Penn State falls in ESPN power rankings, SP+ after Week 2 win: Newsstand
Penn State updates for Sept. 10 include the latest SP+ and power rankings from ESPN, headlines of the day, and more. It’s time to dive into the top news, notes, and stories about the Nittany Lions and college athletics.
Penn State tweets of the day
We start with a new set of rankings. Penn State stayed put in the AP Top 25 at No. 8 and moved up to No. 7 in the USA Today Coaches Poll after its less-than-stellar 34-27 win over Bowling Green last Saturday at Beaver Stadium. While that provided good news for the program, it did fall in some other rankings. ESPN’s college football teams put together its weekly top 25 on Monday and dropped the Nittany Lions to No. 9 from No. 6.
“The Nittany Lions suffered an apparent Week 2 hangover following their impressive season-opening victory at West Virginia,” Jake Trotter writes. “With four minutes remaining in the game, Penn State led Bowling Green by just a field goal. Nicholas Singleton reeled off a 41-yard touchdown to finally give the Nittany Lions a cushion on the way to a 34-27 victory that was a sigh of relief.
“Penn State’s vaunted defense was surprisingly porous early, as Bowling Green scored on its first three possessions to build a 17-7 lead. But the defense woke up after halftime. Penn State forced three punts, then picked off two passes to spearhead the comeback. The Nittany Lions obviously will have to play better in conference play. But at least they avoided the MAC-attack fate that torpedoed Notre Dame later in the day.”
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Penn State also fell from No. 6 to No. 8 in Bill Connelly’s SP+ rankings. He still projects them to make the 12-team College Football Playoff and beat Kansas State in a home first-round opener before beating Miami in the quarterfinals. Ultimately, he has the Nittany Lions’ run ending in a semifinal loss to Ohio State at the Cotton Bowl.
Headlines of the day
Leaning on Mr. Reliable, safety depth concerns, more Penn State bye week storylines: Flounders, PennLive
It’s the Penn State bye week: How will the Nittany Lions spend it?: Pickel, BWI
Post-Olympics, Kyle Snyder Sets His Sights on the Future: Horlacher, Statecollege.com
On3 Scouting Director Charles Power breaks down new Penn State commit Malachi Goodman: Snyder, BWI
Penn State after 2 games: What I think I know following gut check vs. Bowling Green: Snyder, The Athletic
Quote of the day
“It’s pretty cool that Dave got that coaching opportunity and I think he’s going to do a good job. I know he is a great coach. He’s a really great technician, and he’s got a great game-planning mind. But Penn State’s just very, very strong in regards to their collegiate team, and they have so many good guys at every weight. So it’ll definitely be interesting to see what anybody else can do about that.”
—NLWC member Kyle Snyder to Statecollege.com
