This time previous year Michigan State was getting primed for a run to the Big Ten Championship and College Football Playoff.
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Talk also about confidence from a monumental upset over Ohio State, or the motivational stylings of head coach James Franklin that have kept his team focused ever since as other possible catalysts for a seven-game win streak that has the No. 8 Nittany Lions seventh in the CFP rankings and a win and some help away from the Big Ten Championship Game.
Penn State (10-2, 8-1 Big Ten, No. 7 CFP) edged No. 2 Ohio State for the East title, setting up a conference championship game against West victor Wisconsin next week in Indianapolis.
Ohio State and Penn State are setting up for quite the potential problem for the College Football Playoff selection committee.
Redshirt freshman Mike Watkins scored a career-high 20 points and added eight rebounds and four blocks to lead Penn State to a 74-68 victory at George Washington on Saturday. After Penn State lost all three starting linebackers – Brandon Bell, Jason Cabinda and Nyeem Wartman-White just three games into the 2016 season, Pry could have had had a big “Oh, s–” moment.
Accordingly, Michigan’s monster matchup with Ohio State in the final week of the regular season has monumental playoff implications.
Pry stepped into the void when Bob Shoop left for Tennessee in the offseason and Penn State did not miss a beat. MSU has taken home the Land Grant trophy three consecutive times and leads the series 15-14-1. This will be the first meeting since November 30, 2013, when Penn State won 31-24 in a wild game in Madison. Without that play, Penn State probably still has a fine season, but many critics would still be wondering if Franklin can win against a ranked opponent. Scott sits at seventh in the conference with 935 rushing yards, but he sees significantly less carries in the Spartans’ run-by-committee offense.
Penn State: With injuries mounting, Penn State appeared destined for another ho-hum season at best after a Week 4 loss to MI dropped the Nittany Lions to 2-2. The vibes were bad enough that athletic director Sandy Barbour had to publicly refute speculation that Franklin’s seat was hot.
“What we went through at linebacker, in the short term, it wasn’t a whole lot of fun”, Franklin said Tuesday. “But overall it was a really, really good step for us”.
Now, the team will have a chance for a Big Ten championship for the first time since 2008. Even when you rule out six sacks during that time, the average still is impressive at 2.2 yards per carry.
There is no obvious statistical measure valued by coaches in which Penn State’s defense hasn’t improved since September. The Nittany Lions also have losses to Pitt and MI, but since getting blown out by the Wolverines they have won eight straight games.
A year ago Barkley wowed the nation with his hurdles, spin moves and power while lowering his shoulder on the way to a 1,000-yard season.
No one has been running much against either team lately.
Godwin caught five balls for 135 yards and two scores, including a 59-yarder.
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Meanwhile, Houston has completed 63.9 percent of his throws, tallying 912 yards with five touchdowns to three picks this season.
