The Washington Huskies travel across the country again to face off against one of the premiere programs in the Big Ten. The #6 Nittany Lions of Penn State look to rebound after their home loss to Ohio State.
Penn State has been stuck in a rut that most fanbases around the country would envy. The Nittany Lions have won ten or more games five of the nine years with James Franklin as head coach.
Last Saturday marked the 9th loss in 10 matchups with Ohio State, a loss that has plagued every effort by Penn State to reach the college football playoff.
The problem for Washington is that Penn State has taken care of everyone else in the conference outside of Ohio State and Michigan. The #6 team in the country is clearly a favorite to claim one of the 12 spots in the playoff.
Washington comes into the matchup following the narrative of the season. They took care of business at home in a game where their sloppy play made the game closer than it should have been. The Trojan offense even had one more opportunity to score when the Huskies were flagged for having 12 men on the field coming out of a timeout. The third and six play failed giving USC one final shot.
This matchup looks like it favors the Nittany Lions in some key areas, mostly up front.
Washington might have found an answer at left tackle with freshman Kahlee Tafai. Tafai handled the Trojan pass rush well which helped the offense move effectively down the field. This week the task gets much tougher as the O-line will have to deal with over 100,000 screaming fans in white.
Abdul Carter is an elite pass rusher who will give Tafai and the rest of the O-line fits. His explosive playstyle is tough for even double teams to keep from disrupting an offense.
On the other side of the line Penn State has a big and talented offensive line that is tasked with creating holes for the running game. The Nittany Lions aren’t explosive on offense with Drew Allar and the running game bolstered by Kaytron Allen, but the offensive line will wear down any D-line. The one player the secondary must contend with is senior tight end Tyler Warren. He is the most explosive player on the offense, lines up everywhere, and can take over a game.
Washington is banged up on the defensive line and will be susceptible to fatigue in the second half. The Huskies have struggled to contain the run especially in the third and fourth quarter.
It is imperative for Washington to force Penn State to become one-dimensional and force Allar to beat the Husky secondary. Unlike USC who abandoned the run in the first half, Penn State knows their identity and will look to wear down the defensive line. Washington will have to look to get up two scores to truly get them to put the game on Allar.
There is always a chance any Saturday for something like that to happen, but the chances are that the Huskies could be in for a long day full of methodical drives.
Penn State is favored by 13.5 with a total of 46.5 meaning Penn State would win 30-17.
This season Washington has not played well on the road and they are playing a team angry after another marquee loss.
33-20 Penn State
