4. Penn State Nittany Lions
Rank: 8 | Opponent: Michigan State Spartans | Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
On the surface, there may not seem like a great deal of a chance that the Michigan State Spartans can upset the Penn State Nittany Lions. After all, the Nittany Lions went to the wire with Ohio State their last time out, one of the best teams in the country by most measures. What’s more, Michigan State has made a habit out of letting fans down to this point of the season, failing to live up to some notable preseason hype.
Having said that, there is a recipe for Penn State to potentially struggle in this matchup with the Spartans. From a purely narrative sense, you have to wonder if the Nittany Lions have any hangover from the loss to the Buckeyes. Be it from having two weeks for it to marinate, from coming so close and falling short or even from James Franklin’s awful fourth-down call, the potential for that is there.
What’s more, we’re going to see the Penn State defense potentially put to the test. One of the biggest surprises against Ohio State was how the Nittany Lions defense performed in the first half. Having said that, we’ve seen this unit play abysmally at times this season.
For all of the struggles of the Spartans this season, there is talent on this offense that has to be noted. Brian Lewerke has shown flashes of brilliance at times in his career, and there are weapons around him. This may not be a likely upset, but it does indeed seem like we could see Michigan State get on track and pull off a stunner in Happy Valley.