Penn State football moved up, once again, in the national rankings.
The Nittany Lions (9-1 overall, 6-1 Big Ten) elevated another spot in the latest US LBM Coaches Poll, released Sunday. The Lions' jump came as a combination of their 49-10 demolition of the lowly Purdue Boilermakers and Tennessee's defeat at Georgia.
Penn State moved to No. 4, now behind only undefeated and No. 1 Oregon and one-loss Ohio State and Texas. The previously-No. 4 Volunteers dropped to 11th and expect to fall to the edge of the College Football Playoff rankings this week.
The Big Ten still leads the way at the top of the coaches' poll even after Oregon's too-close, 16-13 victory at Wisconsin. The Ducks, Buckeyes, Lion and undefeated Indiana Hoosiers make up four of the nation's top five teams.
Ohio State and Indiana - 10-0 for the first time in school history - will play Saturday in Columbus.
Though a longshot to make the Big Ten Championship Game, the Lions are a virtual lock to host a first-round College Football Playoff game if they win at underdog Minnesota on Saturday and defeat Maryland on Senior Day. They were No. 4 (sixth seed) in last week's second CFP rankings.
The rest of the Top 10 in the coaches poll, starting at No. 6, includes Notre Dame, Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss and Miami.
The Lions improved their standing thanks to perhaps their most complete game victory at Purdue. Quarterback Drew Allar was nearly perfect (17-of-19 passing), tailbacks Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen ran strong and tight end Tyler Warren was his usual dominant, "cheat-code" star self, once again.
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On defense, the Lions swarmed with their starters and then their backups, without much drop-off.
Junior defensive ends Abdul Carter and Dani Dennis-Sutton, playing healthy together for the first time in a month, kept the Boilermakers from mounting any consistent offense until the waning moments of the game.
Frank Bodani covers Penn State football for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him at [email protected] and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @YDRPennState.StoryBlock
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Where Penn State football ranks in the Big 10, US LBM coaches poll