Both Penn State and Pitt are unbeaten and the Pittsburgh Steelers lead their division as mid-October approaches.
What’s going on here? Glad you asked.
Penn State, at 5-0, is ranked No. 4 in the AP Top 25 poll. You’ve got to like the chances for the Nittany Lions to make this year’s expanded college football playoffs, with considerable nods to the schedule makers both in-house, and at the conference level.
Likely you have noticed the Big Ten has an influx of west coast members this year. The best of that bunch, No. 3 Oregon, does not appear on Penn State’s schedule. Pathetic UCLA and over-rated USC, do make the schedule.
Also absent from Penn State’s schedule is traditional nemesis Michigan. Although the Wolverines are nowhere near their national championship level of last season, based on past results would you really bet the house on Penn State if the two schools were playing this year?
That leaves Penn State with a game vs. No. 2 Ohio State as the only remaining ranked opposition. The Nittany Lions could suffer their customary loss to Ohio State and still make the postseason thanks to the rash of upsets that have littered the rankings with one-loss teams.
Penn State’s nonconference schedule was soft to say the least. Probably the best of the bunch was a mediocre West Virginia team. Bowling Green was surprisingly tough and Kent State had no business being on the schedule. We’ll talk more about Kent State later.
If Penn State coach James Franklin somehow botches this playoff chance he only bolsters his burgeoning reputation as perhaps the most over-rated, and overpaid coach in college football.
Penn State was expected to start well this year. Pitt, 5-0 for the first time since 1991, is more of a surprise and the Panthers finally have slipped into the Top 25 at No. 22.
Pitt hopes history won’t keep following the 1991 path. That team followed the 5-0 start with a four-game losing streak.
Next up for Pitt this year is California, a 3-2 conundrum of a team. Somehow, the Golden Bears led No. 8 Miami, 35-10 midway through the third quarter Saturday, and managed to lose, 39-38. This was a Cal home game.
In the previous game, Cal had been in Florida for an inexplicable loss to hapless Florida State (1-5).
Pitt’s delay in getting into the Top 25 despite an unbeaten record speaks to the great-escape nature of some of those wins, and the two easy victories coming against Youngstown State (2-4) and Kent State (0-5).
Any major college football team scheduling Kent State should be ashamed. Are you listening Penn State and Pitt? Kent State lost to Loretto’s St. Francis this year!
Pitt will not make the national championship playoffs, but it’s been a nice ride so far.
And then there are the Steelers who, despite losing two straight, share the lead in the AFC North with Baltimore, each at 3-2.
The loss to Indianapolis two games back was strange. Arguably, the loss to Dallas Sunday night was worse considering Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott tried his best to donate the game to the Steelers, with two interceptions and a fumble. Two of those turnovers came in the red zone, costing points.
The Cowboys also had a field-goal try blocked and committed 11 penalties for 87 yards. They came into the game with injuries to several key players, had more hurt in this game, and still pulled it out.
It was not a great moment for the Steelers.
Still, with the AFC looking weak in the extreme, the Steelers should at least make the playoff as one of three wild cards.
Legislating against that is a back-loaded schedule that includes the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas Day, two games with Baltimore, and one each vs. the surprisingly strong Washington Commanders and the Philadelphia Eagles.
That is punctuated with two games each against typically hapless Cleveland and surprisingly inept Cincinnati.
Before the tough games begin, the Steelers have a good chance to improve to 6-2 by virtue of games vs. the Las Vegas Raiders, New York Jets and New York Giants.
All in all, area football fans are having an enjoyable fall, one likely to continue along that path — at least for a time.
Sam Ross Jr's site 