#3 Penn State 28, Wisconsin 13
These Nittany Lions have transformed shitty first halves into a fine art of deception, finding ways to win games in the second half with stout defense paving the way. Whether they deserve a #3 ranking is arguable and will be moot after next week, which figures to be the toughest game of the season, against The Ohio State University. Our Penn State fanboys, known here as The Sanguinarians, are already planning their playoff excursions, thinking past next week’s game, but I digress.
Injuries made this game more interesting than it already would have been. When Drew Allar limped off the field after a twisting, knee hyperextending sack late in the second quarter with Wisconsin sporting a 10-7 lead, big question marks popped up. Beau Pribula, although experienced, had never been in this position before. He was up to the challenge and with the help of the defense, won it for the Lions with a strong second half performance.
After the first half, I was concerned that the Badgers’ big offensive line would wear down the PSU defense, but the opposite was the case. The stalwart Penn State defense held Wisconsin to three points, while scoring seven themselves on a Jaylen Reed interception of Braedyn Locke to get the Lions back on top for good 14-13. The Nittany Lions have outscored opponents 66-6 in third quarters of games this year.
Next Week: The Time Has Come
Next week, the #4 Ohio State Buckeyes will provide Penn State’s stiffest challenge of the year. The quality of competition momentarily increases. Just because the Buckeyes sleepwalked through the Nebraska game today does not make them any less formidable. They’re not invincible, but their only loss was to #1 Oregon. Penn State, although undefeated, has played no one in the Top Ten. Whether its signature victory was Bowling Green, Illinois, or USC, or ‘none of the above’, the fact remains that they are untested against withering, Top Ten opposition.
The Nittany Lions are likely to preserve their #3 ranking, and Ohio State will probably still be #4. This sets up the 374th Game of the Century between #3 and #4 at High Noon on November 2. The hype will be flying like the Blue Angels, ladies and gentlemen.
So, “we’ll see!”.
I’ll be back mid-week with a look at The Ohio State Schmuckeyes.
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Big Al says
This is certainly the most resilient Penn State team of the Franklin era. His prior teams would be 5-2 at this point and heading toward a 7-5 finish. If they played every game the way they did at Wisconsin I might even become a Franklin fanboy. Although I have a feeling that credit for the improvement probably belongs to certain players and/or the two new coordinators rather than JF himself.