I reached out to the folks at Black Shoe Diaries to talk about this weekend's game between their Nittany Lions and our Purdue Boilermakers. They were kind enough to respond with some informative answers to my questions. Make sure to go check them out.
Penn State has not won a Big Ten game yet this year. The schedule to start the year has turned out to be a lot tougher than most people probably thought going in. Given the turnover at the top, what was expected of Penn State by fans coming into this season?
I predicted a 9-3 season. Some others on our site were at least mentioning the word playoff in the offseason. Personally, I thought Penn State would have enough experience with Matt Campbell's system considering that there would be so much continuity with so many players making the move from Iowa State. A lot of that optimism was tied to the schedule. Unlike 2025 where Penn State jumped right into the deep end with a showdown against Oregon in conference play, this year seemed like it would give some runway for the Lions to work things out before a Whiteout matchup against USC. That seemed to be the plan until halftime of the Wisconsin game. From that 17-0 lead against the Badgers, the Lions have struggled mightily.
Three of the four Big Ten losses have come by 8 or fewer points. Is this a situation where Penn State may be 0-4 but they could very easily be 3-1? I guess the crux of my question is, is Penn State better than their record reflects?
I think it should be at least 1-3. The Wisconsin loss was egregious. Penn State led from the start. They could never quite put away the Badgers, had to settle for field goals, committed a brutal turnover, and then allowed a couple of long conversions in the loss. This team isn't as talented as last year's Penn State team, but there are some similarities. They've had second half leads in three of the four losses, just as last year's Penn State team lost fourth quarter/overtime leads to Oregon, Indiana, Iowa, and Northwestern.
#game #team #iowa #oregon
Penn State has not won a Big Ten game yet this year. The schedule to start the year has turned out to be a lot tougher than most people probably thought going in. Given the turnover at the top, what was expected of Penn State by fans coming into this season?
I predicted a 9-3 season. Some others on our site were at least mentioning the word playoff in the offseason. Personally, I thought Penn State would have enough experience with Matt Campbell's system considering that there would be so much continuity with so many players making the move from Iowa State. A lot of that optimism was tied to the schedule. Unlike 2025 where Penn State jumped right into the deep end with a showdown against Oregon in conference play, this year seemed like it would give some runway for the Lions to work things out before a Whiteout matchup against USC. That seemed to be the plan until halftime of the Wisconsin game. From that 17-0 lead against the Badgers, the Lions have struggled mightily.
Three of the four Big Ten losses have come by 8 or fewer points. Is this a situation where Penn State may be 0-4 but they could very easily be 3-1? I guess the crux of my question is, is Penn State better than their record reflects?
I think it should be at least 1-3. The Wisconsin loss was egregious. Penn State led from the start. They could never quite put away the Badgers, had to settle for field goals, committed a brutal turnover, and then allowed a couple of long conversions in the loss. This team isn't as talented as last year's Penn State team, but there are some similarities. They've had second half leads in three of the four losses, just as last year's Penn State team lost fourth quarter/overtime leads to Oregon, Indiana, Iowa, and Northwestern.
#game #team #iowa #oregon
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