Greg McIlroy - Always College Football Podcast

[ryoder1]

Just caught the end of this show. He was talking with Matt Berry from ESPN and they both agreed that Penn State in 2025 lines up like OSU did in '24 and Michigan in '23. Meaning we are loaded and Berry even said we are "loaded". They said it sets up well for us and we are the team to beat in the B10. Of course, they said we have to go out and do it.

They were also talking about OSU and felt they were a bit overhyped. They did not use this term but this was the inference. Berry was saying they have to break in a new QB, who he thinks will be Julian Sayin, new RBs and that will take time to gel. They certainly think OSU is top 10 but felt being #2 or #3 is too high, that was my takeaway although they did not say that directly.

If ever we are going to beat them in Columbus then this is the year. It cannot set up any better for us assuming we stay healthy. We are a 3pt dog currently. Give them 3pts for being at home then that means on a neutral field it would be a pick'em. I think the line would be a pick'em now but since we never beat them, no one trusts us. I do think that line could slide towards pick'em or us even being a slight favorite if we look really strong leading up to that game and if OSU looks like they have some holes, such as inconsistent QB play for example.

 

[Sheriff Coffee]

agreed. But while tOSU will have to retool, we have a sneaky tough schedule. I say sneaky because our out-of-conference games are close to a joke. But once in conference, we play:

1. Oregon, top ten team
2. Iowa, top 20 team with a very tough defense
3. tOSU, top five team at the Shoe, our waterloo
4. Indiana, playoff team last year that had a great portal off season
5. MI State which looks to be physical and improved
6. Nebraska, who is well coached and improving with a very good Soph QB starting his second year
7. Rutgers, well coached and improving under Schiano

 

[ryoder1]

agreed. But while tOSU will have to retool, we have a sneaky tough schedule. I say sneaky because our out-of-conference games are close to a joke. But once in conference, we play:

1. Oregon, top ten team
2. Iowa, top 20 team with a very tough defense
3. tOSU, top five team at the Shoe, our waterloo
4. Indiana, playoff team last year that had a great portal off season
5. MI State which looks to be physical and improved
6. Nebraska, who is well coached and improving with a very good Soph QB starting his second year
7. Rutgers, well coached and improving under Schiano

OSU did lose two games and still win the NC including losing their last regular season game. I would hope and expect we don't lose two but we can still make the playoffs by losing two.

Of those teams you mentioned you have to consider at this stage before the season has even begun who is a contender or actually be good or pretty good and who is a pretender. We are loaded and the real deal so even of for example a team like Indiana with a good coach is good again they are around #15. We are top 3 and have them at home. Just don't see us losing to them.

For us to lose to any team not named OSU or Oregon it would have to be a very bad game for us and a great game for the the other guy.

I will admit Iowa could be a tricky test playing there but is there a position group that they even have equal talent to us? We come put and execute, don't turn the ball over, and it should be a W.

Michigan State on the road? Their QB, Chiles, is supposedly improved but very mediocre last season. Their O-line has a bunch of transfers. They do have Nick Marsh at WR, remember him? Again, they don't have talent approaching us except Marsh as a WR.

Nebraska beating us in Happy Valley? Yeah they have a good QB but what else to seriously pull off an upset? They have John Butler as their DC.....

I just can't see Rutgers beating us in the last game of the season. Again, their talent does not come close to ours.

I am confident we beat Oregon in the White Out. Don't see them coming into that type of environment with new starters and pulling off the win. Yeah they have Dante Moore a 5 star QB but he has proven nothing in college and why did he transfer from UCLA to begin with. They did great in the portal but with thst they can't match our combination of talent and experience.

OSU is the game we will have a very difficult time winning. They have some holes but will play well against us as they always do. There is also the mental factor. We don't make the plays we need to in crunch time versus them. Maybe this is the year we get that monkey offour back.

Win or lose in Columbus I see us in the playoffs with as good a chance as any to win it all.