Rivals national recruiting analyst Greg Smith has thoughts on Penn State flying under the radar as a legit championship contender, Michigan's reinvestment in the trenches and another missed opportunity for Nebraska.
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1. PAY ATTENTION TO PENN STATE
Are we talking enough about Penn State? The Nittany Lions are the No. 3 team in the country, one of a handful of undefeated teams left and it doesn’t seem to be registering on the national scale. James Franklin’s program is coming off a bye week and has a big matchup this weekend with Wisconsin. It’s never easy to go into Camp Randall and get a win so this will be a good test. Plus, the Badgers seem to have steadied the ship and have played their best football lately.
As things stand now, Penn State is cruising toward a playoff appearance no matter what happens in the huge game with Ohio State next week. Perhaps a good showing in Madison will get people talking about Penn State as a potential national championship team.
But in reality, it is the game against the Buckeyes that people are really waiting for to view Penn State as a legit contender this year.
2. MICHIGAN CONTINUES TO BUILD IN THE TRENCHES
There is a lot of talk about Michigan football’s quarterback play but we know that when the team gets that figured out, the signal-caller will enjoy a terrific offensive line. The Wolverines have been built from the trenches lately and that doesn’t appear to be slowing down.
Monday night the team got a long-awaited verbal commitment from four-star offensive tackle Andrew Babalola. The Kansas native offers tremendous upside. He’s an extremely athletic lineman who can keep adding weight to his frame as he refines his game. Pairing him with current offensive line commit Avery Gach gives Michigan two of the best offensive line prospects in the country.
Last year’s crop of offensive line recruits was among the best in the country too, led by Texas native Blake Frazier. Ground and pound football is here to stay in Ann Arbor.
3. ANOTHER BIG STAGE EMBARRASSMENT FOR NEBRASKA
Nebraska fans saw an all too familiar movie play out last weekend in Bloomington. It was a game against a ranked opponent on Big Noon Kickoff. The coaching staff and players said the right thing ahead of the game about being ready to play. Then the game started.
The Huskers got their doors blown off by Indiana, losing 56-7. The Hoosiers' resurgence under Curt Cignetti has been a fun storyline this season and they have a legitimately good football team. But they are in just the first season of building that program with no football tradition at all.
Nebraska has poured endless amounts of money into the program and enjoys fan support that would make just about any program jealous. But when it comes to big games the Huskers just don’t show up. It’s not necessarily a talent issue in Lincoln. Matt Rhule has spoken about how flipping the mentality within the program is his greatest challenge.
Unfortunately for the Huskers, the next big challenge is now. A date with Ohio State in Columbus is next with the Buckeyes coming off a bye week and a loss to Oregon.
Nebraska hasn’t beaten a ranked team in more than 2,900 days. Good luck ending that streak this week in Columbus.
