If it’s a mirage, it’s a good one.

Penn State will ride an 11-game streak of wins by 14+ points into Columbus for next Saturday’s Big Noon matchup of top-6 Big Ten juggernauts.

Almost all of the ridiculously positive stats and worrisome limitations remain for the Nittany Lions in the wake of their 63-0 demo job on bottom-10 UMass on Homecoming Weekend in State College.

Penn State looked sharp in its throw-back unis for those who braved the rain and temps in the 40s to watch the final tune-up before the No. 6 Nittany Lions (6-0, 3-0) face off with No. 3 Ohio State (6-0, 3-0 after a 41-7 romp at Purdue).

Penn State will enter next weekend’s showdown with the best total defense and passing defense in the country after holding the Minutemen to 109 yards overall and 45 through the air. The competition will be way better in Columbus, as will the weather if the forecast holds. It calls for a high of 60 and a chance of light rain.

Is Penn State ready?

Positive signs from Saturday include Kaytron Allen’s health, Drew Allar’s still active turnover-free streak, some big plays on special teams and more hyper-aggressive play from Manny Diaz’s defense.

Player of the Week: Daequan Hardy

The senior DB from Pittsburgh returned 2 punts for touchdowns, the first Nittany Lion ever to post 2 in 1 game. He turned his first 3 punt returns since high school into 129 yards, his first points since a pick-6 in 2021 and James Franklin’s endorsement as the man for the job going forward.

The 5-9, 178-pound redshirt senior also broke up 2 passes, 1 of them on a third down while the game was still competitive. Often entering on defense at nickel, Hardy has been an under-the-radar key contributor over several seasons now.

Breakout star: Adisa Isaac

The 6-4, 254-pound senior edge rusher led the Lions with 2.5 sacks and 3.5 TFL, helping the defense post season highs of 7 sacks and 14 TFL, boosting its B1G-leading totals. Isaac doubled his season sack total, with all 5 coming over the past 4 weeks.

Biggest surprise: WR Harrison Wallace III’s re-emergence

Wallace, who missed some time with an injury, caught his first pass since Week 2 early in the game and promptly got stripped and gave up Penn State’s first offensive turnover of the season. More importantly, though, he looked completely healthy and smooth in his routes while making 3 receptions for 44 yards. Having Wallace back to complement KeAndre Lambert-Smith (6 catches for 30 yards) and the tight ends is key. Especially since transfer WRs Dante Cephas and Malik McClain were MIA Saturday despite a game with plenty of garbage time.

Biggest concern: Battle tested? Too rested?

Nick Singleton and Allen still don’t have a single carry of 20+ yards this season after putting in workmanlike outings of 79 and 68 rushing yards on 15 and 9 carries, respectively. The defense also continued to share the load to an extreme extent — Curtis Jacobs leads the team with 23 tackles after a team-high 5 Saturday. (By contrast, Iowa LB Jay Higgins has 87.)

That leaves 2 questions: Can Penn State beat down Ohio State with this plodding, methodical offensive approach and deep-rotation defense? And if not, can its potential superstars rise to the occasion and put in 4 quarters of work if needed?

Developing trend: Short-yardage success

Penn State improved to 11-for-12 while going for it on fourth down after QB Drew Allar ran 8 yards to convert a 4th-and-2 in the third quarter. The Lions, in their fullhouse backfield package, pushed Allar into the end zone from the 1-yard line for the offense’s first TD of the day — Allar’s 3rd rushing score of the season. Penn State was also 7-of-9 on third downs and racked up 28 first downs.

If Penn State can continue that ball-control style, it’ll limit Kyle McCord and Marvin Harrison Jr.’s time on the field and improve the Lions’ odds of beating the Buckeyes for the first time since 2016 and just the 2nd time in 12 meetings.

Key stat: UMass 40 yards lost on 7 sacks

In addition to Isaac’s 2.5 sacks, Chop Robinson and Cam Miller had 2 apiece. Penn State now averages 27.3 yards in sacks per game, which means opposing passing games are netting less than 100 yards per game. Ohio State averages just under 300 passing yards per game with sacks factored in, so something has to give come Saturday.

5  final Week 7 notes …

Reserve RB Tank Smith had a 39-yard romp in mop-up time and backup QB Beau Pribula broke free for 31 yards, the Lions’ 2 longest runs of the season. … Penn State listed the attendance at a season-low 105,533, while Michigan claimed a season-high 110,264 for its 52-7 victory over Indiana. That puts the Wolverines on top for the first time this season in the national attendance race at 109,787 per game to PSU’s 108,921. … Penn State lost the turnover battle for the first time this season, botching a punt-return play in addition to Wallace’s fumble while gaining an interception by Keaton Ellis. The Lions are still top 5 in the country in fewest turnovers (3) and turnover margin (+10), but they’re no longer No. 1 in those categories. … LB Abdul Carter went without a sack for a 5th straight game and had 3 tackles to up his season total to 15. It’s been a quiet first half of the season for last year’s breakout freshman. … LG JB Nelson remained out with an injury, with Vega Ioane again starting in his place.

Market update: Sell now or hold on for long haul

Will the ploddingly effective offense and swarming defense work against Ohio State? Even if the answer turns out to be no, Penn State’s future will remain bright. The meeting with Michigan on Nov. 11 will be huge regardless of Saturday’s result, and Penn State will remain loaded for 2024.

Allar is undefeated as the starter and has gone 16 appearance and 241 pass attempts without an interception. Sophomore classmates Singleton, Allen, Carter, Pribula and others have a lot of good college football in front of them. The Lions have scored 30+ points in 13 straight games and have scored points in 36 consecutive quarters — both leading active streaks in the nation.

Saturday will provide a short-term indicator, but only a brutally bad performance would negatively affect the long-term outlook.

First impression about Week 8

at Ohio State, noon Saturday (FOX): The Lions have lost 6 straight and 10 of 11 to the Buckeyes, and haven’t won at the Horseshoe since 2011. This is THE hurdle for Franklin, even though Michigan might be the tougher opponent this season.

The Buckeyes rank right behind Penn State in scoring defense at No. 3 in the country and have athletic edge rushers that’ll challenge a PSU o-line that has ceded only 4 sacks so far in 2023.

On offense, McCord has hit his stride after a bit of a slow start to the season. The junior first-year starter has 11 TD passes and hasn’t thrown a pick since Week 1. Penn State might catch a break as several key players — RBs TreVeyon Henderson and Miyan Williams, WR Emeka Egbuka — didn’t play against Purdue because of injuries.

OSU’s o-line has given up 10 sacks on the season. The key for Penn State will be to rattle McCord and speed him up, and the Lions certainly have the athletes to do so.

Penn State should have a great shot to finally knock off the Buckeyes, and I’d definitely take the Lions and the 10.5 points from the opening betting line. It’ll be a major reality check for the Lions if the Buckeyes cover that.