College football trick or treat: 10 biggest surprises and flops of 2019

Treat – Penn State

Earlier I said there was a chance there could be two SEC teams in the playoffs. Well, don’t count out two Big Ten teams in the college football playoffs this year either. Both Penn State and Ohio State are undefeated, and their matchup on November 23rd could be the second biggest game of the year (behind Alabama-LSU). Ohio State was expected to succeed this year, even without Urban Meyer.

Penn State, after losing longtime signal-caller Trace McSorley, was expected to regress. They also lost last year’s backup quarterback and offensive coordinator to Mississippi State.  Instead, Penn State sits at 8-0 going into November.

There’s a lot to love about this Penn State team. Quarterback Sean Clifford is tied for tenth in the country with twenty passing touchdowns. Receiver KJ Hamler has hauled in eight touchdowns. Their defense is ranked ninth in total defense. As of now, every facet of their team is rolling. The question is, can they sustain it all year?

They’ve got two more games to get ready for Ohio State. Next week they take on a surprising 13th ranked Minnesota team and the week after they play Indiana. Their final game of the season is against hapless Rutgers. Even if they lost to Ohio State, the Nittany Lions should win the rest of their games. This would force the committee to think long and hard about which one-loss team to admit.