Penn State Football: The Schedule and the Mascots Say It All

The Penn State Nittany Lions have many challenges this season, not the least of which is playing No. 2  Alabama in Week 2, and closing the season with perhaps its three toughest Big Ten games—Nebraska, Ohio State and Wisconsin. 

Teams are supposed to get better by November, right?  Well that works both ways...

Indiana State: A Paycheck Day; No Way Penn State Will Lose

Put this one in the "W" column.  We should see a lot of Penn State players get a chance to play.

Alabama Is Probably Too Good; Temple Will Be an Away Game in Name Only

The Crimson Tide will descend upon Beaver Stadium on September 10.  The annual Beaver Stadium "white-out" plus a 3:30 game will make this a special atmosphere.  I'm just hoping that Penn State fans will be as classy towards Alabama fans as they were toward us last year. Wouldn't it be fun if we won?  It absolutely would, but I'm not counting on it. 

On September 17, Penn State fans will descend upon Temple at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.  If Al Golden were still there, I would be concerned.  But he's not.  It will be an away game in name only.  My best guess is that we will be 2-1 after we play Temple.  But 3-0 would surely be a great result!

Eastern Michigan: Another Paycheck Day

On September 24 this MAC team with a 2-9 record from last year will come to Beaver Stadium to earn its paycheck.  We will be most likely 3-1.

The Big Ten Schedule Begins

Penn State heads to Bloomington for its Big Ten opener in the new Leaders Division on October 1.  We will handle Indiana handily.  The following week, on October 8, the Iowa Hawkeyes will visit Beaver Stadium, where the Nittany Lions have been dealt too many upsets as of late. 

Can Kirk Ferentz do it again?  I doubt it.  We will have plenty of time to improve by then, and despite the fact that home field advantage hasn't mattered recently, I think it will this year.  We will likely be 5-1 after Iowa.

October Upsets? Unlikely...but Not Impossible

Purdue enters Beaver Stadium for Homecoming on October 15, followed by a Penn State trip to Northwestern in Evanston, Illinois on October 22.   Northwestern played us very tough last year.  We had to come from behind to secure JoePa's 400th win. 

Then, Illinois visits us.  We had a miserable ugly loss against Illinois last year in Champaign and the team should be motivated to not make that a repeat.  My best guess for these three games is that if Penn State players stay healthy, we will win all these games.  We will likely be 8-1 going into November.

A Killer November

The Nittany Lions will have an open date on November 5, but an open date doesn't necessarily help us with the killer schedule ahead.

Our new annual rival, Nebraska, comes to Beaver Stadium on November 12, and is predicted to be contending for the Legends division leader.  Penn State could be undefeated in the Big Ten at this point, having lost only once to Alabama.  This will be a huge Big Ten game between Leaders and Legends, and hopefully the start of a classic rivalry.

If Penn State survives Nebraska, pulling off what is likely to be considered an upset, then the following week the Lions travel to Ohio Stadium for a November 19 game against the fully loaded (or reloaded) Ohio State Buckeyes. 

Then, on Thanksgiving Weekend, is our final game at Wisconsin.  As I see it now, we could lose 1-2 of these last three games.  We could lose all three.  

We may not even know how good we are going into this month.

A Wide Range of Outcomes

If Penn State is lucky they will be 10-2 by the end of the season.  My best guess is that they will be 9-3 or  possibly even 8-4.   The schedule just doesn't favor Penn State.

Can Penn State become good enough to surprise everyone and finish out the killer November schedule undefeated in its division?  As they say, that's why you play the game.