Penn State vs. Washington: Final thoughts and analysis of PSU’s matchup with the Huskies
Penn State will have its annual White Out game Saturday night when it takes on the Washington Huskies in a Big Ten matchup. The Nittany Lions will play the Huskies in Beaver Stadium in Week 11 of the college football season. Here are some final thoughts, questions and predictions ahead of the Nittany Lions’ matchup with Washington.
Getting back on track
This game, in previous seasons under Franklin, would be a predictable chance for the Nittany Lions to lose. They’ve had plenty of letdowns over the last decade where one loss turns into two and Penn State finds itself outside of title contention. But there are plenty of reasons to believe that won’t be the case this time around. The quality of opponent — Washington is a decidedly middle of the pack Big Ten team — helps, but so does the fact that Saturday is the White Out and not a road game in a sleepy environment.
But that doesn’t change the fact that winning this game is vital for the program. It would be a shocker if the Nittany Lions win and don’t make the playoff, but one more loss could be enough to knock them out. After all, what looked like a strong schedule at the start of the year looks like one that is filled with mediocrity — and Ohio State. Penn State needs to come out and play like it’s proven it’s capable of to keep everything in its own control when it comes to the postseason.
Expect plenty of Warren
After not getting the ball to tight end Tyler Warren in the most crucial moments of the team’s loss to Ohio State, I would expect offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki to make a concerted effort to get him the ball early and often in this game. That’s not just about trying to force him the ball, but more of an indication of where this offense is and how important he is to its success. It’s become clear that the wide receivers, while better than last year’s group, are still nowhere near a championship level group. There’s a reason that Kotelnicki has leaned on Warren and the team’s running backs in important spots, and that should be the case once again.
That being said, teams have begun to concentrate on taking away the PSU running game and have done so effectively at times over the last month. Once that happens, it should once again become Warren’s game to take over. It helps, too, that even when teams are prepared to limit him, they still can’t do much to stop him. Expect that to be the case for the Huskies as well, and for him to feed off the White Out environment to have an enormous game.
Defense should lead the way
This Washington team is better defensively than offensively, and when it has the ball it’s going to have a difficult time moving down the field on the Nittany Lions. The best thing that can happen to Penn State in this game is the offense getting an early lead and allowing the defense to pin its ears back and get after Washington quarterback Will Rogers in passing situations. But even if that doesn’t happen, PSU is good enough defensively to lock down what has been a mediocre Washington offense.
The Nittany Lions are currently the No. 2 defense in the country according to ESPN’s Bill Connelly’s SP+, a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency, and have played like it for most of the season. Yes, the last drive for Ohio State was bad for this group, but it’s also not indicative of how it’s performed in all of 2024. Washington doesn’t have the type of offense that is going to threaten Penn State much, either, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the kind of game where the Nittany Lions end up with three or more takeaways and a bunch of sacks.
Final predictions
Penn State 31, Washington 14: This feels like an odd time for the White Out — with Penn State in a weird place after yet another loss to Ohio State — but it’s probably a good time for it for the team. The Nittany Lions should be able to take down a Washington team that has struggled for most of the season and has not built off its national title game appearance last year. Penn State is better on both sides of the ball and I imagine that will show early and often in an environment like the one I expect Saturday night.
MVP: Tyler Warren. Penn State didn’t get the ball to Warren when the game mattered most against Ohio State, but I’m guessing that isn’t the case this week. The star tight end is due for an enormous game and it’s not like this is a Washington team that is capable of doing a whole lot to slow him down. I’ll go out on a limb a little bit with this one and say he has three touchdowns — one rushing, one passing and one receiving — along with over 100 yards from scrimmage.
The last word
Penn State head coach James Franklin on his coaching staff and the Ohio State game
“Everybody is in that room to beat that opponent and opponents like that. So the 6-0, 7-0 leading up to that is awesome. We appreciate it and don’t take it for granted and all the hard work that goes into it, but we’ve done that. So the reality is everybody in that room is in that room based on those type of games. That’s why you’re there. I want to make sure everybody clearly understands that. I clearly understand it. Trust me. I clearly understand that. And I want to make sure that everybody in the room understands that as well. We’ve done some good things and we got a lot to be proud of. But, at the end of the day these are the type of games that we’re ultimately going to be evaluated on and we embrace that and don’t hide from that.”
