Ad Disclosure
Penn State clinches trip to Big Ten Championship with win over Maryland
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Penn State entered Week 14 needing some help to reach Indianapolis to get to the Big Ten Championship Game. The Nittany Lions received that help early in the day with Michigan delivering an improbable upset of Ohio State to knock the Buckeyes out of the second-place slot.
That loss for Ryan Day and the Buckeyes opened the door for Penn State, but James Franklin’s squad still needed to take care of business vs. Maryland. And, after the first quarter, it was unclear if Penn State would be able to avoid an upset of its own.
Fortunately, Penn State woke up in a big way with 31 straight points, including a 28-0 push in the second quarter. Tyler Warren and Nicholas Singleton helped ignite the push as Penn State headed into the break with a 31-7 lead.
Things would slow down a bit in the second half, but Penn State had built a large enough lead for its defense to go to work and lock down the Terrapins. In the end, the Nittany Lions secured the 44-7 win to punch their ticket to Indianapolis!
It will be Penn State’s first trip to Indianapolis since winning the B1G Championship in 2016 with a 38-31 win over Wisconsin. Former Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley went down as the MVP of that performance.
On a larger scale, 2024 will be the first season with a champion that is not Ohio State or Michigan since Penn State’s victory in 2016. The Buckeyes won 4 straight from 2017-20 before Michigan won 3 straight from 2021-23, but neither program will be in the game this year.
The matchup between Penn State and Oregon will also have serious implications for the College Football Playoff. The winner in Indianapolis will carve out a top-4 seed and a first-round bye into the semifinals.
While the loser is still likely to host a first-round Playoff game, securing the bye looks to be a major advantage for teams heading into the first installment of the expanded format.
Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.