The college football world was shaken up this week with big changes occurring all over the place. Number one had to be Clemson moving to number 25 in the rankings. It is just weird to see them that far back in the modern college football rankings based on their past success. Their offense looks terrible to be quite frank and it is just not something we are used to seeing from them. DJ may not be the move from the team and they are looking awfully similar to the early version of last year’s Oklahoma Sooners team. Maybe the bounce back maybe they don’t it is a waiting game to see what they will do this year. The top 5 also looks a lot different than it did last year with Iowa, Oregon, and Penn State all being there. It is really a question to see if they can hold on to their position and I think the Penn State team is the most intriguing. Let’s Rewind that Tape on Penn State.
The Nittany Lions have played some fantastic football over the course of the year, yet they also have shown some big weakness over the games this year. The wins vs Auburn and Wisconsin are the reason that they are in the top 5 this year. Their defense has been a big part of their success as they have been able to hold up their team when the offense has sputtered at times. Both of their big games they held their opponent to under 20 points a game. The Auburn game had kept the Nittany Lions in suspense, but once again they pulled out the game. With all these close games it is a question on wether Penn State can continue on. Can they continue to make close wins everywhere they go in the Big 10. It will definitely be tough and I am not completely backing this team to make a run late in the playoffs yet.
Once again the biggest part of this team is their defense. It kept them in the Wisconsin game when they were struggling on the offensive side. The Badgers defense was stifling which is why Penn State’s defense is so important this year. The Nittany Lions only put up 16 points in the entire game. Another thing is Penn State only had one first down before halftime of the game. It was not a great day for their offense yet they found a way to win the game which was quite shocking to be quite frank. They were able to create 3 turnovers including the game sealing interception in the Wisconsin side of the field. Just unbelievable that they were able to pull the game out despite the poor performance on the other side of the field. They are currently playing as a unit which is going to keep them going for now. The hope for their team is that every single player is able to keep their focus on. every single game.
The Auburn game had more of an even matchup with both teams going back and forth the entire game. It was a quality game and each team had moments where they could have won the game. The game ended with you guessed it, a Penn State defensive stop. Bo Nix had moments of confidence which showed the weakness in the Penn State defense and their offense was able to keep them fighting. The problem after seeing these two games in specific is their offensive inconsistency. I don’t see how that could work when they are in a game where the other offense is actually a top offense. They might not have to face that till later in the year, but Ohio State and Michigan are going to be the most likely the source of quality offense. If a team with a good offense were to play Penn State they should be able to take down this team. If they can beat the defense they can win the game. This is why Auburn was so close to beating them because they were able to pic apart their defense at different times during the game. This Penn State team seems a little bit overrated in relation to their ranking. We will see if they can find a way to win games when playing some much tougher teams down the road.
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