Where is Penn State in the latest College Football Playoff projections?: Newsstand
Penn State news, notes, and updates for Nov. 19 include new College Football Playoff projections, headlines of the day, and more. It’s time to dive into Tuesday’s top tweets and news about the Nittany Lions and college athletics.
Penn State tweets of the day
We start with a fresh batch of College Football Playoff predictions from media members across the country. On3’s Andy Staples drops the Lions out of the Round 1 home game mix by putting them at No. 9, which would equal a trip to No. 8 Notre Dame for the opener. Staples’ colleague Ari Wasserman, meanwhile, has Penn State hosting the Fighting Irish in a Nos. 7-10 matchup at Beaver Stadium.
“The Nittany Lions’ strength of schedule is better than most realize,” Staples writes on the Lions. “It’s No. 33 in the Sagarin rankings and No. 32 in ESPN’s FPI rating. That keeps Penn State above Indiana in the committee’s ranking even though the Nittany Lions have a loss. Playing Ohio State will help Indiana’s strength of schedule, though. And the comparison of how the teams played head-to-head will go a long way in the comparison.”
Elsewhere, CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm has No. 6 Penn State hosting No.11 Tennessee in the opening round. Heather Dinich of ESPN, meanwhile, projects PSU at No. 6, too, but has it hosting No. 6 Georgia.
“As long as Penn State wins out, the Nittany Lions will earn a spot in the CFP, but whether they earn home-field advantage in the first round still depends on what happens around them,” Dinich writes. “The debate between one-loss PSU and undefeated Indiana will be settled on Saturday when the Hoosiers face Ohio State. If they can do what Penn State couldn’t and beat OSU, they’ll earn their promotion and the Nittany Lions will be looking up at IU in the Big Ten and the CFP ranking.
Top 10
- 1Breaking
Biff Poggi
Charlotte firing head coach
- 2Hot
Skipping SEC title game
Coaches prefer sitting out
- 3
Predicting new CFP Top 12
BCS formula predicts 12-team bracket
- 4New
Kiffin calls out Saban
'He's now the rat poisoner'
- 5
Dabo rips refs
Swinney headed to 'Targeting Anonymous'
“The bigger question is who else the Lions might be trailing at the end of the regular season. PSU doesn’t have any more opportunities at statement wins, but some other contenders below do.”
Headlines of the day
Is Penn State defensive end Abdul Carter getting held too much?: McGonigal, PennLive
Penn State tight end Tyler Warren earns Big Ten player of the week honors after big outing at Purdue: Pickel, BWI
Penn State Got a 6-Yard False Start Penalty at Purdue, Which Was New to James Franklin: Wogenrich, SI
What time, TV channel, will Penn State-Maryland be on Nov. 30?: Pickel, BWI
Penn State Football: ‘We’re Definitely Getting on a Roll Now’: Poorman, Statecollege.com
Penn State commits, targets make moves in updated On300 rankings: Fitz, BWI
College football coaching carousel: Intel on coordinator openings, jobs to watch: Nakos, On3
What did Minnesota coach PJ Fleck say about Penn State on Monday?: Pickel, BWI
Quote of the day
“I think it’s just his growth over the years. He’s really, really poised in the pocket. He’s big, strong, got a good arm, understands the system, he can run. They’ve got three quarterbacks. One’s a high school quarterback that’s really a tight end who’s just doing it it all for them. They got another quarterback who can throw it and run it really, really well, and then Drew can do the exact same thing. But they all have different skill sets, and they use them in very different ways. But he’s really accurate, he’s big, he’s strong, he’s physical. I think he processes at a higher level than he ever has. I think that’s a critical characteristic of being an elite quarterback, is how you process, how you get through your reads, how you get to the decisions, how quickly you do that.
“The distance between somebody being open and the ball being on them, that’s a measure of a quarterback knowing what he’s doing. And I think that he has that trait. You can tell he’s coachable. And the team rallies around him, too.”
–Minnesota coach PJ Fleck on PSU QB Drew Allar.
