College Football Notebook: Penn State Crushed At Home

9/29/2014

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Just three weeks after the NCAA reinstated Penn State as Bowl eligible the Nittany Lions ruined the dreams and fantasies of State fans everywhere. Quarterback Christian Hackenberg did not have his finest day. Completing just 22 of 45 and with a huge pick six against conference rivals North Western that turned the momentum for good in favor of the Wildcats.

It's no secret the Big Ten has been a far from dominate conference in 2014. In fact the Wildcats came into Happy Valley just 1-3 on the years having been beaten by some less then formidable opponents. This loss now moves Penn State from controlling their destiny from the top of the conference to the middle of a very mediocre pack.

Next up for Penn State in two weeks are the reeling Michigan Wolverines. Having lost two in a row at home and three out of the last four including a prime time nationally televised shut out at the hands of the Irish. The Wolverines Saturday against Minnesota mixed things up under center as Shane Morris took most of the snaps instead of Devin Gardner. Neither was very effective as Morris went 7 for 19 and Gardner was 3 for 6.

Brady Hoake the Wolverines coach is under extreme scrutiny this week, as fans and alumni are calling for his job. Michigan will have the opportunity this week to get back on track before hosting Penn State on Oct 11th. The Wolverines will travel to New Jersey to battle Rutgers, who played the Nittany Lions very close just two weeks ago. This game is as much of a must win as they come for Michigan. Although Hoake's employment may already be in question a loss at Rutgers could be extremely damaging to the program long term in regards to recruiting.

In the Pac 12 Saturday Stanford defeated Washington in a very close often ugly game improving to 3-1 and 1-1 in the conference. After loosing to USC earlier in the year, Washington was a must win if the Cardinal has any hopes in playing in the Pac 12 Championship game. Stanford now ranked 14th in the land travels to South Bend this week to battle the Irish. Notre Dame is coming off another big prime time victory over Syracuse this week. However Irish quarterback Everett Golson committed three turnovers in this game and five total as a team. Coming into this game the Irish were +8 in the giveaway takeaway category. In fact Golson had not committed a turnover at all in the previous three games in 2014. If the Irish are to beat Stanford this week they will need to address the turnover issue. This rivalry is traditional a close game, won by the team with the fewest mistakes.

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