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Let's see how Penn State
stacks up against Georgia
By Cory Giger
sports@altoonamirror.com
To be the best, you've got to beat the best, and I want to see Penn State play the best.
So, bring on Georgia!
I'd like to know, finally and for the first time in many years, how the Lions stack up against a truly elite, national championship caliber program. Other than, you know, Ohio State and Michigan.
To me, college football can be pretty boring. Or at least, when you cover a typical Penn State team it can be boring.
Nine wins a year are pretty much guaranteed, maybe even eight or nine blowouts. To the program's credit -- and give James Franklin a lot of credit for this -- the Lions are good enough to beat 95 percent of the teams in the country every year.
Which makes for a lot of yawners on many weekends throughout the season.
Then comes Ohio State. And Penn State gets brought back to reality, save for a miracle finish in 2016.
Then comes Michigan. Penn State has fared better against the Wolverines, with a few wins, but still gets outclassed most of the time.
So, we all know the narrative: After beating up on lesser programs week in and week out, Penn State coaches and players and fans pound their chests and boast of having a program that can compete for a national title.
Ohio State usually ends all that bravado, and reminds everyone that, no, Penn State is not an elite program.
Sure, Franklin has guided the Lions to nice bowl victories against quality opponents. But let's face it, there's always been a gigantic dropoff from the true national title contenders to basically anybody that Penn State beats.
In my 19 years covering the program, Penn State has never had the kind of team that could beat a juggernaut like Georgia on a neutral field for all the marbles. The 2016 team was fantastic, but still lost to USC in that epic Rose Bowl showdown.
Once and for all, I want to see Penn State play the best team in the country, which to me is Georgia. That matchup could occur if certain things happen in the 12-team playoff.
Let's see how the Lions stack up against a program that expects to win national titles, not just hopes to.
Yes, absolutely, Penn State competes very well against Ohio State most years, even in losses. But I'd argue it's much easier to compete against a conference opponent that you know inside and out, than it would be to compete against the best team from the SEC with a championship on the line.
I believe Penn State needs to face a team like Georgia to find out where it's at, to find out if the program truly is on the right path to someday perhaps winning a natty.
Honestly, I believe Georgia would pound Penn State pretty good this season. The Lions have one win over a top 25 team (Illinois), they barely escaped a USC team that's probably going to finish with six losses, and from this perspective, the Lions are not truly a legitimate national title contender.
I'd love to be proven wrong, but it would take a win over a great team like Georgia to make that happen.
Cory Giger is the host of "Sports Central" weekdays from 4-5 on HANK-FM 96.1