Penn State fans: ‘We want ’Bama’ after Michigan rout

Penn State fans were feeling quite brazen on Saturday night after their team blew out Michigan. “We Want ’Bama,” they roared after the 42-13 thumping of Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines.

Indeed, the 7-0 Nittany Lions are on a roll, and they keep playing like it did Saturday, Lions fans just might want they want.

One word of warning: Be careful what you wish for.

The 8-0 Crimson Tide are on a roll themselves. They walloped Tennessee 45-7 on Saturday. Only once this season, a lackluster 27-19 win at Texas A&M, has anyone even been close.

Calling for Alabama has rarely worked out well in the past.

Still, Penn State has not lost a regular-season game since getting trounced 49-10 by Michigan (5-2, 2-2) last season. That seems like a lifetime ago in Happy Valley, where the defending Big Ten champion looks even better than last year.

Though the second game of a threeweek stretch against ranked teams figures to be the toughest for the Nittany Lions, who travel to No. 6 Ohio State next weekend before a visit to Michigan State.

Here are the rest of Saturday’s winners and losers:

WINNERS

Notre Dame: The Fighting Irish’s 49-14 whopping of Southern California was great news for two programs: Notre Dame itself, obviously, and Georgia, which topped the Irish 20-19 in September. It’s probably time to consider the Irish a true contender for the Playoff. Those two new coordinator hires are paying off in spades. The offense is powerfully physical on the ground and the defense hugely improved; combined, that’s the mix that has Notre Dame surging. HEISMAN TROPHY candidate Saquon Barkley of Penn State went 69 yards for a touchdown just 43 seconds into Saturday’s 42-13 victory over Michigan. Barkley finished with 15 carries for 108 yards and two TDs on the ground, while hauling in three receptions for 53 yards and a third score in another marquee performance. (Reuters)

Iowa State: So it seems like this Matt Campbell guy can coach. A few weeks after stunning Oklahoma on the road, Iowa State notched its third win in a row in Big 12 Conference play with a 31-13 dismantling of Texas Tech. Campbell, once of Toledo, has the Cyclones on pace for a bowl trip – and is headed for a nice raise in the offseason.

Texas: OK, stay with me here. Texas is not a place that happily accepts moral victories. Yet the Longhorns should nonetheless take some pride in their defensive performance this entire season and on Saturday against Oklahoma State in particular. While falling 13-10 in overtime stings, UT was the first team to hold the Cowboys under 20 points since it did so in 2014. And when you think about the Tom Herman era altogether, that the defense is filthy is a great sign – because his track record suggests these offensive woes won’t continue forever.

Oklahoma: Every win counts as OU tries to weave its way through the rest of Big 12 Conference play unscathed. In that sense, it’s hard to find too much wrong with OU’s 42-35 win against Bill Snyder and Kansas State. There are still some warning signs to consider, especially as you weigh the Sooners against the best of the best in the FBS. What happened to the defense? What happened to playing a complete game? Think about the past three weeks: first that loss to Iowa State, then a narrow win against Texas, and then another close call Saturday against the Wildcats. The Sooners need to regain their stride.

LOSERS

Tennessee: No one expected the Volunteers to beat Alabama, let alone hang close. The Tide were favored by five touchdowns for a reason. That doesn’t make a 45-7 loss any easier to swallow. The Volunteers have gained a combined 574 yards in their last three games against Alabama. The Tide had 604 yards against Tennessee on Saturday afternoon alone. The countdown toward Butch Jones’ dismissal and the ensuing coaching change continues.

Florida State: FSU won 22 games in a row at home before falling to Clemson, the eventual national champion, last October. Since that Saturday the Seminoles have lost five of eight at Doak Campbell Stadium. What was once one of the most dominant home-field advantages in the sport has become anything but. After losing 31-28 to Louisville, dropping their record to 2-4, the Seminoles are in danger of missing a bowl game for the first time since the 1981 season – which would snap the longest active postseason streak in the sport. It’s been a stunningly rapid fall for a team that entered 2017 viewed as one of the leading title favorites.

USC: Yikes. The loss to Notre Dame revealed the Trojans as pretenders. That’s a tough pill to swallow for a program that had eyes on a national title after closing the 2016 season on a tear. But maybe it’s not such a shock. After all, there had been signs throughout the first seven weeks, such as turnovers and occasional defensive lapses – that USC was not as good as originally believed. Saturday’s loss confirms those fears, and then some.

Big Ten West Division: This division has Wisconsin on top – and the Badgers are a Playoff threat – followed by six average-to-worse teams. All you need to know about the West is that Nebraska is currently in second place; the Cornhuskers aren’t good. This is the worst division in the Power Five. The West makes the SEC East Division look like a murderer’s row of national title contenders.