Big Ten football 2020: 5 bold predictions – Can Ohio State win National Championship?
By John Buhler
3. Penn State’s heart breaks vs. Ohio State, Michigan because of James Franklin
This may come as the biggest shock of the Big Ten season. The Penn State Nittany Lions enter its campaign as the No. 8 team in the country. They are widely viewed as the second-best team in the Big Ten behind only the Ohio State Buckeyes. While they have a shot at an upset at home in two weeks, not only does Penn State fail to do that, but they also lose to the Michigan Wolverines.
Again, nobody will be mad if Penn State loses at home to a team that is better than them. What people will have an issue with is how non-competitive the primetime game on ABC will be from Happy Valley. It will be a more lopsided affair than the Alabama Crimson Tide defeating the Georgia Bulldogs, but thankfully, not as bad as the Clemson Tigers over the Miami Hurricanes.
The national media and Penn Staters will feel like they blew a golden opportunity to make a statement about how legit this team is. While the Nittany Lions will rebound with three straight wins over the Maryland Terrapins, the Nebraska Cornhuskers and the Iowa Hawkeyes to get to 4-1 entering the sixth week of the Big Ten football season, Michigan will roll them in Ann Arbor.
Michigan will be humming after a tough, but meaningful season-opening loss to the Minnesota Golden Gophers in Ann Arbor. Quarterback Joe Milton and running back Zach Charbonnet will be pulverizing seemingly every team it faces in the heart of its schedule. James Franklin will let the Wolverines run through his defense like s**t through a tin horn and miss a New Year’s Six bowl.