Penn State’s perfect bye week results for Nittany Lions fans to root for in Week 8

For Penn State fans, Week 8 is the perfect apple-picking Saturday or the best opportunity you’ve had to get to the pumpkin patch before Halloween sneaks up. However, even with the Nittany Lions on a well-earned bye week at 6-0 and ranked No. 3 in the country, there are plenty of us who will still be glued to our TVs all day watching as much college football as our eyes and brains can possibly handle. 

If the latter group sounds like you, then you’ll want to have a rooting interest guide for when your eight-leg parlay falls through halfway through the noon slate because UConn is up by three touchdowns on Wake Forest. So, here are the four outcomes that Penn State would most like to see in Week 8. 

4. Georgia Tech knocks out No. 12 Notre Dame

This game may not have any initial significance to Penn State fans, but without a conference for Notre Dame to win, the Fighting Irish need an at-large bid into the 12-team College Football Playoff. Even with a loss to Northern Illinois on its resume, Notre Dame is still the No. 12 team in the country and climbing. However, a second loss would be too much to overcome and would open another at-large spot, which will be important for the Nittany Lions if they can’t knock off Ohio State in a couple of weeks. 

3. No. 22 Illinois stays ranked with win over No. 24 Michigan

This outcome won’t have any direct bearing on the 12-team CFP, but indirectly, an Illinois win over Michigan wouldn’t hurt Penn State’s resume. With USC suffering two losses before the Nittany Lions made their West Coast trip, an overtime win against the Trojans doesn’t look nearly as impressive. If the Fighting Illini can finish the season inside the top 25, that could be Penn State’s most impressive and important win. 

2. Wisconsin keeps rolling at Northwestern

Penn State is walking into a very dangerous spot next week in Madison. It’ll be nearly impossible for the team not to peak ahead to a showdown with the Buckeyes, but this Badgers team is playing to well to overlook. Wisconsin has figured out its offense with sophomore quarterback Braedyn Locke hitting plenty of explosive plays downfield. Head coach Luke Fickell’s team could be tough to beat on the road, so if Penn State does trip up, it needs Wisconsin to finish the year at worst 9-3 to still have a shot at the CFP considering an Ohio State loss could follow. 

1. No. 2 Oregon loses a let-down game in West Lafayette

The Ducks have the inside track to the Big Ten Championship game after beating Ohio State and if the Buckeyes run the table the rest of the way, they’ll get a rematch in Indianapolis before both heading to the CFP. However, if Oregon has a let down in West Lafayette it could crack the door open to Penn State, even with an Ohio State loss. Obviously, the Nittany Lions best path to Indy is to win out, but if that doesn’t happen, Oregon suffering one or two losses could give Penn State another shot at the Buckeyes before the playoff.