BREAKING: Penn State football learns ranking in new AP Poll

It may not have been the prettiest of performances from a national title contender, but ultimately, Saturday’s showing against FIU will not hurt Penn State football in the polls.

The Nittany Lions will stay at No. 2 in the AP Poll for another week following their 34-0 win over the Panthers. However, Saturday’s slow start cost Penn State several first-place votes, dropping to BLANK from the seven it received a week ago. With BLANK votes, Ohio State strengthened its grip on the top spot after a 70-0 rout of Grambling.

“We started out sluggish. We did not execute the way we needed to early on for a number of reasons,” James Franklin said after the game on Saturday. “Obviously, third down was a factor in that. We missed some throws; we dropped some passes. We allowed them on defense to stay on schedule too often. I think it was a combination of all those things. I would have liked to see us start stronger and faster.”

Penn State will have one more tune-up – against Villanova this coming week – before jumping into conference play. After their first bye, the Blue and White will face their first major test of 2025, hosting No. 4 Oregon on September 27. The Ducks moved up two spots this week, setting the stage for a top-five matchup in Happy Valley later this month.

Week 2 AP Poll rankings

1. Ohio State
2. Penn State
3. LSU
4. Oregon
5. Miami
6.  Georgia
7.  Texas
8.  Notre Dame
9.  Illinois
10.  Florida State
11.  South Carolina
12.  Clemson
13.  Oklahoma
14.  Iowa State
15.  Tennessee
16.  Texas A&M
17.  Ole Miss
18.  South Florida
19.  Alabama
20.  Utah
21.  Texas Tech
22.  Indiana
23.  Michigan
24.  Auburn
25.  Missouri

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