#8 Penn State Nittany Lions vs. Rutgers Scarlet Knights The Records: Penn State (8-2, 6-1 Big Ten); Rutgers (2-8, 0-7 Big Ten) The Head Coaches: Penn State: James Franklin, third season, 46-29 overall, 22-14 at Penn State; Rutgers: Chris Ash, 2-8 record at Rutgers and overall. The Game: Penn State hits the road for its penultimate regular-season conference match-up against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Saturday night at 8:00 p.m. The Scarlet Knights come into Saturday night's game ... Read More
Bowl game picture getting clearer for Penn State
Following the College Football Playoff (CFP) rankings being released Tuesday night, the 8-2 Penn State Nittany Lions now sit at No. 8 in the playoff committee's ranking to go along with being ranked No. 9 in the AP Top 25 and No. 10 in the Coaches Poll. While making the College Football Playoff remains a long shot, the bowl game picture got much clearer after the chaos this past weekend. The Nittany Lions continue to be a legitimate contender in the Big Ten Championship race, currently ... Read More
Chaos puts Penn State in thick of Playoff Race
“What marvelous chaos!” That saying, usually reserved for the NHL by award-winning announcer (and Pittsburgh Pirates fan) Mike “Doc” Emrick, perfectly encapsulated this weekend's college football games. The No. 10 Penn State Nittany Lions entered the weekend needing a perfect storm to make the Big Ten championship game as well as to be considered for the College Football Playoff. Saturday night, the perfect storm started to pick up major steam. Coming into the weekend, to make the Big Ten ... Read More
Cheers and Jeers: Penn State grinds out victory over Indiana
The No. 10 Penn State Nittany Lions (8-2, 6-1 Big Ten) ground their way to a 45-31 victory over the Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, IN. Here are the game's “Cheers and jeers.” Cheers Forcing turnovers— Penn State's defensive and special teams units forced four fumbles in the first half alone against the Hoosiers. Three came by way of the defense, while the fourth was on a punt that touched an Indiana player before it was downed. But only the muffed ... Read More
Penn State looks to continue winning ways against Hoosiers
#10 Penn State Nittany Lions vs. Indiana Hoosiers The Records: Penn State (7-2, 5-1 Big Ten); Indiana (5-4, 3-3 Big Ten) The Head Coaches: Penn State: James Franklin, third season, 45-29 overall, 21-14 at Penn State; Indiana: Kevin Wilson, 25-45 record while head coach at Indiana and overall. The Game: Penn State enters Saturday afternoon's game with an 18-1 overall record against Indiana, dating back to 1993 when the Nittany Lions joined the Big Ten. The lone victory for the Hoosiers ... Read More
Happy Valley: A Roar Restored
Five years ago this month, the college sports landscape changed forever when a major scandal broke at Penn State. Legends were fired, a former assistant coach was arrested, and a community was shaken to its core. Restoring the roar in Happy Valley has been a tough and arduous task filled with sanctions, firings, tough losses and coaching changes, but, for the first time since 2011, the Penn State football team and its surrounding community have something to be happy about. It's been seven ... Read More
Penn State ranked No. 10 in new playoff poll
For the first time since 2009, the Penn State Nittany Lions are back in college football's top-10. In Tuesday's College Football Playoff poll, the Nittany Lions (7-2, 5-1 Big Ten) were ranked 10th, behind fellow Big Ten teams Michigan (No. 3), Ohio (No. 5) and Wisconsin (No. 7) and were in front of Nebraska (No. 19). The Nittany Lions were ranked No. 12 in last week's CFP Committee's release (the first of the season), but a dominant 41-14 win over the Iowa Hawkeyes and some losses to teams ... Read More
Penn State validates ranking with dismantling of Iowa
The Penn State Nittany Lions found themselves ranked No. 12 when the initial College Football Playoff poll was released Tuesday evening, and they spent Saturday night proving why they deserved to be ranked so high. The Nittany Lions marched down the field in 2:17 on the opening possession to put the first of many touchdowns on the board against the Iowa Hawkeyes in front of 106,194 people at Beaver Stadium. Penn State went on to score 34 more points on the evening, defeating the Hawkeyes ... Read More
Cheers and Jeers: Balanced attack leads Penn State over Iowa
The No. 12 Penn State Nittany Lions (7-2, 5-1 Big Ten) found the endzone on their first possession and never looked back in a 41-14 victory over the Iowa Hawkeyes on Saturday night at Beaver Stadium. Here are the game's “Cheers and jeers.” Cheers Defense playing at top-10 level— Penn State's defense forced a turnover on downs on the first possession of the game for Iowa and was dominant in all facets of the game Saturday evening. Iowa entered the game averaging 348.1 total yards of offense, ... Read More
Penn State gets statement win in rout of Purdue
While the upset over Ohio State was the signature win that had eluded head coach James Franklin for the majority of his three-years at Penn State, the 62-24 win Saturday over Purdue served as a big statement win for both him and the program. After the emotional high of defeating the then-No. 2 team in the country (and a big rival, to boot), Saturday's game had the possibility of being a considerable let down. The Nittany Lions were on the road against a team with an interim head coach looking ... Read More