{"id":68053,"date":"2024-11-12T09:00:59","date_gmt":"2024-11-12T14:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=68053"},"modified":"2024-11-11T18:05:46","modified_gmt":"2024-11-11T23:05:46","slug":"penn-state-jockeying-for-cfp-position-taking-on-purdue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2024\/11\/12\/penn-state-jockeying-for-cfp-position-taking-on-purdue\/","title":{"rendered":"Penn State Jockeying for CFP Position Taking on Purdue"},"content":{"rendered":"

The AP fourth-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions look to build on the momentum from their 35-6 win over the Washington Huskies in the White Out Game last week.\u00a0 This is Penn State\u2019s seventh Big Ten contest of the season, and the Nittany Lions are 5-1 in the conference (8-1 overall) so far.\u00a0 The team\u2019s only loss was a 20-13 defeat to #2 Ohio State<\/a>.\u00a0 Despite being on the road, Penn State enters this matchup as the clear favorite.\u00a0 However, there is more at stake than just defeating a 1-8 opponent.\u00a0 Following last week\u2019s losses by Miami and Georgia, this week will be about Penn State jockeying for College Football Playoff (CFP) position while taking on Purdue. \u00a0Following Purdue, Penn State travels to Minnesota before hosting Maryland to end the regular season.<\/p>\n

The Purdue Boilermakers enter the game with a record of 1-8 and are searching for their Big Ten win after six straight defeats this year.\u00a0 After starting the season with a 49-0 victory over Indiana State, Purdue has lost eight in a row.\u00a0 Some of those losses have been quite lopsided, like Notre Dame\u2019s 66-7 win over the Boilermakers.\u00a0 However, others have been close, like their 50-49 loss to Illinois.\u00a0 Following the Penn State game, Purdue will travel to Michigan State before traveling to Indiana to finish the season.\u00a0 This game will serve as a figurative playoff game for Purdue.<\/p>\n

Penn State vs Purdue Preview<\/h2>\n

When & Where: <\/strong>Saturday, November 16, 3:30 pm ET, at Purdue (Ross-Ade Stadium)<\/p>\n

Last Game\u2019s Results: <\/strong>Penn State rebounded from its only loss this season the week before to defeat Washington 35-6 at home.\u00a0 Purdue lost to Ohio State 45-0 on the road.<\/p>\n

Last Season\u2019s Results: <\/strong>Penn State finished ranked #13 after a 10-3 season that ended with a Peach Bowl loss to Ole Miss.\u00a0 Purdue finished with a record of 4-8.<\/p>\n

Series History: <\/strong>This is the 21st time the teams will meet.\u00a0 Penn State has won 16 of the 20 prior contests, with Purdue winning three, and one tie.\u00a0 The teams last met in 2022, when Penn State won 35-31.\u00a0 Purdue led the game 24-21 entering the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n

Penn State vs. Purdue Preview: Nittany Lions to Watch<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Running Back Kaytron Allen<\/h3>\n

Given CFP implications of the remaining games, \u201cstyle points\u201d will be at a premium for Penn State.\u00a0 For players like Kaytron Allen<\/a>, this could mean more reps in games where they would normally be resting.\u00a0 Adding to the intrigue this week is the uncertain status of Allen\u2019s backfield teammate Nick Singleton<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Head coach James Franklin and offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki face an interesting decision.\u00a0 If the game is a blowout, it would be nice to give players like Allen rest for them fresh for the playoffs.\u00a0 However, playing the best players gives the offense the best chance to put up the style points that could be the differentiating factor as they are jockeying for CFP position.\u00a0 Of course, if the game is close, Allen will be essential to winning.<\/p>\n

Singleton left the Washington game at the beginning of the second half.\u00a0 Franklin did not have an update after the game.\u00a0 If Singleton can’t go against Purdue, more carries will naturally flow to Allen.\u00a0 Once there is enough on paper for the CFP committee, look for freshman Corey Smith to see action.\u00a0 Smith rushed five times for 95 yards against Washington, including a 78-yard carry.<\/p>\n

Allen enters the Purdue game with 634 rushing yards and five touchdowns on the ground this season.\u00a0 He also has 60 receiving yards, and a touchdown catch.\u00a0 He has topped 100 yards on the ground twice.\u00a0 The last time he did this was back in September against Illinois, gaining 102 yards on 18 carries.\u00a0 Against Washington, he had 20 rushes for 98 yards and a touchdown. Allen\u2019s ability to make up for Singleton\u2019s production (if needed), while helping Penn State put a lot of points on the board early, makes Allen a Nittany Lion to watch.<\/p>\n

Linebacker Kobe King<\/h3>\n

Almost as important as putting up a lot of points against Purdue will be keeping the Boilermakers off the scoreboard.\u00a0 Penn State\u2019s defense has only given up 20 or more points twice this season and will look to keep that swagger going.\u00a0 Junior linebacker Kobe King<\/a> will play a big role in that.<\/p>\n

Much of the attention on defense this season has gone to players in the trenches or the defensive backfield.\u00a0 Abdul Carter<\/a> and Zane Durant<\/a> have done well to both put pressure on the quarterback and stop the run.\u00a0 While some of the issues seen early in the season (penalties) have continued to pop up, the defensive line has seemingly hit its stride in time for the stretch run.\u00a0 Similarly, despite the long-term injury<\/a> to KJ Winston<\/a>, players like Jaylen Reed<\/a> have continued to step up to provide the leadership and production needed from the defensive backfield.<\/p>\n

Entering the season<\/a> there were questions at linebacker.\u00a0 With Carter moving from linebacker to defensive end, the linebacker group was already fighting an uphill battle to uphold the tradition of Linebacker U.\u00a0 While Tony Rojas<\/a> and Dom DeLuca<\/a> have shown flashes at points this season, King needs to be the force in the middle.<\/p>\n

Against Washington, King tied for the team lead with seven tackles.\u00a0 He also had a sack for the second straight game, giving him a total of three on the season.\u00a0 King has had seven tackles in five games this season.\u00a0 His ability to eclipse that mark, and produce double-digit tackles, will make him a force to be reckoned with for opposing offenses.\u00a0 This would free up others like Carter and Reed to make even more plays.\u00a0 His ability to unlock his talents, and those of his teammates, makes King a Nittany Lion to watch.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo courtesy: Matthew O’Haren-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

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The AP fourth-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions look to build on the momentum from their 35-6 win over the Washington Huskies in the White Out Game last week.\u00a0 This is Penn State\u2019s seventh Big Ten contest of the season, and the Nittany Lions are 5-1 in the conference (8-1 overall) so far.\u00a0 The team\u2019s only […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5172,"featured_media":68084,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,2],"tags":[34221,34344,32817,7983,34373,837,309,926],"class_list":["post-68053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bigten","category-featured","tag-2024-college-football-playoff-projections","tag-2024-college-football-playoff-rankings","tag-andy-kotelnicki","tag-big-ten-football","tag-corey-smith","tag-james-franklin","tag-penn-state-nittany-lions","tag-purdue-boilermakers"],"modified_by":"Maggie Yarnell, Senior Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5172"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68053\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}