Penn State kept nudging upward in the latest college football rankings after a 55-13 win over Buffalo, and now the unbeaten Nittany Lions head into Big Ten play with their highest marks of the season.
The AP Top 25 has Penn State at No. 13, while the Coaches Poll slots the Nittany Lions at No. 14. Each poll bumped Penn State up one spot after Saturday’s blowout, continuing a steady climb through the first three weeks.
The movement was even more noticeable in ESPN SP+, where Penn State jumped four places to No. 12.
That predictive model has all three of Penn State’s units inside the top 15: the offense and defense are both No. 14, and special teams sits at No. 10.
Among top-20 teams, only No. 2 Georgia also has every unit ranked that high.
Penn State is 3-0 and has outscored its first three opponents 127-22, though the early schedule has not offered much resistance. ESPN ranks the Nittany Lions’ strength of schedule 125th out of 138 teams.
The remaining slate looks tougher, with Penn State’s remaining strength of schedule sitting at No. 57.
Conference play begins Sept. 26 against Wisconsin at Beaver Stadium. The Badgers are 2-1 and rank No. 56 in SP+, with wins over Eastern Michigan and Western Illinois and a 41-13 loss to Illinois in the opener.
The broader picture around Penn State’s Big Ten path has sharpened too. The Nittany Lions currently rank ahead of eight of the nine conference opponents on their schedule in SP+.
The only team ahead of them is No. 8 USC, which comes to Happy Valley for the White Out in October.
Rutgers, meanwhile, sits at No. 128 in SP+, but still managed to push USC in a 42-35 loss at home. The Scarlet Knights cut the deficit to one possession with 4:17 left, forcing USC to bleed the clock down. The Trojans had to convert a 3rd-and-3 and recover their own fumble just to keep Rutgers from getting the ball back.
Penn State coach Matt Campbell said after the Buffalo game that his team still has work to do before the Big Ten grind begins.
"Not where we need to be, but I think [we're] a team that has certainly grown in different entities each week," Campbell said. "Still a team that, in my opinion, has got so much ability, and some things were focal points for us today, and then we grew in some areas.
"This is college football, and I think our ability to grow from week three to week four will be really important. But [we're] a team that I appreciated their urgency and the way we played, and the sense of physicality, our details."
The numbers on defense are hard to ignore. Penn State ranks third in the Big Ten in scoring defense at 7.3 points allowed per game, and it has surrendered only two fourth-quarter touchdowns through three games. The Nittany Lions also lead the conference and rank second nationally in passing yards allowed per game at 90.
There’s production on the other side of the ball, too. Receiver Koby Howard leads the Big Ten and ranks third nationally with 28.67 yards per catch, while quarterback Rocco Becht is completing 70 percent of his passes with nine touchdowns and no interceptions.
Becht said Penn State’s experience should matter once conference play starts, even with 40 transfers on the roster.
"All the seniors on this team have played a lot of football and seen a lot of football, the good and the bad," Becht said. "So I think our experience is going to take over when we get into conference play, especially in the mental aspect of the game. So I'm excited for next week and the rest of the season."
Penn State and Wisconsin kick off Sept. 26 at 5 p.m. ET, and the game will stream exclusively on Peacock.
In Other News...
Penn State Already Has A New QB Question Fans Can't Ignore
Penn States non-conference tune-up slate against Marshall, Temple and Buffalo did not leave the quarterback picture any clearer, even with Rocco Becht opening all three games. The starter showed he can push the ball downfield, but the offense never got fully settled with him, and the red zone remains a problem area the staff still has to sort through.
Redshirt freshman Alex Manske also got his chances, and he looked capable enough to keep the conversation going with a handful of accurate throws and a few near completions that hinted at more upside. Connor Barry even saw the field, which only added to the sense that this is more than a one-man evaluation, and Manske appears to be positioning himself as the name to watch when Penn State starts thinking about next year. [Read more 🡒]
Bill OBrien Just Added Weight To Penn States Matt Campbell Bet
Bill OBriens take carried a little extra weight because he knows both sides of this equation. The former Penn State head coach, now at Boston College, publicly backed Matt Campbell as the Nittany Lions new leader, praising the hire and pointing to the scale of the job in State College. OBrien has lived the pressure and the expectations that come with that chair, so his approval is the kind of detail Penn State fans notice.
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Penn State Suddenly Has A Backfield Question Fans Will Notice
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Martin has also drawn notice from teammates, which matters in a room where every rep is evaluated closely. The bigger question now is how Penn State sorts out those carries going forward, especially with Martin making it clear he wants to keep improving and force his way into more playing time. For a team still shaping its backfield pecking order, his response to one missed game has only made the next decisions more interesting. [Read more 🡒]