Penn State Football: Ranking 2019 opponents by toughness
By Shane Lunnen
Penn State will face off against Idaho in Week 1 and it is the first meeting between the two schools on the gridiron. The school’s originally scheduled the game when Idaho was still in the FBS but last season the Vandals made the transition back to FCS, becoming the first FBS team to voluntarily drop to the lower level.
The Vandals will be without one of their best defensive players, linebacker Christian Elliss, who is suspended for the first game. A tall task made even tougher without the team leading tackler a year ago. The Lions should make quick work of the over-matched Vandals. It will be a good tune up game for likely starting quarterback Sean Clifford.
The Lions 2019 schedule is book ended with their two easiest games. Rutgers is coming off a 1-11 season and still in a rebuild mode. It cannot get much worse for the Scarlet Knights, can it?
Rutgers has a brutal November stretch to conclude the season. They host Ohio State and Michigan State and then travel to Penn State. Just do not see any way the Knights walk into Beaver Stadium on senior day and pull off a stunner. The only reason why this game is ranked ahead of Idaho is that it is a conference game. The Knights should be only a slightly tougher match-up than the Vandals.
Buffalo is coming off perhaps their greatest season in program history. They hit the 10-win mark for the first time and won the MAC East for the first time since 2018. However they ended the season with brutal losses in the MAC Championship game and Dollar General Bowl to finish 10-4.
The 2019 edition of the Bulls that will head to Happy Valley in Week 2 will have a much different look than 2018. A slew of talent is gone, including MAC offensive player of the year quarterback Tyree Jackson. It will be tough to replace and playing a top end Big Ten team in Week 2 will be a trial by fire for the Bulls.
Added to the matchup is it will be a prime time kick. While not a whiteout, the Penn State crowd will be loud and it will just be too much for a relatively inexperienced Bulls squad.