USA TODAY US Edition

Penn State aces first Big Ten test

- George Schroeder gschroeder@usatoday.com FOLLOW REPORTER GEORGE SCHROEDER @GeorgeSchr­oedeer for breaking news, insight on college sports.

When it was finished, a 42-13 whipping complete enough to answer any lingering questions anyone might have had about Penn State, James Franklin pretended not to know what looms next on the schedule.

“You said we played who next week?” the Nittany Lions coach told a reporter at the end of the television broadcast.

In postgame interviews, he declined to address the matchup with Ohio State. All of which is fine. We fast-forward way too quickly in college football, so sure, let ’ em celebrate a rout of Michigan for a bit.

We’ll wait. … Another moment. … And now. … OK, ready?

Penn State at Ohio State projects as the game of the year in the Big Ten — and maybe anywhere — in large part because of the dominance on display Saturday night in Happy Valley. If you expected Penn State to win (and we did), if you thought Michigan’s ongoing offensive issues would render a showdown into something much less (and we thought they might), a 42-13 whipping was still very impressive.

It was the Nittany Lions’ 16th victory in 17 games. And perhaps more than any of the others, it was a performanc­e that makes people look past next week, even, and toward the College Football Playoff. Yeah, we know: “We’re 1-0 this week,” Franklin said.

Through the first half of the season, Penn State looked as good as any team this side of Alabama. But the meat of the schedule started Saturday, with three critical matchups in three weeks: hosting Michigan, then traveling to Ohio State and Michigan State. Consider the first test aced.

The degree of difficulty figures to increase at the Horseshoe, where No. 6 Ohio State waits this week. Since losing to Oklahoma, the Buckeyes have seemingly re- vitalized their offense. A win against Penn State would essentiall­y rehabilita­te their image.

But what we saw from the Nittany Lions suggests that won’t be an easy task. The attention goes to Saquon Barkley, a big-play threat in so many ways. And from there to Trace McSorley, the gritty quarterbac­k who scored three touchdowns. But Penn State’s defense is a fearsome factor, as well.

“We’re playing really good in all three phases,” Franklin said. “That doesn’t happen very often.”

If it happens a few more times, we might just go on and fast-forward Penn State into the Playoff bracket.

HELLO, NOTRE DAME

It’s a college football truism that Notre Dame is routinely overrated. But that wasn’t the case this year. After going 4-8 in 2016, the voters in both polls seemed wary as Notre Dame mostly rolled early this year.

The only blemish in the first six games was a one-point loss to Georgia, and that one looks pretty good now. Notre Dame had won its other five games by at least 20 points. Now, after a 49-14 rout of old rival Southern California, it’s time we welcomed the Irish into the top 10 — and into the College Football Playoff picture.

Notre Dame features a grinding running game (377 rushing yards vs. USC) fueled by junior running back Josh Adams. It has a potential star at quarterbac­k in Brandon Wimbush. And perhaps as important, the offseason hire of Mike Elko as defensive coordinato­r has turned things around. It’s statistica­lly the best Notre Dame defense since 2012.

The Irish’s road isn’t easy from here, starting this week against a surprising North Carolina State. The Irish’s final five opponents are currently a combined 26-8. There are road games at No. 8 Miami (Fla.) and No. 20 Stanford.

It’s a typical Notre Dame schedule, which means a couple of things: It’s as tough as anybody’s, anywhere — which means it won’t be easy to win out. But if the Irish do? It’ll be hard not to pencil them into the four-team bracket.

CYCLONES KEEP WINNING

After a 31-13 victory at Texas Tech, Iowa State moved into the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time since 2005. And it’s time to start talking about potential College Football Playoff implicatio­ns. No, not the Cyclones, who are 5-2 overall. With every Iowa State win, Oklahoma’s Oct. 7 loss gets upgraded just a bit from horrible.

Don’t misunderst­and: It’s still a bad loss — at home, up 24-10, a play or two away from a blowout, the Sooners couldn’t hold on.

But this bunch of Cyclones is clearly better than most people thought at the time or most Iowa State teams are. At least as it stands now, Oklahoma’s loss was against a “currently ranked team” — which makes it, at least on paper, a quality loss.

GOING FOR TWO MANY

For the second consecutiv­e week, a Pac-12 coach went for two and the win with everything on the line. Like Utah a week earlier against Southern California, California’s two-point try failed; the Bears lost 45-44 to Arizona in two overtimes.

“At the end of it there, that was our best chance to win,” Justin Wilcox told reporters. “You can dispute it, but I would do it again.”

Utah’s 28-27 loss at USC came in regulation. After scoring a touchdown with 42 seconds left, Kyle Whittingha­m chose to go for the win rather than tie the score and send the game to overtime. He later cited USC’s rally from a two-touchdown deficit in the second half and said he’d do it again.

“If we make the two-point play, we’re all sitting here thinking it was a great situation,” Whittingha­m said afterward. “But we didn’t make the play.”

THE FOOTBALL FOUR

Each week, we select the College Football Playoff as though it began next week. Note: It does not begin next week.

Alabama — Nick Saban won’t like this, but the Crimson Tide’s only real obstacle between now and the Iron Bowl is boredom. And in this version of the Southeaste­rn Conference, boredom isn’t good enough to beat ’em.

Penn State — We wondered how good Penn State was, and Penn State provided an emphatic answer against Michigan. Next up, the potential Big Ten game of the year at Ohio State.

TCU — The Frogs took a week o— sorry, we meant cruised past Kansas, holding the Jayhawks to 21 total yards, to hold serve in the Big 12 race.

Georgia — Even while idle, the Bulldogs won big because of how good Notre Dame looked. Now it’s time for that annual date in Jacksonvil­le against Florida.

 ?? RICH BARNES, USA TODAY SPORTS ?? Penn State and tight end Mike Gesicki rose big time to the challenge against Michigan on Saturday.
RICH BARNES, USA TODAY SPORTS Penn State and tight end Mike Gesicki rose big time to the challenge against Michigan on Saturday.
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