MMQB - Just Win Baby

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Sometimes just adding one to the win column is enough.

On Saturday, your Penn State Nittany Lions defeated the West Virginia Mountaineers to the tune of 38-15. It wasn’t always pretty, but at the end of the day, a win is a win.

Consider:

• #2 Michigan (Football Power Index (FPI) #8) beat ECU (FPI #75) by 27
• #3 Ohio State (FPI #2) beat Indiana (FPI #63) by 20
• #19 Wisconsin (FPI #23) beat Buffalo (FPI #94) by 21
• #25 Iowa (FPI #44) beat Utah State (FPI #100) by 10

And while we’re at it, let’s also consider:

• #17 TCU (FPI #36) lost to Colorado (FPI #71)
• Boston College (FPI #88) lost to Northern Illinois (FPI #91)
• Purdue (FPI #61) lost to Fresno State (FPI #64)
• Baylor (FPI #48) lost to Texas State (FPI #79)
• Texas Tech (FPI #32) lost to Wyoming (FPI #77)
• Illinois (FPI #47) barely beat Toledo (FPI #68)
• Arizona State (FPI #90) barely beat Southern Utah (FPI unranked)

So, you’ll have to forgive me if I see a final score of 38-15, wherein the FPI #11 team beat the FPI #60 team by 23 points, and call it anything other than a good win. Not the best win in the history of the program, but a solid win. At home. At night. To start the season. Against one of the best offensive lines the team will see all season.

I watched the game, and it went more or less exactly how I thought it would. The passing game was better than expected, the run defense was worse than expected (again tho, very good WVU offensive line). The better team slowly but inexorably exerted its will and pulled away.

And make no bones about it, this was an emphatic win.

Penn State had 10 more first downs, 170 more yards, and 4 fewer penalties. Oh, and 23 more points.

When so much of college football is chaos, particularly early in the season, sometimes all you need to do is just win baby.

And sometimes, all you need to do is have the best win in the conference to begin the year.

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By: Chris Lucia
Title: MMQB - Just Win Baby
Sourced From: www.blackshoediaries.com/2023/9/4/23857878/mmqb-just-win-baby-bsd-penn-state-nittany-lions-football
Published Date: Mon, 04 Sep 2023 12:46:00 +0000

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