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    • Penn State beats Wisconsin, Ohio State has quarterback concerns ahead
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    Penn State beats Wisconsin, Ohio State has quarterback concerns ahead

    Harry Posted on

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    There were surprises and important developments in the 9th week of the university football season. Matt Hayes analyzes four hot topics from Saturday’s games.

    First Down: Penn State’s big uncertainty in B1G week

    His name is Beau Pribula and he came to Penn State in the same recruiting class heralded by five-star quarterback Drew Allar.

    Now Pribula could be called upon to save Penn State’s season.

    Allar is Penn State’s No. 3 junior quarterback. injured in left knee His status was uncertain late in the first half of Saturday’s 28-13 win at Wisconsin and for next week’s crucial matchup against No. 4 Ohio State in Happy Valley. While Pribula had a good performance against the Badgers, he was a starter against Ohio State different story.

    Penn State coach James Franklin did not want to speculate on the extent of the injury because he said he did not have specific information. Allar spent the second half of the game on the sidelines with a brace on his left knee.

    “When Drew came out, it really came down to Drew,” Franklin said in the post-game press conference. “I asked him to be very honest and he didn’t feel like he was (able to play). You saw at the end of the half that even shooting was a challenge.”

    That’s not a good sign heading into the biggest game of the regular season, especially considering Franklin’s record in big games at Penn State.

    Penn State is 1-9 against Ohio State and 3-17 against top 10 teams under Franklin. Although Penn State did not need to win to advance to the College Football Playoff, the loss to Ohio State significantly damaged its hopes of playing in the Big Ten championship.

    This is why the potential loss of Allar is so critical. Penn State found a way to beat Wisconsin, but direct moves on running back Kaytron Allen or end Tyler Warren won’t work against Ohio State’s elite defense.

    At one point, Pribula, who was not nationally ranked by 247Sports in the 2022 class (Allar, Number 3 player in the overall rankings at any position) will have to make plays in the passing game. That means new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, a heralded addition from Kansas this offseason, will have a week to figure out what works for Pribula and how to attack Ohio State’s defense, which is giving up 12.7 points per game.

    Even if Als were available, they would certainly be limited. He was not kept out of the second half as a precaution; The Lions trailed 10-7.

    Kotelnicki will need to prepare the quarterback (or both) against a top-10 pass defense that is giving up 172 yards per game. Buckeyes He was able to hold Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola to 152 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions in a 21-17 win on Saturday.

    HIGH AND LOW: Winners and losers of the 9th week in college football

    Second Down: Texas on its way to the SEC

    Texas learned a valuable lesson in its first season in the SEC and its first true conference road game: come out with a win, no matter what.

    Especially when looking for a spot in the SEC championship game.

    Response came from Texas An embarrassing defeat against Georgia last week He avoided a disastrous second loss in the SEC, outscoring Vanderbilt 27-24 with a crucial fourth down with five minutes left in the game.

    Texas will quickly realize that these are the plays that help you win a conference championship: games that you must win despite the dangerous reality of playing on the road in the SEC.

    longhorns Two SEC road games remain: Nov. 16 at Arkansas and the regular-season finale at Texas A&M on Nov. 30.

    This time against a hot Vanderbilt team beat Alabama Earlier this month in Nashville, quarterback Quinn Ewers threw two interceptions and Vanderbilt led by 14 points. Texas looked sluggish on both sides of the ball for much of the game.

    But every time the Longhorns needed a play in the crucial fourth quarter, they made it.

    A defensive five-and-out stop after the Commodores closed to within 24-17. An interception by the Vanderbilt 35 on fourth-and-two late in the fourth quarter and a 23-yard run by Jaydon Blue on third-and-nine allowed the offense to bleed for another two minutes before a short field goal sealed it. win.

    These are a handful of important but overlooked games that take place on the road every week in the SEC. That’s how you get over two interceptions from your quarterback and a scoreless stretch that lasted more than 20 minutes in the second half.

    And how to win and advance your way to the SEC championship game.

    Third Down: The Rise of Notre Dame by Riley Leonard

    It’s not about hitting rock bottom, it’s about how you react.

    Welcome, folks, to Riley Leonard’s evolution at Notre Dame.

    Notre Dame’s upset loss to Northern Illinois in Week 2 hit rock bottom, and he responded with the best run of games of his career. This time Navy went undefeated and Leonard threw for 178 yards and 2 TDs and rushed for 83 yards and another touchdown in a 51-14 victory.

    That makes it six straight wins for the Irish since the NIU defeat, averaging 31.3 points per game. In those six games, Leonard is completing nearly 70 percent of his passes and has scored 18 goals (10 offensive).

    While there are many reasons why the ball isn’t moving more downfield in the passing game (receiver inconsistency, protection of the offensive line, Leonard’s development with new offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock), breakout plays are starting to come.

    Notre Dame had five blowout plays (10+ yards) against Navy a week after running nine against Georgia Tech. The passing game is improving at the right time and Notre Dame likely needs to win to reach the CFP for the first time since 2020.

    An upset against superior opponents in any of the last four games — Florida State, Virginia, Army (Yankee Stadium), Southern California — would be too much to overcome.

    Fourth Down: Indiana’s backup plan

    He left the state of Indiana three years ago; He was too good a bluechip recruit for the floundering Indiana program with big dreams of playing big time at Tennessee.

    But on Saturday afternoon in Bloomington, Indiana, less than an hour southwest of the state where he played high school football in Greenwood, Tayven Jackson was around him big time.

    A packed Memorial Stadium. An important Big Ten game as a ranked team. The biggest moment of his college career.

    The Hoosiers’ backup quarterback threw a touchdown pass and another as undefeated Indiana beat Washington 31-17 to advance to the College Football Playoff.

    First-year Indiana coach Curt Cignetti signed Ohio transfer and Heisman Trophy candidate Kurtis Rourke from the portal, in part because the quarterback room at Indiana needed an upgrade. The current room from last season also included Jackson, a once-heralded recruit who split time in 2023 in his first season after transferring from Tennessee.

    With Rourke recovering from thumb surgery, Jackson has played efficiently, keeping the Hoosiers out of trouble with bad plays and proving that he can be a reliable option if Rourke, who is expected to return to Michigan State next week, needs more time to heal.

    “He made some good plays,” Cignett said in the postgame press conference. “He left a lot of games there.”

    In other words, Indiana will need more next week if Rourke can’t play or if Jackson is needed in November when the difficulty increases over the last four games (Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio State, Purdue). ).

    But it’s all clear for the Hoosiers, the Hoosiers can only lose to Ohio State and probably still make it into the top 12 team CFP.

    Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for the USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X @MattHayesCFB.

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