The most important games for Penn State fans to keep an eye on in Week 3

After a 2-0 start, the Penn State Nittany Lions are on a bye in Week 3 before a matchup with Kent State at Beaver Stadium on September 21. James Franklin’s team escaped a potential Week 2 disaster in the team’s home opener with a 34-27 win over Bowling Green and now sits at No. 8 in the country. 

Even with that questionable performance, the Nittany Lions are the second-highest-ranked Big Ten team because Oregon fell to No. 9 after needing a last-second field goal to knock off Boise State 37-34 and Michigan dropped to No. 17 after a home loss to No. 2 Texas. Ohio State has rolled MAC opponents in back-to-back weeks, but still slipped behind Texas from No. 2 to No. 3. 

Without a chance to watch the Nittany Lions in action on Saturday, Penn State fans will have to turn their attention around the rest of the college football landscape, so we’d like to provide you with the 3 most important games to keep an eye on. 

If Penn State finishes 2024 at 11-1 with a loss to Ohio State, the Nittany Lions will almost certainly be in the CFP as an at-large team. However, if James Franklin comes up small against USC in LA and loses to the Buckeyes, it could be hard to find a strong win on Penn State’s resume. 

That would all change if Wisconsin knocks off the Crimson Tide in Madison in Week 3. It’s wishful thinking, but if Luke Fickell can get a signature win in his second season as the head coach of the Badgers, and then Penn State does what Alabama couldn’t, winning at Camp Randall, 10-2 could be good enough. 

Oregon has had about as bad a 2-0 start as possible. The Ducks have nearly lost to Idaho and Boise State in two games at Autzen Stadium. Now Dan Lanning’s team has to head to Corvallis to face an Oregon State program that will take a long time to recover from being left behind in the Pac-2. 

Penn State doesn’t have Oregon on its schedule, so the Nittany Lions don’t need the Ducks to be good for a resume boost. If you’re a Penn State fan, root hard for the Beavers to pull off the upset and start to knock Oregon out of the at-large conversation for the 12-team CFP. It wouldn’t be as devastating a blow as a conference loss, but if Oregon and Michigan both enter conference play at 2-1, that’s great news for the Nittany Lions. 

So far, Penn State’s biggest win is against West Virginia, which is coasting off its reputation as a nine-win team a year ago. However, if the Mountaineers start to struggle in 2024, the shine will come off that 34-12 victory in Morgantown. It’s never easy to root for West Virginia, but it is when the Mountaineers are playing Pitt. If WVU can win this game and put together another impressive showing in the Big 12, it will only help the Nittany Lions' resume.