Penn State Football: Predictions for the second half of the season

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STATE COLLEGE, PA – SEPTEMBER 29: KJ Hamler #1 of the Penn State Nittany Lions scores on a 93 yard touchdown pass in the first half against Isaiah Pryor #12 of the Ohio State Buckeyes on September 29, 2018 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /

Dylan Burd, Contributor

After the brutal Ohio State loss on Saturday night, all anyone could think about was that last Penn State play. Yes, it was a terrible loss and terrible play call, but now that we’re a few days removed from the game, I think a ton of positives will come out of it.

James Franklin and the team are going to be more motivated than ever to avenge the Ohio State loss. Like Coach Franklin said in the postgame press conference, everyone needs to be “uncomfortable” about the feeling of losing. Remember the Pitt-Penn state game from 2016, and how that loss probably needed to happen for the team to take the next step? This is going to be a very similar scenario.

Penn State is going to come out off the bye week and smack Michigan State on October 13th. It wouldn’t come as a surprise if that’s a 20-30 point game. The next tough game is Michigan at The Big House. With Jim Harbaugh potentially coaching for his job, there’s no doubt that’s going to be a difficult game, but unless Michigan improves tremendously over the next four weeks, it’s unlikely they’re going to be able to keep up with the Nittany Lions offensively. Then the next week is Wisconsin at home, which will be a close game, but the Badgers aren’t the team everyone thought they were. While they’re three tough games left on the schedule, I don’t see Penn State dropping one.

They’ll finish 11-1, and their fate will be determined by the performances of teams from other conferences, as Ohio State likely going to finish 12-0.

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