GOTW: Happy Valley hosts first sell-out home game for whiteout crowd against #22 Auburn
The Auburn Tigers will be rolling into State College for a Saturday night game on ABC tomrrow at 7:30. We have not seen the historic whiteout Nittany Lion crowd in full at Beaver Stadium since prior to the onset of COVID-19. Without doubt, the atmosphere will be electric. The last time we saw Penn State in action at prime time in a packed Beaver Stadium was the 2019 season, which amounted to a 11-2 season for the Lions and a Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic win over Mike Norvell’s Memphis Tigers. Playoff hopes for James Franklin’s ’19 squad were disrupted by a 17-28 defeated at the hands of the Buckeyes in Columbus on November 23, 2019 under first-year head coach Ryan Day and a former PSU commit at QB in the young phenom Justin Fields. In that ’19 season, Penn State was 3-0 in night games at home; shattering Buffalo early in the season, then battling out ranked wins over Iowa and most recently Michigan. The last time the Nittany Lions lost a night game in Beaver Stadium was September 29, 2017 when Urban Meyer and Dwayne Haskins’ 4th-ranked Buckeyes defeated the Lions 27-26 in an epic barnburner game. Just under 4 years later, the Nittany Lions will be tested again as Auburn paces in for a highly-anticipated SEC-Big Ten matchup. Got chills yet? You may be able to expect another barnburner as both of these squads facing off in central Pennsylvania this week are extremely talented and hungry to make a statement to put themselves in the CFP discussion this season. A win for Penn State would most definitely launch them right into the heart of that discussion as we await the 10/9 matchup against Kirk Ferentz’s Hawkeyes in Iowa City as well as the Halloween Eve showdown in Columbus. The road to the CFP for the Nittany Lions is far from easy. But they scheduled this one for a reason, and absolutely must have this home win over Auburn to keep their dreams alive. Already impressive in wins over a then-ranked Wisconsin squad and Ball State, Penn State looks to go into week 4 with one of the most impressive early-season resumes in the nation. This will be the first test of the season for Auburn under Bryan Harsin in his first year at the helm of the Tigers. Auburn has outscored opponents (Akron, Alcorn State) 122-10 so far this season with the talented Bo Nix calling the shots at quarterback. This game establishes the direction of the program under Harsin, who had moderate success at Boise State in succession of the decorated Scott Pederson (now head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles). Beating an established program like Penn State certainly puts the Tigers on the radar in the SEC and would catapult them into the top 15. This game clearly has immense importance to both squads. The crowd will be crazy. But will that effect the Tigers? Likely a bit, especially with it being early in the season. But at the end of the day these are both teams littered with 3, 4, 5-star recruits. They have all played in big games. The noise will eventually fade out as adrenaline kicks in. We will get to see who is the more talented of these two talented squads.
As a Big Ten guy, I’d love to see Penn State win this one. But I’ve got Auburn.
Projection: 34-27 Auburn
Cincy sees only scheduled Big Ten opponent in Bloomington
Are the talented Hoosiers ready to take on Luke Fickell’s prolific squad? Indiana seemed to be a bit of a slow starter this season coming off one of their best season’s in school history. Last year, the Hoosiers put Ohio State on the ropes and was a top 10 team for a good chunk of the season. Returning most of their team, they started out this season ranked 17th. But week 1 held an intense challenge for IU with a highly anticipated Big Ten matchup in Iowa City. Unfortunately for Tom Allen’s team, they were rampaged by an impressive Hawkeye squad. Indiana followed up with a home opener in week 2 against the now FCS Idaho Vandals who have moved to the Big Sky Conferences. Again, the Hoosiers looked a little slow getting going offensively. But eventually settled in for a 56-14 win. Has the Hoosier offense finally shaken off the rust? Probably not enough to take out the Bearcats who have looked sharp so far coming off an impressive season which led to them just narrowly losing out on the opportunity to take out the Georgia Bulldogs in the Peach Bowl. What a game that was though! Oh yeah, and what has Georgia done so far this season? Just held Clemson to 3 points in a week 1 victory.
Projection: 42-17 Cincy
Sparty to the Gardens
Michigan State has already matched their 2-game win total from last year with smooth-sailing wins in Evanston over Northwestern and at home over FCS powerhouse Youngstown State. A noon game on ABC has the still 24th-ranked Hurricanes waiting for the Spartans in week 3. Miami is still trying to recover from their week 1 beat down at the hands of the top-ranked Crimson Tide. A win may launch Sparty into the top 25. Can they get it done and go 3-0? I think yes.
Proj: 27-24 MSU
Upset-Minded Gators Welcome #1 to Gainesville
Bama sees its first SEC foe this week in Dan Mullen’s talented and 11th-ranked Florida Gators at 3:30 on CBS. This one has all the makings of a good old-fashioned donnybrook, right? Probably not. Bama is too good. I’m gonna call this prediction hanging tough for the Gators.
Projection: 38-17 Bama
Disappointing Tar Heels see another ACC test out of the state of Virginia
After flying expectations were set for UNC this season, Virginia Tech upset the Tar Heels in week 1. Now, the #21 Heels welcome another stingy ACC squad to Chapel Hill in the undefeated Cavaliers of Virginia. And I smell upset again.
Projection: 31-23 UVA
Rodeo in Boise
The undefeated Cowboys of OK State roll onto the purple turf to take on the 1-1 Broncos. Boise State suffered a close road loss to fellow group-of-five powerhouse UCF. With both of these teams unranked for the time being, this is a statement game. But I like Boise at home.
Prediction: 28-16 BSU
Devils in Mormon Territory
Herm Edwards’ Sun Devil squad swarm Provo this week for a ranked matchup against a tough-minded Cougar team that comes off two Pac-12 victories over Arizona and then-ranked Utah. Here’s your measuring stick. Is BYU the real deal? Arizona State may be the most explosive offense that BYU has seen this season. But does Herm Edwards have the Sun Devils ready to take down BYU? So far, ASU has faced Southern Utah and UNLV. Are they ready? Does BYU have the stamina for three consecutive Pac-12 wins?
Prediction: 34-24 BYU
Ohio State stays in Columbus following first home loss since being taken out by Baker Mayfield’s Sooners in September ’17
Tulsa provided a challenge to a different OSU last week in Stillwater. Do not sleep on this 0-2 Golden Hurricane squad. I expect them to scrap. But this is a great opportunity for the Buckeye defense to get on track. The season is not a wash for the Buckeyes. Winning out and grabbing a fifth-consecutive Big Ten title is still in sight and would likely land a CFP berth. But Iowa…that’s a squad. Let’s see how it plays out.
Projection: 52-17 Bucks
P.S. Sample size will be large enough for me to release my first set of rankings after this week. Look out for those week 4 rankings Monday or Tuesday.
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