Kern: Nits' Franklin biggest winner in upset over Ohio State?

MAYBE NOW any speculation about James Franklin's job security can be put on hold for awhile.

Penn State pulled off the upset of the college football season so far by beating No. 2 Ohio State on Saturday night in Happy Valley, 24-21.

It was the Nittany Lions first win over a ranked team since Franklin took over three years ago. And their first against a top-five team since 1999 (Arizona). And their first against a top-two team since 1990 (Notre Dame). And their first in Beaver Stadium against a team ranked that high since 1982 (Nebraska). And their first over the Buckeyes since 2011, when Joe Paterno was in his last season and the Nits finished 9-4 while OSU was going 6-7 under interim coach Luke Fickell (its current defensive coordinator) the year before Urban Meyer came to Columbus and proceeded to win his first 24.

Other than that . . .

The Buckeyes (6-1, 3-1 Big Ten) had won 20 straight on the road. They led 12-0 in the second quarter and 21-7 after three periods. The Nits (5-2, 3-1) cut the margin to four with 9 1/2 minutes left. Then, with 4:27 to go, Marcus Allen blocked a 45-yard field goal attempt and Grant Haley returned it 60 yards for the winning score.

"It's something you dream about as a kid," Haley said.

You think?

Ohio State dropped to sixth. Penn State is 24th, the first time it's been ranked in nearly five years.

In 1964, Rip Engle's next-to-last team went to Ohio State on Nov. 7 and beat the nation's second-ranked club, 27-0. Those Nits won their last five to end up 6-4. So much for the historical notes.

Ohio State couldn't get past its 42 on a final possession before turning the ball over on downs on back-to-back sacks, which gave Penn State six for the game.

A month ago the Nits had lost to then-No. 4 Michigan, 49-10.

Saquon Barkley rushed for 99 yards on just 12 carries. Trace McSorely completed only eight of 23 for 154 yards. He also accounted for 63 on the ground 19 attempts. He had a touchdown throw and ran for another.

The Buckeyes had 137 more yards and one fewer turnover. The Nits were 2-for-13 on third down. Didn't matter.

This week the Lions host Purdue (3-4, 1-3), which just lost at unbeaten Nebraska (27-14) after firing its coach. Penn State has won the last seven meetings. The teams haven't played since 2013.

For those keeping tabs, the rest of the schedule reads: Iowa (5-3, 3-2), at Indiana (3-4, 1-3), at Rutgers (2-6, 0-5) and Michigan State (2-5, 0-4). Feel free to make your own revised projections.

One day after the university named its new football building in honor of retiring coach Andy Talley the Wildcats (6-2, 4-1 Colonial Athletic Association), ranked 16th in FCS, took care of the No. 23 Great Danes (4-3, 1-3) on Homecoming.

They led 14-0 early in the second quarter, and 24-0 entering the fourth. The visitors scored on a 65-yard run by Elijah Ibitokun-Hanks with 12 minutes left, and a 40-yard fumble return by Michael Nicastro at 2:15.

Villanova rushed for 269 yards, which was 108 more than Albany finished with in total. The Wildcats had nine sacks, the most in FCS this season. They had 10 coming in. The school doesn't keep records on that stat. Their 12 tackles for losses (on 53 snaps) was two off the FCS record. Linebacker Ed Shockley had team-highs of 10 tackles and 3 1/2 sacks.

Quarterback Zach Bednarczyk, who missed the last 2 1/2 quarters of last week's 23-0 loss at No. 6 Richmond (the first time they'd been shutout in 12 years) with a concussion, wasn't cleared to play until Friday. He completed nine of 15 for 82 yards and ran for 37 on 20 attempts (with 31 yards in losses). Sophomore Aaron Forbes rushed for a career-best 151 and two TDs on 24 carries.

Albany lost its third straight game.

The Wildcats are off this week, then head to Maine (4-3, 3-1) on Nov. 5. They have one remaining home game, Nov. 12 against No. 8 James Madison (6-1, 4-0).

In case you missed it, on Friday at the Linc, Temple (5-3, 3-1 American Athletic Conference) put itself in control of the East Division race with a 46-30 win over preseason favorite South Florida (6-2, 3-1), whose other loss was to Florida State and which had beaten the Owls by 21 last season in Tampa.

At the same time Penn (4-2, 3-0 Ivy League) was rolling at Yale (1-5, 1-2), 42-7.

1. Alabama (8-0). Beat Texas A&M, 33-14. Next: Nov. 5 at LSU. Trip to Baton Rouge is Tide's last true road game. If they continue to play like this it shouldn't matter. But in college football sometimes all it takes is that one even slightly-off week.

2. Clemson (7-0). Idle. Saturday: at Florida State. Won last year at home, 23-13. Lost three straight to Noles before that.

3. Michigan (7-0). Beat Illinois, 41-8. Saturday: at Michigan State. Michigan State, which stinks, has won last three meetings. Last year's was that impossible last-play botched punt. I don't think Jim Harbaugh has forgotten.

4. Washington (7-0). Beat Oregon State, 41-17. Saturday: at Utah. Lost to Utes by one at home last year. Won only other meeting in Salt Lake City by 17 in 2011. Leads series 8-1.

5. Louisville (6-1). Beat North Carolina State, 54-13. Saturday: at Virginia. Beat Cavs by seven at home last year. Lost in 2014 on road by two.

6. Texas A&M (6-1). Lost at Alabama, 33-14. Saturday: vs. New Mexico State. Cleveland Browns might have tough time winning at Alabama. Just Aggies second home game since Sept. 10, which seems almost impossible.

7. Ohio State (6-1). Lost at Penn State, 24-21. Saturday: vs. Northwestern. Good thing Buckeyes still have Michigan left at home. At least I think so. Will try not to be looking ahead to Nebraska. Hasn't lost to Wildcats since 2004 (in overtime). Hasn't lost to them at home since 1971.

8. Baylor (6-0). Idle. Saturday: at Texas. Has been off two of the last three weeks. Lost at home to Texas last year by six. Won in Austin year before that 28-7.

9. Nebraska (7-0). Beat Purdue, 27-14. Saturday: at Wisconsin. After this the Huskers go to Ohio State. Yo. Lost to Wisconsin by two last year at home. Lost 59-24 in Madison two years ago.

10. West Virginia (6-0). Beat TCU, 34-10. Saturday: at Oklahoma State. Lost at home to Okie State last year by five. Won in Stillwater in 2014 by 24. Will get Oklahoma and Baylor at home late.

Next in line: Wisconsin (5-2), Boise State (7-0), Florida (5-1), Florida State (5-2) and Utah (7-1)/Auburn (5-2).

Houston — Losing at Navy was bad enough. But at least Navy is good. SMU isn't. And it was 38-16. Last time Mustangs beat a team ranked this high was 1982. Guess coach Tom Herman, who was a genuis not too long ago, can't wait to get out for that prime power-5 conference gig.
Ohio State — Shouldn't be losing to an unranked team as a close to three-touchdown favorite, especially after you take a 12-0 second-quarter lead. Yet that's what makes college football what it is. You know these things are going to happen, you just can't always tell when or where. Or else there would be no need for a weekly Fraud Five.
Arkansas — It's OK to lose at Auburn, which like the Hogs was ranked. But not by 56-3.
Stanford — It's maybe OK to lose to surprising Colorado at home. But not by 10-5. Good thing Christian McCaffrey played. Cards have lost three of last four. Good thing Notre Dame was on the schedule.
Miami — It's OK to lose at Virginia Tech, even if Hokies just lost at Syracuse. But 37-16 looks bad. That's three straight losses for Mark Richt, to the only real good teams his new team has played. I guess it takes time. Canes are at Notre Dame, which had a much-needed bye, this week.
And who would have thought Notre Dame would be 2-5, Mississippi 3-4, Michigan State 2-5, UCLA 3-5 or Oregon 2-5? Those teams were respectively ranked 10th, 11th, 12th, 16th and 24th in the preseason poll. And Stanford was No. 8. And of course I'm sure everyone had Colorado at 6-2.

@mikekerndn