Greg McElroy, Matt Barrie evaluate pressure on Penn State to beat USC

Following a surprising college football weekend filled with upsets, the Penn State Nittany Lions find themselves ranked No. 4 in the country heading into Week 7. Just in time for an exciting matchup on the road this weekend in Los Angeles to take on Big Ten newcomer USC.

The Trojans were one of seven Top 25 teams to fall in Week 6 and now find themselves out of the rankings. But college football analyst Matt Barrie recently explained why this weekend still puts Penn State in a high position of pressure versus USC in a conversation with Greg McElroy.

“So with James Franklin, what have we said? I mean, we said it on selection day for the College Football Playoff knowing there was going to be a 12-team playoff. What have we said about this?” Barrie asked. “The College Football Playoff was made for Penn State and Ole Miss. Perennially 10-2, can’t get over the Alabama, Georgia hump. James Franklin can’t get over the Ohio State, Michigan hump. A lot of people haven’t during that time.”

The expansion of the College Football Playoff paired with the expansion of the Big Ten and the league doing away with divisions had many looking at Penn State as the biggest winner of both changes. Facing the Buckeyes this season, but not Michigan for the first time since 2012. But now new West Coast programs join the league with the potential of derailing the Nitanny Lions’ postseason hopes.

“The thing that James Franklin has going for him is two things. One, USC has already lost to Michigan and Minnesota. Penn State fans have every reason to believe, and rightfully so, that their team is better than both Michigan and Minnesota this year,” Barrie said. “And so if you lose to a team that just lost to Minnesota, there goes the James Franklin argument again and then he’s run out of house money for the rest of the season with a team that’s pretty good and Drew Allar‘s looked a lot better.”

Barrie also believes that USC’s newness to the Big Ten and personnel plays in the favor of Penn State in the matchup. The Trojans have already dropped two conference games where they were out-rushed and held below their typical points per game average on the season.

“USC is new to the Big Ten and it’s already clear the Big Ten athlete’s giving them problems,” Barrie added. “It’s a different kind of athlete. It’s big, it’s physical, it’s meat and potatoes, it’s Midwest football. It’s not seven-on-seven out west. And so Penn State’s chalked full of Big Ten athletes, and so I think they’re going to give USC a problem.”

There’s no question that this college football season has already been filled with plenty of surprises. And Barrie believes that the Nittany Lions must avoid one this weekend in order to keep the team’s postseason hopes alive and the overall narrative of the season positive moving forward.

“Did you think Michigan would lose to Washington? I didn’t. Vegas did and they were right,” Barrie concluded. “There’s just going to be some weird stuff that happens this year, and I’m going to give the pass to the teams that are new to the league … And so for James Franklin, he’s got no excuse. He has no excuse in this one, for Lincoln Riley, maybe an asterisk.”