Penn State Stays Put in AP Top 25 Poll Despite Close Win Against Bowling Green

Penn State only squeaked out a 34-27 victory over Bowling Green on Saturday, but James Franklin’s program is nonetheless staying put in the rankings. The Nittany Lions remained at No. 8 in the AP Top 25 poll for a third consecutive week as they enter an idle week.

Penn State was among six Big Ten teams in the top 25. Ohio State bumped down to No. 3 behind No.1 Georgia and No. 2 Texas, while Oregon moved down to No. 9 after narrowly defeating Boise State. Michigan moved down to No. 17 after falling to Texas, USC jumped to No. 11 after shutting out Utah State and Nebraska entered the ranking at No. 23 after a dominant victory over Colorado.

The Nittany Lions’ ranking comes after one of the team’s worst regular season defensive performances in two years. The 27 points the Nittany Lions allowed the Falcons to score were the most they’ve allowed in a regular season game since 2022.

“I learned a long time ago as a head coach after a win like that, we talk about being 1-0 and being positive and being appreciative of the wins and wins are hard to get in college football, of not going in there and starting critiquing after a win,” Franklin said postgame.

Despite the poor defensive effort, which did turn around in the second half of Saturday’s action, Penn State again found relative success in the second game under offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki.

Drew Allar shined again at quarterback, completing 13-of-20 pass attempts for 204 yards and a touchdown while also throwing an interception. Meanwhile, tight end Tyler Warren caught eight passes for a career high 146 receiving yards — the most in a game by a tight end in program history.

Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen, the team’s two-headed running back monster, each tallied over 100 yards on the ground and combined for 234 all-purpose yards.

After the bye week, the Nittany Lions will return to action Sept. 21 against Kent State (0-2), which on Saturday lost to Saint Francis (Pa).

“There’s a ton of teams across the country that will be trying to make corrections after a loss, and we got to make a bunch of corrections after a win, and obviously we got some work to do,” Franklin said.