Why Penn State football isn’t as good as advertised

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Jack Hillgrove, Sports Editor

At this point in the 2016 college football season, Penn State has 10 wins and is considered for a spot in the college football playoff. It’s been that kind of bizarre season.

It is clearly evident that Penn State has exceeded its expectations this season, winning ten games and playing for a conference title, but it is as simple as this: They aren’t that good.

For starters, the Big Ten may be the most overrated conference in college football. Sure, they have great top teams such as Ohio State, Michigan, and Wisconsin, but the middle to bottom of the B1G are nothing short of awful.

In regards to PSU, they lost to an unranked Pitt team that has perhaps the worst secondary in the country. Furthermore, they lost to a Michigan team early in the season by 30 plus points.

Their claim to fame was their upset over No. 2 Ohio State.

Upsets happen from time to time, and Penn State played a great game to pull it off. However, it is evident that Ohio State had that game won until the final minutes, when a field goal was magically blocked and returned for a touchdown.

Since that win, the Nittnays have defeated the likes of Rutgers and Maryland by large margins as any other decent team would. The fact that Penn State even has close to 10 wins is simply because their strength of schedule is deplorable. They faced six teams with a winning record all season.

Lastly, the credit that Franklin is receiving for his job is bogus.

In Franklin’s first two seasons, he failed to beat a ranked opponent, and lost to teams like Temple and Illinois. He is an above-average recruiter with below average-game day skills, and looked in absolute shock at the end of the Ohio State game, as if he did not comprehend what was happening.

So in short, Penn State fans can thank a horrible schedule and some lucky bounces for their success in the 2016 season.