Fansided

College football 2018 preview: Predicting the first loss for every Top 25 team

By Jeremy Morris

ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 01: UCF Golden Knights quarterback McKenzie Milton (10) celebrates a touchdown during the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl between the UCF Knights and the Auburn War Eagles on January 1, 2017 at Mercedes-Benz stadium in Atlanta, GA. (Photo by David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 01: UCF Golden Knights quarterback McKenzie Milton (10) celebrates a touchdown during the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl between the UCF Knights and the Auburn War Eagles on January 1, 2017 at Mercedes-Benz stadium in Atlanta, GA. (Photo by David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Quarterback Trace McSorley #9 of the Penn State Nittany Lions (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
Quarterback Trace McSorley #9 of the Penn State Nittany Lions (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images) /

Comparing strengths of schedule or quality opponents between all the Big Ten Eastern Division teams is a fairly useless exercise. They all play each other plus Wisconsin and could all go 11-1 just as easily as they could lose four games. Penn State is fortunate to play only one top-tier opponent on the road though (Michigan on Nov. 3) and their schedule is front-loaded with Ohio State and Michigan State coming to town early in the season.

Penn State said goodbye to one of the most dynamic players in school history in Saquon Barkley last season but senior quarterback, Trace McSorley has been good to great for two seasons as a starter already and appears ready to be the guy on James Franklin’s offense.

Miles Sanders, a highly touted recruit out of high school, has been waiting patiently and learning from Barkley and now also seems ready to step up this year. Coaches, teammates and even Barkley have sung his praises. If healthy, his floor is probably a solid 1,000-yard season or close to it. His ceiling isn’t quite Barkley’s but he could end up being just behind Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor on the list of top running backs in the Big Ten.

Since winning forgives all sins, Urban Meyer will be fully reinstated by the time Ohio State and Penn State meet in Week 5. It’s certainly not out of the realm of possibility for Penn State to beat the Buckeyes, especially at home, but I’d lean heavily on Ohio State to deliver the first L of the season to their Big Ten rivals.