Penn State New Year's Six path strengthens; 10 wins equals great season for Lions: What they're saying
Penn State picked up its 10th win of the season Saturday night when it beat Michigan State 35-16. The Lions hit the double-digit wins mark for the first time since 2019. Head coach James Franklin’s team is now waiting to learn where it will play in the postseason. That news will be announced next Sunday.
“Obviously you want to try to go to the biggest games you possibly can go to,” Lions coach James Franklin said. “Has it changed it? Yeah, I think your point is a fair one. I think that’s why there’s so much talk about the expansion and the importance of the expansion, [and] I think there’s been stuff that’s been put out, if they go to a 12-team model, like everybody says is going to happen, and you know, how many times we would have had a chance to be in there.
“I think it’s still important to go to the biggest and the best games you possibly can in the postseason, and whether that is the New Years six bowl game or whatever, there’s still value in it.”
Here’s what is being said about the Lions locally and nationally after the regular season finale.
Penn State’s New Year’s Six path has strengthened
Mark Wogenrich of AllPenn State wasted no time diving into the bowl picture following a crazy day around college football. The Lions are expected to be in the top-10 of the penultimate College Football Playoff rankings when the new top-25 is released on Tuesday. That should have Franklin’s team locked into either the Rose, Cotton, or Orange bowl. The Cotton is the most likely destination at this point.
” This is Penn State’s most likely NY6 destination,” Wogenrich writes. “The Lions’ chances improved greatly with losses by LSU, Clemson and Oregon. In fact, the Lions are in a good spot, since they’ll likely be No. 8 in this week’s CFP rankings. That essentially would assure Penn State an at-large berth in the Cotton Bowl.
“If they return to the Cotton Bowl for the second time since 2019, the Lions’ opponent would be the winner of next week’s Tulane-Central Florida AAC championship game.”
10 wins equals a great season for the Lions
That’s the take from Cory Giger of DKPittsburgh Sports. Penn State outperformed the expectations that were set for it externally before the season. The team’s preseason win total was 8.5 and most projected the Lions as 9-3 at best.
“OK, so no, Penn State didnt beat a single ranked opponent this season,” Giger writes. “And it lost its two biggest games to Michigan and Ohio State. And there were times during Saturday’s win over Sparty where the team was as aggravating as ever, missing opportunities to blow out an overmatched opponent.
“But you know what? All that stuff really doesn’t matter. Or at least it shouldn’t. Oh, it will to some naysayers who will contend the Nittany Lions never really proved themselves against a good team. But 10 wins is 10 wins. Period.”
Is Kalen King the most overlooked corner in the country?
That’s the question PennLive’s Johnny McGonigal posed in his postgame takeaways. The Nittany Lions sophomore had five pass breakups and an interception on Saturday in the win and continues to be one of the better defenders in the Big Ten and nationally.
“King might’ve allowed a catch or two,” McGonigal writes. “But he also logged five pass breakups with a game-altering interception late in the fourth quarter. That brings King’s season total to 19 passes defended, which could rank as high as second in the FBS depending on what else happened across college football on Saturday.
“It’s been a wildly successful season for the sophomore, who came into the weekend with the ninth-best coverage grade in the country, per Pro Football Focus. And it’s a season he knew he was capable of putting together opposite Porter.”
Play of the game helped seal Penn State victory
BWI senior editor Nate Bauer focused on an enormous fourth quarter fourth down conversion for the Lions, which he picked as the Penn State play of the game,
“Penn State head coach James Franklin had a decision to make,” Bauer writes. “Facing a fourth-and-2 at the Michigan State 12-yard line, owning a 5-point advantage, he could look to his kicker or go for it.
“He went for it. Returning to the T formation Penn State has used as a calling card this season, with the play clock dwindling, the Nittany Lions burst wide, leaving Sean Clifford to fire a bullet to Nick Singleton. With a perfect screen with blockers in front, the running back handled the rest to get into the end zone and give the Nittany Lions a 28-16 lead with under five minutes to play.”
