T25-Five Things For Championship Week

“I came back to win a Big Ten championship, to do what our team is doing this year”.

Penn State football team rallied from a 21-point deficit to post a 38-31 win over Wisconsin to win the Big Ten title on Saturday night in Indianapolis. No. 1 Alabama, No. 3 Clemson and No. 4 Washington won their respective conference title games in decisive fashion, so it’s unlikely any of those teams will fall. “And I think Penn State has that special sauce”.

Wisconsin: Will wait to see who they’ll get in the postseason, one that could have been much more interesting had they protected their lead. “I’m sorry, guys”, O’Brien said during a conference call with Wisconsin reporters this week, in advance of his team’s game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on Sunday. Penn State lost to Pitt and MI (by 39) before closing the season with nine straight victories. “We’ve done that. It’s on you now, committee”.

Said “Not so fast, my friends” to the Nittany Lions. That win started the eight-game win streak that they take with them to Lucas Oil Stadium.

On Sept. 24, Penn State was 2-2 on the season, 0-1 in Big Ten play after a 49-10 undressing by MI in Ann Arbor. MI was going to be nearly an automatic thing without Ohio State getting in the way. Some fans even held signs that read “we smell roses”.

“Everything came together that second quarter and we kept it going the rest of the game”, McSorley said.

It was certainly a moment worth savoring. The 6-foot-6 tight end is averaging 66 receiving yards per game in his last four outings, and he has developed into a top McSorley target on third downs.

And McSorley wasn’t the only one putting on a show. The second wound up a 70-yard completion and was on the money at the center of the field, in between the two Badgers safeties who weren’t close enough to Saeed Blacknall to bother him. Penn State was down 28-7 at one point in the ballgame. The Nittany Lions average almost 180 yards rushing and 250 yards passing per game.

A big part of the comeback was the passing offense and quarterback Trace McSorley’s ability to break the stingy Wisconsin defense deep.

Alabama (13-0) completed its rampage through the regular season earlier in the day, crushing Florida 54-16 just for the fun of it.

Q: Are Wolverine fans nervous that losing to Ohio State will automatically keep them out of the playoff even though they may be more deserving than the teams I mentioned?

Penn State: Will eagerly wait to see who is next on the schedule.

Ohio State’s Urban Meyer said he empathizes with Penn State and would not mind seeing a system that rewards all conference champions. The committee has not been thrilled with Washington’s strength of schedule, but would it really dump the Huskies (12-1) for another Big Ten team after they pounded Colorado in the Pac-12 title game Friday night?

The rush defense of Wisconsin has been one of the best in the nation all season, so good that the Badgers never allowed another opponent to reach the 100-yard mark on the ground after Louisiana State’s Leonard Fournette did it in the season’s opening game.

Running back Saquon Barkley will play tonight, Franklin confirmed, after suffering a foot injury last week.

Franklin would not, however, venture into any sort of lobbying for a berth in the CFP.

Ohio State could belong in the Playoff as an at-large team, but with the way that Penn State is playing in the 2016 Big Ten Championship Game, perhaps the Buckeyes won’t get there.