Everything Penn State wants is suddenly right here — including a path to No. 1 seed

STATE COLLEGE, Pa.

As Penn State s senior class lined up on the field Saturday to meet with their families, many in the Nittany Lions locker room figured out what was unfolding in Columbus, Ohio.

We knew it was a close game towards the end by the time we went out (on the field), said linebacker Tony Rojas .

Advertisement There was no public acknowledgement in Beaver Stadium about Michigan s 13-10 upset of No.

2 Ohio State before Penn State took the field.

James Franklin, the leader of the 1-0 each week mantra, made it a point not to tell his players that if they beat Maryland the program would return to the Big Ten Championship Game for the first time since 2016.

Still, theyre college students, and like the rest of us, dont travel far without their phones even when theyre jogging around for warmups.

Senior safety Jaylen Reed listened to music pregame and quickly checked the score of The Game.

I saw they (Michigan) kicked the field goal.

Im like all right, we gotta handle business so we can get where we want to go, Reed said.

No.

4 Penn State took care of the task at hand with a 44-7 win over Maryland, and now next Saturdays trip to Indianapolis to play No.

1 Oregon in the Big Ten Championship Game is a worthy reward for a team thats been one of Franklins most unflappable groups in his 11 seasons in Happy Valley.

In the 18-team Big Ten that now spans coast to coast, this team went 11-1 and never had that clunker of a loss like so many in this sport endured during the regular season.

See you in Indy.

#WeAre x @B1GFootball pic.twitter.com/glT5306J7J Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) November 30, 2024 There was no field storming at USC, even if it took overtime to win, or at Minnesota, where it took three fourth-down conversions to finish off the final drive.

There was a win with backup quarterback Beau Pribula playing the entire second half at Wisconsin and a sneaky difficult road trip to open the season at West Virginia.

When Penn State lost starting safety KJ Winston due to injury early in the year, it reshuffled the deck and still developed into one of the best defenses in the country.

For all the consternation about not giving do-it-all tight end Tyler Warren at least one touch around the goal line late in what couldve been a season-defining sequence in the loss to Ohio State, Warren and the offense spoke right away about wanting another chance in the Playoff to show what this team is capable of.

Advertisement The opportunity has arrived early.

And its perhaps even unwanted by some in the Penn State fan base.

But Penn State was delivered a gift-wrapped opportunity to play No.

1 Oregon, and with a win can secure a first-round bye in the Playoff.

Since that loss to the Buckeyes on Nov.

2, the entire focus has been on winning out and ensuring that Penn State hosts a Playoff game in Beaver Stadium in December.

Now, theres something much more meaningful, and also more polarizing, at stake.

Within a week, well know for sure if this is a Penn State team capable of making some serious noise and competing for a national championship, or if the dream of seeing Beaver Stadium stuffed to the gills for the schools first-ever Playoff game perhaps gets washed away should Penn State lose by a significant margin next weekend with the eyes of the College Football Playoff selection committee firmly on it.

Remember, teams seeded five through eight host first-round games on their campuses.

Penn State, as of the most recent set of rankings, was seeded sixth.

Where Ohio State slots in now and where the loser of the Big Ten title game is slotted will be fodder for the next seven days.

Still, the chance to play for a first-round bye, even with the added wear and tear and risks that come with this conference championship game, should be welcomed by Penn State.

This is the very goal theyve been working toward, even if getting to this point has raised questions about what the Nittany Lions Playoff resume actually looks like and just how good they are without a win against a premier team this year.

Well, theres a chance to change all of that and end up with the top seed in the 12-team field should Penn State keep surging.

Everything is still in front of us, said running back Nick Singleton.

Singleton watched highlights of the 2016 Big Ten Championship Game as a kid.

He saw Saquon Barkley and Trace McSorley accomplish something in the 38-31 win over Wisconsin that this program has been searching for ever since.

For all the years stuck in the crowded Big Ten East division, all the double-digit win totals but no other conference title game appearances to show for it, let this ticket to Indianapolis be a reward for all the years spent banging up against Ohio State and Michigan, but never quite getting the break to get back to the conference championship like this team now has.

Advertisement This is the most competitive Big Ten theres ever been, and to have your team ready to play week in and week out it is very, very difficult to do, and it doesnt happen very often, Franklin said Saturday night.

This team finding a ton of different ways to win: blowouts, comebacks, overcoming adversity, winning because of defense, winning because of offense, winning because of special teams.

...

Im proud of our guys.

Franklin sat down in late July in Indianapolis at Big Ten media days full of optimism but also skeptical, like many coaches, about the first season of its kind with mega conferences and a 12-team Playoff.

I asked him what would constitute a successful season given the sports changing landscape.

His answer bounced around in my brain for most of the past two weeks as we crunched Big Ten title game scenarios in the unlikely event that, with quite a bit of help, Penn State would end up there.

For us, its what do we do this year to put Penn State in the best position to make the playoffs, but not just make the playoffs but put ourselves in an advantageous position in the playoffs, Franklin said.

How do we put ourselves to have an opening week bye? Well, this is Penn States chance.

Franklin continued with a line of thought thats quite prescient considering how this years 12-team field is unfolding with Notre Dame certainly part of the 12-team field.

Its amazing, Franklin said.

Ive seen so many things about Notre Dame not having a bye as part of their requirements with the Playoff.

They do have a bye (because) they dont have a conference championship game.

Thats their bye.

How do we get ourselves in a position to get a bye? If not a bye, how do we put ourselves in the best position to have a home game in Beaver Stadium, which would be an advantageous position with those elements at that time of the year? Franklin reiterated within the past week that the goal is to keep this team together and to keep winning as many games as it can for however long.

In a year in which every team has been on upset watch with Oregon even finding itself in that position two weeks ago in the fourth quarter against Wisconsin Penn State stands as good of a chance as anyone of getting hot at the right time and going on a run.

Theres a chance to squash a narrative about being unable to win the biggest games and maybe finally delivering a knockout blow to one of the sports top teams, something thats eluded Franklins Penn State teams.

But, theres also the chance that in stepping into the conference championship game, Saturday might have been the last time this group played a game in Beaver Stadium.

With a significant loss, Penn State could end up headed on the road in the first round.

With a win against Oregon, that coveted idle week is secured but the second-round game is played at a bowl site.

Advertisement As Warren walked through the Beaver Stadium tunnel and stopped to sign autographs Saturday evening, he posed for a selfie with a young fan.

Warren took plenty of photos on the field and in the tunnel, wanting to soak up every minute.

The video boards informed everyone that this team is Indianapolis-bound.

Its a good way to end it if this was our last game here, Warren said.

(Photo: Scott Taetsch / Getty Images).

This article has been shared from the original article on theathleticuk, here is the link to the original article.