Are Penn State's College Football Playoff hopes about to be derailed by a crucial injury?

The Penn State Nittany Lions are heading into their biggest matchup of the season and the program may missing their star quarterback into the matchup. Drew Allar, who missed the entire second half due to a unknown injury against Wisconsin, is only given a couple of days to recover before the undefeated program takes on the Buckeyes.

Ohio State and Penn State go into this game with a lot of playoff implications on the line as the Lions didn't exactly play a tough schedule this season, and the Buckeyes have already been hit with one loss this season to the No. 1 Oregon Ducks.

As of this writing, It's not know what the injury is, but some speculated that Allar's suffered a knee injury and James Franklin's comments seems to back that up. Other have speculated that the junior "suffered an apparent lower body injury" instead. While the exact cause and injury is unknown, it's possible that the quarterback may miss some time beyond Week 10.

Allar has thrown for 1,640 yards and 12 touchdowns, while only having four interceptions this season. Ohio State, who looked shaky this previous week against Nebraska, has been outright destroying teams offensively with an average of 44 points per game. With Allar's status unknown for their marquee matchup against Ohio State, it's worth wondering if his possible absence could cost his program a shot at the College Football Playoff?

Could Drew Allar's injury could cost Penn State a shot at the CFP?

If Allar is unable to go, the starting job will likely go to Beau Pribula, who helped lead the Lions to a victory in the second half against Wisconsin. In the second half, Pribula threw for 98 yards and one touchdown on 84.0 completion percentage. Penn State shouldn't be exactly have doom-and-gloom mentality if Allar is unable to play, with their backup QB looking solid in the come-from-behind victory.

While the Sophomore might not be completely terrible, it's fair to say that matching Ohio State's offensive production (If the Buckeyes played as they did against Nebraska last week, it might actually be doable for Pribula) is a lengthy task for a quarterback who has yet to play competitive Big Ten football before his play against the Badgers last week.

After their battle against Ohio State, Franklin's squad has a easy road towards double-digit wins with them facing Washington, Purdue, Minnesota, and Maryland to finish out the season. In all likelihood, it's probable that the Nittany Lions will be able to take care of those teams with them likely finishing the season off with 11 wins.

Yes, the program is leaving their College Football Playoff chances at risk if their Allar is sidelined. Still, it's clear that they would still have a great shot to make the playoff as an at-large bid if they are able to take care of their weak opponents afterward.

While the game-time status of Drew Allar is not known at this moment, it's clear that the program's playoff chances will at least be slightly affected by a loss against Ohio State even with them not at full health.