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    Penn State beats Wisconsin, has quarterback concerns over Ohio State
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    Penn State beats Wisconsin, has quarterback concerns over Ohio State

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    There were surprises and important developments in Week 9 of the college football season. Matt Hayes analyzes four hot topics from Saturday's games.

    First Down: The big uncertainty at Penn State in a B1G week

    His name is Beau Pribula and he came to Penn State in the same recruiting class as heralded five-star quarterback recruit Drew Allar.

    Now Pribula could be called upon to save Penn State's season.

    Allar, Penn State's No. 3 rising junior quarterback, injured his left knee late in the first half of a 28-13 win at Wisconsin on Saturday, jeopardizing his status for next week's crucial showdown with No. 4 Ohio State in Happy Valley is uncertain. While Pribula played well against the Badgers, the top-five game against Ohio State is a different story.

    Penn State coach James Franklin wouldn't speculate on the extent of the injury, saying he didn't have specifics. Allar spent the second half of the game on the sideline with a brace on his left knee.

    “When he came out, it really came down to Drew,” Franklin said in his postgame press conference. “I asked him to be very honest and he just didn't feel like he could play. “At the end of the half you could see that even throwing was a challenge.”

    That's not a good sign heading into the biggest game of the regular season, especially considering Franklin's record at Penn State in big games.

    Penn State is 1-9 against Ohio State and 3-17 against top-10 teams under Franklin. While Penn State probably doesn't need to win to advance to the College Football Playoff, a loss to Ohio State does significant damage to its hopes of playing for the Big Ten Championship.

    That's why the potential loss of Allar is so critical. Penn State found a way to beat Wisconsin, but direct attacks on running back Kaytron Allen or tight end Tyler Warren won't work against Ohio State's elite defense.

    At some point, Pribula, who was not nationally rated by 247Sports in the 2022 class (Allar was the No. 3 player overall at every position), will have to play in the passing game. That means new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, the Kansas signee announced this offseason, has a week to figure out what works for Pribula — and how to attack an Ohio State defense that's putting up 12.7 points per game .

    Even if Allar is available, he will certainly be limited. He wasn't kept out of the second half for precautionary reasons; The Lions trailed 10-7.

    Kotelnicki will have to get one of the quarterbacks (or both) ready to play against a top-10 pass defense that is giving up 172 yards per game. The Buckeyes held Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola to 152 yards passing, no touchdowns and one interception in a 21-17 win Saturday.

    Ups and downs: Week 9 college football winners and losers

    Second Down: Texas on the SEC road

    Texas learned a valuable lesson in its first season in the SEC and its first true conference road game: Just walk away with a win, no matter how it happens.

    Especially when it comes to a spot in the SEC Championship Game.

    Texas responded to last week's embarrassing loss to Georgia by avoiding a disastrous second SEC loss and holding off Vanderbilt 27-24 with a crucial fourth-down stop with five minutes to play.

    Texas will quickly figure out that these are the games that will help you win a conference championship: the ones you should win, despite the dangerous reality of playing on the road in the SEC.

    The Longhorns have two SEC road games remaining: Nov. 16 at Arkansas and Nov. 30 in the regular-season finale at Texas A&M.

    This time, against a hot Vanderbilt team that beat Alabama in Nashville earlier this month, quarterback Quinn Ewers threw two interceptions that Vanderbilt turned into 14 points. Additionally, Texas looked sluggish on both sides for most of the game.

    But every time the Longhorns needed a play in the decisive fourth quarter, they made it.

    A defensive five-and-out stop after the Commodores went up 24-17. A fourth-and-2 interception at the Vanderbilt 35 late in the fourth and a 23-yard run by Jaydon Blue on third-and-9 allowed the offense to bleed out two more minutes after halftime before a short field goal sealed it the victory.

    These are the few important but overlooked events that happen on the road each week in the SEC. This is how you overcome two interceptions by your quarterback and a scoreless stretch of more than 20 minutes in the second half.

    And how to win and advance toward the SEC Championship Game.

    Third Down: The Rise of Notre Dame, Riley Leonard

    It's not about the bottom, it's about how you react.

    Welcome everyone to Riley Leonard's development at Notre Dame.

    He called Notre Dame's surprising home loss to Northern Illinois in Week 2 the low point – and responded with the best series of games of his career. This time it was undefeated Navy, and Leonard threw for 178 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 83 yards and another touchdown in a 51-14 victory.

    That's six straight wins for the Irish since the NIU loss, for a total of 31.3 average points per game. In those six games, Leonard completed nearly 70 percent of his passes and accounted for 18 TDs (10 rush).

    And while there are a number of reasons why the ball is no longer going offside in the passing game – inconsistency at receiver, protection by the offensive line, Leonard's development with new offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock – the explosive plays are starting to come.

    Notre Dame had five explosive plays (over 10 yards) against Navy, a week after nine against Georgia Tech. The passing game is evolving at the right time, as Notre Dame likely needs to win to reach the CFP for the first time since 2020.

    A loss in any of the last four games — Florida State, Virginia, Army (Yankee Stadium), Southern California — against overwhelmed opponents would be too much to overcome.

    Fourth Down: Indiana's backup plan

    He left Indiana State three years ago, a blue-chip recruit too good for the struggling Indiana program with big dreams of playing big at Tennessee.

    But there Tayven Jackson was on Saturday afternoon in Bloomington, Indiana, less than an hour southwest of the state from where he played high school football in Greenwood, and the big time was all around him.

    A packed Memorial Stadium. An important Big Ten game as a ranked team. The biggest moment of his college career.

    The Hoosiers' backup quarterback threw a touchdown and ran for another, keeping Indiana undefeated and heading to the College Football Playoff with a 31-17 victory over Washington.

    First-year Indiana coach Curt Cignetti signed Ohio transfer and Heisman Trophy candidate Kurtis Rourke from the portal, in part because Indiana's quarterback room needed to be updated. That existing room from the previous season included Jackson, the once-heralded recruit who split time in 2023 in his first season after transferring from Tennessee.

    While Rourke recovered from thumb surgery, Jackson played efficiently, didn't put the Hoosiers in trouble with bad plays and proved he could be a reliable option if Rourke – who is expected to return to Michigan State next week – gets more time Recovery needed.

    “He made some good plays,” Cignett said in his postgame press conference. “He left so many plays out there.”

    In other words, Indiana will need more next week if Rourke can't play or if Jackson is needed in November when the difficulty increases in the final four games (at Michigan State, Michigan, at Ohio State, Purdue). ).

    But it's all up for the Hoosiers, who could just lose to Ohio State and probably still make it into the first 12-team CFP.

    Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him to X @MattHayesCFB.

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