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Nick Saban is backing Penn State after back-to-back Playoff wins
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Nick Saban is joining the Penn State bandwagon. If there isn’t much space left, push over and make some room for college football’s greatest coach.
During his weekly spot on The Pat McAfee Show on Thursday, the former Alabama head coach said he believes in the Nittany Lions after their College Football Playoff blowouts of SMU and Boise State.
“I know Penn State hasn’t played the same level of competition in 2 games — although those teams are good,” Nick Saban said. “These guys have been able to run the ball effectively in the last few games — very impressively. And then to have a quarterback that can play behind the running game like that with play-action passes and staying out of long-yardage situations, I think they’re for real. And their defense is playing really well, too.
“If you just go off of how well teams are playing right now, Penn State and Ohio State are probably playing the best. That doesn’t mean they’re necessarily going to win, or that Penn State’s going to win, but I do think they’re playing extremely well.”
Penn State opened the Playoff with a 38-10 win over 11-seed SMU at home. The Nittany Lions got their first 14 points off of interception returns and ended the game with 189 rushing yards. On Tuesday, Penn State beat 3-seed Boise State 31-14 at the Fiesta Bowl. The Nittany Lions forced 4 more turnovers and leaned once again on their talented 1-2 punch at tailback.
Through 2 Playoff games, Penn State has a 7-2 edge in the turnover department. Running backs Kaytron Allen and Nic Singleton have combined to run 54 times for 381 yards and 4 touchdowns.
“I’m a believer,” said Saban. “I was not a believer in Penn State early on. I’m a believer right now.”
Penn State will face the winner of the Sugar Bowl between Notre Dame and Georgia in the CFP semifinals. That game will kick off from the Orange Bowl on Jan. 9 at 7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN). Penn State has gone 2-4 against the SEC under James Franklin. It has not played Notre Dame since a home-and-home series in 2006 and 2007.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
