Penn State Football Drops in Latest AP Top 25 Poll

After a brutal 41-17 loss at Michigan on Saturday, Penn State football dropped six spots to No. 16 in this week’s AP Top 25 Poll released on Sunday afternoon.

Michigan ran over the Nittany Lions in the Big House, led by running backs Donovan Edwards and Blake Corum en route to 418 rushing yards on the day and 563 yards of total offense. Edwards ran for 173 on 16 attempts and Corum for 166 yards on 28 attempts, while each back scored two touchdowns. 

Quarterback Sean Clifford also left the game with an undisclosed injury, which leaves the future of the offense cloudy ahead of Penn State’s White-Out matchup with Minnesota on Saturday night.

Around the Big Ten, Michigan moved up one spot to No. 4, Ohio State stayed at No. 2 and Illinois jumped six spots to No. 18.

Purdue, which Penn State defeated in the season opener, fell just outside the Top 25 as the top team receiving votes with 95 after a win over Nebraska on Saturday. Minnesota, which fell to Illinois, received one vote. After defeating Indiana, Penn State’s Nov. 12 opponent Maryland garnered five votes.

As for the USA Today Coaches Poll, Penn State dropped to No. 16, while Ohio State moved up to No. 2 and Michigan to No. 3.

Georgia held the top position in both polls, with the top five in each rounded out by Tennessee and Clemson.

Penn State (5-1, 2-1 Big Ten) will aim to shake off the loss on Saturday, as it will host Minnesota (4-2, 1-2) in the White Out game. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m., and the game will air on ABC.

Geoff Rushton contributed to this report.