Red Flags: 5 college football teams on upset alert in Week 8

1. Ohio State Buckeyes

Opponent: 7 Penn State | Time: Saturday, Oct. 21, Noon ET (FOX) | Spread: OSU -4.5

Over the past week or so, it's felt like the narrative has started to grow that the Penn State Nittany Lions, who come into Week 8 at 6-0 with one of the best statistical defenses in the country, hasn't played anyone. On one hand, there is little argument against that fact. On the other, much like division-rival Michigan, they've handled business like they should in those games for the most part.

But now comes the test. James Franklin's team is going on the road to face the Ohio State Buckeyes, the No. 3-ranked team in college football. Ryan Day's group has one big signature win on the resumé to this point in the season, toppling Notre Dame at the last second (against 10 men at the goal-line) in South Bend.

That's clearly better than anything that Penn State has accomplished to this point. At the same time, though, I'd also argue that Ohio State has not seen a team with the talent level and ceiling of the Nittany Lions.

OSU quarterback Kyle McCord has shown some improvement of late, but against middling or bad defenses in Purdue and Maryland. The numbers also show that he's been quite bad when under pressure this season. Well, Penn State is set to test an offensive line that the jury's still out on with a Top 20 pick in Chop Robinson headlining one of the best front-sevens in the country.

On the flip side, we haven't seen Drew Allar have to be unleashed yet. But the former 5-star quarterback for the Nittany Lions has a cannon behind a talented O-line and with Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen capable of carrying the load on the ground. If the receivers get open, I expect Allar to have his statement game as I'm still not sold on the Ohio State secondary either.

This isn't just an upset alert -- I'm flat-out saying that Penn State beats Ohio State. I've said it since the start of the year, and nothing I've seen or am seeing coming into Saturday's clash has moved me off of that.