What seemed like only a dream to Penn State football fans less than three weeks ago, I believe has an excellent chance of becoming reality if Penn State defeats Michigan State this Saturday and finishes its 2016 season with a 10-2 record.
There are two very interesting statistical facts about the Spartans' defense that makes me believe Penn State's "read option" RPO offense will be able to have excellent success against Michigan State's defense. Last season Michigan State's run defense was one of the best in college football ranked 11th in the country allowing just 116 YPG. This season the Spartans' defense has struggled defensing the run game. Michigan State ranks 10th in the Big Ten in run defense allowing 166.1 YPG and 4.6 YPC. Against Northwestern, which has a similar offense to Penn State, the Spartans' defense gave up 54 points and close to 500 yards of total offense.
In addition to the way Michigan State's defense has struggled containing opponent's rushing attacks, the Spartan's defense ranks last [14th] in the Big Ten in sacks totaling just 10 sacks for just 63 yards this season. For the past three seasons Michigan State's defense has averaged 30-plus sacks per season and was ranked among the top four in the conference.
That for me is a prescription for disaster against Penn State's balanced "read option" RPO offense. If everything falls in favor of Penn State's offense on Saturday, I could see Penn State winning this game by a score of 28-14.
But let's see how it all plays out, nothing seems to be a foregone conclusion in college football this year.
There are two very interesting statistical facts about the Spartans' defense that makes me believe Penn State's "read option" RPO offense will be able to have excellent success against Michigan State's defense. Last season Michigan State's run defense was one of the best in college football ranked 11th in the country allowing just 116 YPG. This season the Spartans' defense has struggled defensing the run game. Michigan State ranks 10th in the Big Ten in run defense allowing 166.1 YPG and 4.6 YPC. Against Northwestern, which has a similar offense to Penn State, the Spartans' defense gave up 54 points and close to 500 yards of total offense.
In addition to the way Michigan State's defense has struggled containing opponent's rushing attacks, the Spartan's defense ranks last [14th] in the Big Ten in sacks totaling just 10 sacks for just 63 yards this season. For the past three seasons Michigan State's defense has averaged 30-plus sacks per season and was ranked among the top four in the conference.
That for me is a prescription for disaster against Penn State's balanced "read option" RPO offense. If everything falls in favor of Penn State's offense on Saturday, I could see Penn State winning this game by a score of 28-14.
But let's see how it all plays out, nothing seems to be a foregone conclusion in college football this year.
