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ter to secure their berth in the playo; :eld. The bad news is that Iowa plays in the Big Ten West. The Hawkeyes didn't have to defeat Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State to reach this year's title game, and in fact, they played only two opponents during the regular season that ended the year ranked in the Asso- ciated Press Top 25: No. 12 Northwestern and No. 23 Wisconsin. The only top-10 team they've played so far has been Michigan State. As for the Nittany Lions, they played five opponents that finished the regu- lar season in the Top 25, two of which are currently in the top 10. An aberra- tion? Probably not. Given the trajecto- ries that Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State are on and the likely longevity of their coaching staffs – Ur- ban Meyer, Jim Harbaugh and Mark Dantonio are all in their 50s and could still be on the job a decade from now – there's no reason to think that those three teams won't be perennial playoff contenders. Of course, Franklin is only 43, eight years younger than Meyer and Har- baugh and 16 years younger than Dan- tonio. With the impact of the NCAA's scholarship restrictions fading, he could outlast all of his rivals. He has put to- gether back-to-back winning seasons despite having to cope with the fallout from those rollbacks, and although he's likely to lose the centerpiece of his of- fense a=er the bowl game, as Christian Hackenberg mulls whether to enter the NFL Dra=, new coordinator Joe Moor- head looks to be a good :t and has al- ready performed one miraculous recla- mation project in his career, turning Fordham from laughingstock to winner in just one year. "I think a lot of people are aware of some of the challenges we've been through," Franklin said recently. "We're S T A F F P R E D I C T I O N S NATE BAUER WEBSITE EDITOR Penn State's successes this season – and failures, for that matter – have been all about matchups, speci:cally the matchups in the trenches. Defensively, when its linemen have had an opportu- nity to be disruptive in the back:eld and shut down the running game while keeping the opposing quarterback o;- balance, it has had success as a whole. Given that the LBs and DBs are still de- veloping, that success along the line isn't just an advantage, it's a necessity. The o;ensive line is worthy of its own chapter, but we can boil the whole she- bang down to this: If the OL can't at least tread water, everything else collapses. Against Georgia, there's some success to be had on the ground. And if Saquon Barkley can keep the Bulldogs honest, Christian Hackenberg might actually have time to operate. It's a closer matchup than some would expect, and Penn State gets a slight nod. PREDICTION PENN STATE................................................ 24 GEORGIA...................................................... 23 PHIL GROSZ BWI PUBLISHER On paper, particularly on offense, I see a lot of similarities between Penn State and Georgia. Except for the Bull- dogs' first four games, in which junior quarterback Greyson Lambert was out- standing, their offense has been incon- sistent. For the season, Lambert has completed just over 64 percent of his pass attempts, but Georgia's offense has suffered many of the same prob- lems as Penn State's, particularly in the red zone. The Bulldogs have produced only 17 touchdowns in 41 red zone op- portunities. That is the No. 1 reason why Mark Richt is now the head coach at Miami (Fla.). I firmly believe that Penn State's front four on defense, led by Carl Nassib, Austin Johnson and Anthony Zettel, will be the difference in this game. I ex- pect Penn State to control the Bulldogs' rushing attack and make life miserable for Lambert. PREDICTION PENN STATE................................................ 24 GEORGIA........................................................17 MATT HERB CONTRIBUTING EDITOR I want to believe, but I see two big problems for Penn State. The :rst is Sony Michel. He's a former :ve-star re- cruit, and with his breakaway speed, he'll challenge a PSU defense that has given up its share of chunk plays in the running game. The second problem is the Lions' of- fensive line. Against the better oppo- nents on their regular-season schedule, this unit didn't get enough push to pro- duce touchdowns in the red zone. In fact, you could make a case that the Lions were at least as dangerous when Hack- enberg was slinging deep passes from outside the 20-yard line as they were when operating inside the 10. Against Georgia, it's going to be very hard to hit those long throws. The Bulldogs have al- lowed nine TD passes all season. I think, as a result, we're going to see a lot of Tyler Davis and/or Joey Julius. And I think :eld goals will prove insu >

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