Penn State Falls To No. 20 In AP Top 25 Poll
Penn State football took a 13-spot tumble in this week’s AP Top 25 Poll.
James Franklin’s group took a disastrous and frustrating loss to Illinois Saturday afternoon at Beaver Stadium. The Nittany Lions struggled on either side of the ball against the Fighting Illini, and a nine-overtime period settled a 20-18 victory for Bret Bielema’s group.
Illinois entered Saturday’s contest, which was chosen as Penn State’s Homecoming game, with a 2-5 record and just one win in the Big Ten. Sean Clifford was clearly limited Saturday, but the devastating loss still throws a huge wrench in the Nittany Lions’ postseason hopes.
Several Big Ten squads are still ranked in the top 25, including Ohio State (No. 5), Michigan (No. 6), Michigan State (No. 8), and Iowa (No. 9). As for the USA Today Coaches Poll, Penn State dropped nine spots to No. 17. The order of Big Ten squads in that ranking are as follows: Ohio State (No. 5), Michigan (No. 6), Michigan State (No. 7), and Iowa (No. 10).
Things aren’t going to get any easier for the Nittany Lions after dropping what was supposed to be a soft welcome to the second half of the season. Next week, Franklin’s group will travel to Columbus to take on the Buckeyes in a prime-time matchup, while it still has games against Michigan and Michigan State left on the schedule.
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