday
4) Villanova.....3-1 a team who thought they were there for a Tip off and NOT kickoff yesterday ( and an FCS team )
Two wins over top 25 teams looks great on paper, but those teams are not good. And now they have Indiana ( 2-2 ) coming to town who barely got by Western Kentucky yesterday. Penn State WILL go to 5-0 and as far as I am concerned, THEY SHOULD BE 5-0 at this point with the talent they have vs the talent they played and will play next week.
All I am saying, they have 4 teams coming up, Iowa, Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State and as of TODAY, they are not the favorites in ANY of these games according to OUR friends at ESPN. And ALL four of these teams from what I can tell, are better than everyone that they have played so far.
I think Penn State can win out. Of the four mentioned teams, none of them are great. If Penn State can work on the Oline this week and JUST zero in on one feature RB and make Clifford throw at a Target about 5' high 10,000 times, then I think Penn State makes the Playoffs!
GO STATE!!!
Fair enough brother but what I see is Wisconsin having lost to 2 top 5 teams that they were in the game and had a chance to win with Auburn 3-1 only loss to #3 Penn State plus a 8 win game streak. We could’ve put up 50 yesterday and held Villanova to 3 points if James Franklin wanted too.4-0 baby 8 straight 😁
All I am saying is, Penn State is not there yet. There is NO DOUBT they have a very talented team. But, I am not seeing the offense clicking like I am seeing the defense clicking. We can praise Clifford all we want, and he deserves some great praise too! BUT, he has some short comings that need fixing real quick before they face Iowa. The Oline is the same way. Penn State can't rely on the big pass plays every game, it ain't going to work week after week. I truly believe if they can get balanced on offense, the sky is the limit for the rest of this season.
I think next Saturday night tells it all! They have 4 games under their belt. They know what is working and what is not. They have a score to settle with Indiana, and I don't care that Indiana is 2-2. They need to blow them out of the stadium and separate themselves from Indiana, NOW AND IN THE FUTURE! A few tweaks here and there is all they need. A good HC and OC can make these adjustments in 5 days. We saw an 0-5 team go to 4-0 ( and now 8-0 ), so is this a luck of the draw, playing some not so good teams, or are they adjusting week after after?
I need to see 150 plus yards on the ground next week and a 21 point win! THEN, and only THEN will I feel they are ready for Iowa!
GO STATE!
Villanova is a better team than most credit them. They are an experienced well coached group. I will make my Iowa prediction after PSU plays the Hawkeyes.
What are you talking about? We actually MOVED UP in ESPN's power rankings to #4 this week, ahead of any team in the Big Ten.
The power rankings are voted on by their staff writers, so I seriously doubt they have us as underdogs in all of those games
https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/32272282/college-football-power-rankings-week-4
1) Wisconsin......1-2 and will not be in the top 25 anymore
2) Ball State....1-3
3) Auburn....3-1 and should have lost to Ga State yesterday
4) Villanova.....3-1 a team who thought they were there for a Tip off and NOT kickoff yesterday ( and an FCS team )
Two wins over top 25 teams looks great on paper, but those teams are not good. And now they have Indiana ( 2-2 ) coming to town who barely got by Western Kentucky yesterday. Penn State WILL go to 5-0 and as far as I am concerned, THEY SHOULD BE 5-0 at this point with the talent they have vs the talent they played and will play next week.
All I am saying, they have 4 teams coming up, Iowa, Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State and as of TODAY, they are not the favorites in ANY of these games according to OUR friends at ESPN. And ALL four of these teams from what I can tell, are better than everyone that they have played so far.
I think Penn State can win out. Of the four mentioned teams, none of them are great. If Penn State can work on the Oline this week and JUST zero in on one feature RB and make Clifford throw at a Target about 5' high 10,000 times, then I think Penn State makes the Playoffs!
GO STATE!!!
I would have to agree with you and would fall short of thinking about how good this team is. That said, I think we are as good as any team (except Bama) but not as good on any given day. Our schedule is looking brutal and I highly doubt we can run the table, also take into consideration that as we go through this meat grinder, major and minor injuries are inevitable.
Hard to be objective but it looks like we are trying. I expect if I went to _______oftheroundtable site I would see the same questions from their Lazyboy Coaches and QB's.
Our schedule would look much better had Wisky won but it was a closer game than the score. And yes Auburn was behind which means more to me than the spread. We were never in doubt but the spread was much closer than reality. The Auburn QB that some of us were hoping to pick up in the portal really is not getting it done but that is a new staff and the team should continue to improve. UM, MSU and Iowa did not set the world on fire yesterday but they didn't CLEMSON either. Its College Football.
The reality check is more our run game? Not the schedule.
- That was the starting OL Line yesterday as best I could tell and yet the results were poor
- We are suppose to have a deep running back room but is it deep with 4-5 stars or 3*?
- It didn't look like V was doing anything special to stop the run.
- Is there some 'learning' a new blocking system with this new OC? I kind of doubt that is the problem. It is an execution problem or a strength problem attitude problem?
- Just played down to the competition?
I think we can compete with most teams right now. Everyone on our schedule we are competitive with but it still takes some luck because we are not significantly better than 2 to 4 of them which still suggests 2 losses before the B10 Championship. Can we get thru with 1 loss and win the B10? Sure but 15% chance in my mind right now. Show me a run game that is getting 150 yards per game and I'll readjust but they need to get 150 yards against IN and if it is done with 1 or 2 big runs I will still not feel good.
Maybe I am just being a little impatient! But going into week 4 against Villanova, I really thought our offense would look much better than they did. 38 points? That was great, no doubt about it. But it is was ALL the in between failed plays that just bothered me. Plays that just can't happen if you are going take out 4 more currently ranked teams on your schedule.
Coming off a big White Out game and then playing Nova at home (at noon) a week later definitely was a factor yesterday. But next Saturday night they BETTER look like a TOP 4 team against Indiana. I think we ALL agreed early this year that they had plenty talent to be good this season, I think it has been on display every game so far, and they also have shown that they are not a fine tuned offense as well.
IMO, I think Penn State is the best team in the BIG10 and I have watched them all play. AND YES, I think Penn State is BETTER than Ohio State and Penn State will win that game. If Penn State can get this running game turned around, they take THEM ALL OUT! This defense is REAL, Clifford is one great game away from being great and the coaches haven't made any bonehead calls so far....except for several of those 4th down plays they called. AND, they even improved with those against Villanova!
GO STATE!
@mtnittanylion Our offense scored on the 1st play of each 1/2, not unheard of, but still pretty good, even if it was "just" Villanova. I'm thinking they'll be ready to roll next Sat night.
We could’ve put up 50 and held Villanova to 3 if we wanted too. That’s what these gimme games are about, get a lead and let the backups get some snaps. Alabama, Georgia and Penn St are the 3 best teams from what I’ve seen.
I believe you have 6 teams that truly stand out right now...Penn State, Iowa, Michigan, Oregon, Bama and Georgia...Right now those are the top 6 teams in the country the way I see it...Michigan State, Maryland, Rutgers and the winner of the Cincy/Notre Dame game also stand out...The B1G eastern division is brutal this year...Every team except Indiana is very good...There are no gimme's...Who in the SEC or ACC is any good? I ain't sold on Florida and after that who in the SEC is any good?
Come on FD, Michigan State, Rutgers, Maryland and Cincinnati? Lol I’ll get laughed at if I bring up these teams being standouts around here lol
Well where I come from the games matter and those teams have won their games...Michigan State went down to Miami and drilled em by about the same score that Bama did...It is what it is...
And I have noted THAT!
I have complete confidence in Cliffords ability to burn ANY team deep! Especially when you have a Dobson on your team. AND NOW you got Parker W tasting the good life too! I think you got to go with Lovett to start this weekend. I am not saying he is the better of the backs, he just has something right now the others are still looking for. Lovett ran through the same Oline that the others did, he just hit the holes ( and I mean very small holes ) faster and saw what very little open space he had to work with and made it work.
I have NO DOUBT they will be ready for Indiana. I would think JF focused most off this week on the Oline and running game. I truly expect to see a solid running attack against Indiana.
GO STATE!
| MATCHUP | DATE | WIN % |
|---|---|---|
 Indiana |
Sat, Oct 02 | 82 |
 @Iowa |
Sat, Oct 09 | 47 |
 Illinois |
Sat, Oct 23 | 91 |
 @Ohio State |
Sat, Oct 30 | 27 |
 @Maryland |
Sat, Nov 06 | 65 |
 Michigan |
Sat, Nov 13 | 47 |
 Rutgers |
Sat, Nov 20 | 76 |
 @Michigan State |
Sat, Nov 27 | 46 |
Come on FD, Michigan State, Rutgers, Maryland and Cincinnati? Lol I’ll get laughed at if I bring up these teams being standouts around here lol
I wouldn't bet against MD just yet, they may have a Heisman candidate at QB and they've got a pretty good D. Don't be surprised if they beat Iowa this weekend which may make our trip into Kinnick even tougher. And you really shouldn't be laughing at any other team when you're a GT fan.
Prog
@psujoe I ain’t said anything about Ga Tech being a standout team but I would put GT up against Maryland, Rutgers and Michigan State
GT would be bottom feeder in any conference they play in other than ACC. You get your asses kicked annually by lowly sPitt and teams that are dominated by them get laughed at around here. And you think they could hang with loseRU lol !
Prog
@psujoe As of today I’m not happy with Geoff Collins but let the season finish out and see how they do. 3rd year and from what I see it ain’t gettin better.
Those are based off of ESPN's FPI, not the talking heads or analysts of ESPN. It's just a computer algorithm that uses previous years results to make odds.
When you said "friends at ESPN", I thought you were talking about actual people making predictions. While their FPI has us ranked #11, their own writers and analysts have us ranked #4
Penn State has a game this week that they should win and dominate...This is the type of game where you put a team away early and take all the piss and vinegar from em so you can pull the starters midway through the 3rd quarter and save wear and tear on your team along with getting the backups some valuable playing time...They can't be looking ahead or this is the type of game where you find yourself in a nail biter and you get guys hurt...I don't know about this matchupdate thing listed above but Penn State should be favored in every one of those ballgames...Most of them are going to be tough ballgames but Penn State should win them all...Iowa is a biggie but circle Maryland...That is the sandwich game between Ohio State and Michigan...That Maryland team is very good and Penn State can't afford a letdown on the road against that outfit...They are going to be laying for em and Penn State needs to be ready...If they are going to get upset that is the team to watch...
Penn State has a game this week that they should win and dominate...This is the type of game where you put a team away early and take all the piss and vinegar from em so you can pull the starters midway through the 3rd quarter and save wear and tear on your team along with getting the backups some valuable playing time...They can't be looking ahead or this is the type of game where you find yourself in a nail biter and you get guys hurt...I don't know about this matchupdate thing listed above but Penn State should be favored in every one of those ballgames...Most of them are going to be tough ballgames but Penn State should win them all...Iowa is a biggie but circle Maryland...That is the sandwich game between Ohio State and Michigan...That Maryland team is very good and Penn State can't afford a letdown on the road against that outfit...They are going to be laying for em and Penn State needs to be ready...If they are going to get upset that is the team to watch...
They barely beat WVU and Illinois, I wouldn't exactly say they are "very good" based on those games. We will certainly see how they measure up over the next 2 week when they play Iowa and Ohio State.
