Penn State is coming off one of the most dominant victories of the James Franklin era, and the Nittany Lions are beginning to turn some heads with the level of play. But in what has been an eventful start to the season with rankings being reshuffled a couple of times already, Penn State has been somewhat consistently ranked in the polls and various power rankings.
ESPN updated its college football power rankings following the results of Week 4, and Penn State is ranked no. 8 this week. Penn State’s defense turned in a dominant performance against Iowa, but the struggles of the Hawkeye offense did not diminish the praise for Penn State’s defense.
“We know Iowa’s offense is bad, we know the Hawkeyes are banged up and, well, really bad offensively. But this was still a ridiculous defensive performance,” Bill Connelly of ESPN said in the updated power rankings.
“The game was pretty much over when Alex Felkins made a 46-yard field goal in the first quarter, but the Nittany Lions saw out an easy win over what is typically a frustrating opponent,” Connelly said.
As is typically the case with various power rankings, Georgia takes the top spot. And Michigan (no. 3) and Ohio State (no. 6) each rank ahead of Penn State. This is all just continuing to set the stage for a monster end to the Big Ten season beginning with Penn State’s road game at Ohio State on Oct. 21 and a mid-November meeting with Michigan.
And, of course, the regular season finale between the Buckeyes and Wolverines. All of those meetings look to carry some big stakes in the Big Ten East, Big Ten championship, and College Football Playoff races.
Of course, none of those games will matter as much if Penn State slips up elsewhere on the schedule. Penn State will travel to Northwestern as a heavy favorite this weekend.
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