Hasn’t this college football season just been remarkable? In one of the more memorable seasons in recent years, we enter conference championship week with several outstanding storylines. The College Football Playoff picture is now abundantly clear, with teams controlling their own destiny knowing exactly what they have to do for a shot at a national championship: win.
The PSU Review:
Image Source: Penn State capped off the 2022 regular season in convincing fashion on Saturday, pulling away late in a 35-16 win over the Michigan State Spartans. On senior day and in Sean Clifford’s last game in Beaver Stadium, the Nittany Lions played with heart and grit. A potential Rose Bowl or Cotton Bowl birth is now on the horizon for Penn State in what has been an ultimately very successful year.
Much of the disparity between the previous two years and this year can be attributed to the emergence of a run game for Penn State this year. Newly named Big Ten freshman of the year Nick Singleton and his backfield mate Kaytron Allen totally changed the culture of this offense. With both showing their exceptional potential, the Nittany Lion run game should be in great shape over the next several years.
On Monday, projected top-10 NFL draft pick OT Olu Fashanu announced his surprising return to Penn State next season. It can not be understated how massive this is for the Nittany Lions. Retaining one of the best offensive lineman in the country at the tackle position will only serve to strengthen the run game developed this year and protect Drew Allar.
Some may look at this season as a failure, but that is far from the truth. Understandably so, fans want to see Penn State’s first birth in the College Football Playoff. Fans are tired of seeing the Nittany Lions fall in behind the ranks of Ohio State and Michigan every year. Fans want to see to step this program needs to take from being great to elite. If this season will tell me one thing, it is coming. Being ranked #8 in the country following rivalry week, with your only losses being to #2 and #5, can’t possibly be frowned upon. Besides the Purdue game at the beginning of the year, Penn State has won by a double digit margin in all of their victories.
Dominating performances against Auburn, Minnesota, Indiana, Maryland, Rutgers stand out as some of the top games of the season. In what many projected to be a bit of a “rebuilding season” with so much young talent, Penn State blew those expectations out of the water with an impressive 10-2 showing. This team proved they are ready to take the next step, and that step is now within arm’s reach.
Around CFB
Rivalry week has waned and conference championship week has dawned. The scenarios regarding the eventual 4-team College Football Playoff have narrowed to only a few possibilities.
#2 Michigan’s rout of #5 Ohio State at The Shoe ideally locks them in regardless of the result of their Big Ten Championship game versus Purdue.
#1 Georgia enters the SEC Championship game versus LSU with a 99.9% chance to make the playoff.
#3 TCU needs a win versus #10 Kansas State in the Big 12 Championship Game to remove any speculation from the committee to remove them from the playoff picture.
#4 USC’s goal is simple: win. USC must win versus the #11 Utah Utes in the PAC-12 championship to retain their position within the CFP.
#5 Ohio State is on the outside looking in, hoping for a USC-loss to hopefully sneak their way back into the top-4.
Reiterating an earlier point, championship week could not be more jam-packed this weekend. Playoff destinies lie in the hands of several games across the slate. The college football world will be tuned in as the road to the College Football Playoff and National Championship is determined.
