James Franklin, No. 4 Penn State Avoid Upset vs. Minnesota, Underwhelm CFB Fans

Winning out against unranked teams in order to secure an at-large bid to the College Football Playoff didn't turn out to be as easy as Penn State head coach James Franklin might have hoped.

Penn State narrowly avoided a costly Big Ten loss as Drew Allar and the Nittany Lions claimed a 26-25 victory on the road Saturday night at Minnesota.

The loss had some fans wondering if Penn State, which entered the contest ranked No. 4 in the AP Top 25 poll and sixth in the latest College Football Playoff bracket, deserved a playoff bid at all.

Minnesota climbed out to an early 10-point lead thanks to a 20-yard touchdown run from Marcus Major and a fourth-down sack of Allar in the first quarter.

Allar got Penn State on the board by connecting with Omari Evans on a 45-yard touchdown, and the Nittany Lions looked set to shift the momentum of the game when Max Brosmer picked off Minnesota quarterback Dominic DeLuca.

Then the Gophers blocked a punt by Riley Thompson and took back the ball on Penn State's 21-yard line.

Minnesota scored a touchdown on the next play and headed into halftime leading by three points.

Penn State came back to win thanks to a Nicholas Singleton rushing touchdown, a Zakee Wheatley fumble recovery and a critical fake punt for a first down that kept the ball in the Nittany Lions possession late in the fourth quarter.

Allar then found tight end Tyler Warren on a fourth down with fewer than 30 seconds left to seal the win.

The final score was still closer than the Nittany Lions would have liked. A Big Ten loss would have impacted their ability to compete with other single conference-loss teams like Indiana (10-1 overall, 7-1 Big Ten) and Ohio State (10-1 overall, 7-1 Big Ten) in the CFP rankings.

Penn State can now continue fighting for home field advantage in the playoff by improving to 11-1 next weekend.

Penn State closes out the season with a home game against Maryland next Saturday afternoon.