Penn State expects Saquon Barkley to play in Big Ten Championship Game

The Broncos beat Toledo to clinch a 12-0 season and a spot in next week’s MAC Championship Game.

Ohio State was ranked No. 2 behind Alabama in last week’s College Football Playoff standings. Not only did Penn State win the Land Grant Trophy, Ohio State beat MI, so they’re heading to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Championship Game next weekend.

That’s pretty much all Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer wanted to talk about. Could a win over Penn State get them in?

The top four teams in the nation make it to the playoff round of the post-season to compete for the National Championship.

If they get in, it will piss off … If either Oklahoma or Oklahoma State should dominate the other in a de facto Big 12 title game, they could mount an argument for inclusion, unconvincing though it may be. The victor of the Big Ten championship game between Penn State and Wisconsin, both two-loss teams, would also factor into the equation.

Wes Lunt completed 28 of 54 passes for 377 yards and two touchdowns for IL (3-9, 2-7), which closed out its first season under coach Lovie Smith with three straight losses.

FRANKLIN’S JOURNEY: Penn State lost four straight to end 2015 and got off to a 2-2 start this season with those losses of 42-39 to Pittsburgh and 49-10 to MI.

Godwin also took five catches for 135 yards in the win for the Nittany Lions (10-2, 8-1 Big Ten). The problem is that’s their only victory against a ranked team this season. With close losses to MI and Ohio State, the Badgers are the top-ranked two-loss team in the country. Granted, LSU, Michigan State and Nebraska are nowhere near that now.

After J.T. Barrett converted a fourth-and-1, Samuel raced through the middle and into the end zone to win the game for Ohio State, which looks well set to stay No. 2 in the college football rankings on Tuesday night.

Penn State came in at No. 8 in both polls after winning over Michigan State on Saturday and claiming the Big Ten East Division’s spot in the conference title game.

But when asked point blank if the Big Ten champion should get a spot the College Football Playoff, Penn State coach James Franklin was noncommittal. MI beat the Nittany Lions and Badgers in the regular season and they had the same regular-season records. That will probably keep going for a while, to be honest. But after trailing early, Penn State rolled to a 45-12 win, shutting down that avenue to the playoffs for OSU. Penn State is making its first appearance and going for its first championship since 2008. As the conference as a whole fights as respectability in the non-conference, or as its power dynamics shift on a week-to-week basis in this fall, we’ll follow every team and try to piece together the puzzle that is the 13-week-long season all the way up until Indianapolis.

Penn State answered by finally putting things together offensively on the arm of McSorley, who had a key third-down connection with Godwin which led to a 35-yard field goal from junior kicker Tyler Davis to cut the Michigan State lead to 6-3 with 13:11 left in the second quarter. But perhaps the Wolverines coach should have turned his focus to his own team’s miscues after MI committed three costly turnovers. No, but just imagine if Washington, Clemson and Oklahoma lose next weekend.

Nevertheless, it was a frustrating Saturday for Ohio State, as it struggled to move the ball efficiently and made bonehead mistakes.