The Nittany Lions will open their season heading to West Lafayette to face the Purdue Boilermakers. The next three games will feature matchups against two MAC teams and one SEC team. The three teams are Ohio, Auburn, and Central Michigan. From week four to the end of the season Penn State will then play an exclusively Big Ten schedule. Overall Penn State will play in seven home games and five away games.
PSU has a path to their first 10-win season since the 2019 team that went 10-2 in the regular season. PSU defeated Memphis in the Cotton Bowl for their 11th win of the campaign. There are eight games that are absolute must wins for James Franklin and Penn State. 2016, 2017, and 2019 are the other three years Franklin has led his squad to ten or more wins.
The must win games on the schedule are: @Purdue, vs. Ohio, vs. Central Michigan, vs. Northwestern, vs. Minnesota, @Indiana, vs. Maryland, and @Rutgers.
The eight games above are must win games if Penn State wants a chance at reaching ten wins on the season. Winning ten games puts them in a good spot to play in a New Year’s Day Bowl Game.
After penciling in eight wins on the year, where are two more going to come from? The most likely path Penn State can use to reach ten wins will be to beat Auburn on the road. And then win the 2022 season finale at home against Michigan State. Anytime you are playing on the road against an SEC opponent the game is going to be a battle. Auburn will be looking to avenge their 2021 loss (20-28) to Penn State and aiming to split the two-year home and home series. It is hard to guarantee anything against the Spartans who have beaten the Nittany Lions five times since 2014.
The two built-in losses I am predicting are on the road against Michigan and at home against Ohio State. Ohio State is ranked #2 in the preseason AP poll while Michigan also finds themselves in the top 10 coming in at #8 to begin the year.
If Penn State can find a win against either the Wolverines or Buckeyes their chances of making the Big Ten title game greatly increase. As well as making the college football playoff for the first time in school history since the playoff format was adopted prior to the 2014 season, the same year Franklin was named Head Coach in Happy Valley.
For the full 2022 Penn State Football Schedule click here.
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