College Football Rankings 2020: Projected AP Top 25 for Week 8
By Zach Bigalke
Penn State continues to rise up the AP Top 25 after reentering the poll in Week 5 in the wake of the Big Ten’s decision to return to play a fall season. The Nittany Lions jumped into the top 10 ahead of Week 7 play, and they should hold serve on this final idle weekend given that the entire bottom half of the top 10 was out of commission either because their seasons haven’t started yet or due to postponements as a result of COVID-19 outbreaks.
James Franklin’s team must hope that there are no major issues with the departure of Ricky Rahne and the shift to new offensive coordinator Kurt Ciarrocca. Without a lot of time to work with the offensive personnel this offseason, Ciarrocca needs Sean Clifford, Journey Brown, Pat Freiermuth, and the rest of the offense to quickly learn on the fly. And without Micah Parsons returning to Happy Valley, the defense must lean even more heavily on a solid line led by Shaka Toney.
The season starts in Week 8 for Penn State when they travel to Bloomington for a deceptively-tough showdown against Indiana. A week later, Ohio State comes to Beaver Stadium for a game that will likely decide which team emerges supreme out of the Big Ten East.