Penn State Football: Nittany Lions Enter Top 10 in New AP Rankings

Penn State football rose two spots to No. 10 in this week’s AP Top 25 poll.

The Nittany Lions handily beat Purdue 35-7 at Beaver Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Penn State’s offense got off to a flying start, but it slowed to a crawl for much of the rest of the game. A standout defensive performance that included 10 sacks kept Purdue from ever really finding its way back into the contest.

Penn State has now been ranked in the AP Top 25 poll for 47 straight weeks, which is the fifth-longest active streak in all of college football. Alabama (186 consecutive weeks), Ohio State (120), Clemson (75), and Oklahoma (49) are the only programs with longer active streaks than James Franklin’s program. The team began this season at No. 15 in the AP Top 25 poll and has moved up since then thanks to an unbeaten start to the season.

Auburn fell from No. 7 to No. 12 after a loss to Florida and Penn State jumped past No. 11 Texas, which beat West Virginia, to move into the top 10. 

The Nittany Lions move up comes nearly a year to the day since they last received a top 10 ranking. Penn State was ranked No. 8 in the Oct. 7, 2018 poll before tumbling the following week after a loss to Michigan State.

In addition to this week’s AP Top 25 poll, Penn State checked in at No. 9 in the new Coaches’ Poll. The Nittany Lions held the No. 11 spot in that poll last week and began this season at No. 15.

No. 10 Penn State (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten) will travel to Kinnick Stadium for a match-up with No. 17 Iowa (4-1, 1-1 Big Ten) under the lights. The game will kick off at 7:30 p.m. and be broadcast nationally on ABC.