Last chance for Temple, Penn State to go bowling, and its playoff time for Villanova and Eastern

For the third consecutive year and the fourth time in the last five years, Villanova will open the FCS playoffs at Villanova Stadium, where it has not lost since Sept. 24, 2022.

The Wildcats have won 22 straight home games, including the playoffs. They have won their last three playoff games at Villanova Stadium by an average of nine points, including last year’s five-point win over Eastern Kentucky.

This season, Villanova’s opening-round matchup will be against the Ivy League’s Harvard on Saturday (noon, ESPN+). The Crimson (9-1, 6-1 Ivy) lost to rival Yale to end the regular season, but both teams earned playoff berths and will be on opposite sides of the bracket. The Ivy League is competing in the FCS playoffs for the first time this season.

» READ MORE: Villanova will open the FCS playoffs with a home game against Harvard

Harvard is led by its passing game. Quarterback Jaden Craig is tied for the 12th most touchdown passes in the FCS (24) and ranks 16th in passing yards (2,722). His 272.2 yards passing per game ranks fifth in the FCS, while Villanova is middle of the pack in defending the pass (213.8 yards, 61st).

Harvard’s defense, meanwhile, ranks seventh in rushing yards allowed (105.5 yards) and has surrendered just nine rushing touchdowns, tied for the second-fewest in the FCS. Villanova’s offense ranks 29th in rushing yards per game (178.6). Sophomore running back Ja’briel Mace has come on strong since starting running back David Avit’s injury, gaining 524 of his 600 total rushing yards in the last three games, including a school-record 291 in a win over Towson on Nov. 8.

Experience is on the Wildcats’ side. They’ve been here before under Mark Ferrante and have a quarterback in Pat McQuaide who takes care of the football (19 touchdowns to two interceptions.

If the Wildcats win, No. 5 seeded Lehigh (12-0) awaits them. Ferrante has led Villanova to at least the FCS quarterfinal in two of its last three trips to the playoffs.

1,076: That’s the number of receiving yards North Texas wide receiver Wyatt Young has this season, the fourth-most of any player in the FBS. Young, whose Mean Green face Temple on Friday, has 56 receptions and 10 touchdowns on the year.

Penn State and Temple will be playing for the right to continue their seasons this weekend. Both teams enter the final week of the regular season at 5-6, and each team is going in very different directions.

» READ MORE: K.C. Keeler tries to boost his team’s confidence as Temple prepares for No. 21 North Texas

The Owls have lost three straight games and now are in danger of failing to end their six-year bowl eligibility drought with North Texas (10-1, 6-1 American Conference) up next on Friday (3:30 p.m., ESPN) in Denton, Texas. The Mean Green, though, learned earlier this week that head coach Eric Morris will take the Oklahoma State job at the conclusion of their season, which could end with a College Football Playoff berth. Temple and K.C. Keeler will be hoping to play spoiler.

North Texas’ offense ranks first nationally in scoring (46.3 points) and total offense (503.3) with Drew Mestemaker (3,469 yards, 26 touchdowns) under center. But if the Owls are to pull off the upset, they’ll need running back Jay Ducker to have a monster game against the North Texas’ fifth-worst rushing defense nationally (211.2 rushing yards allowed per game) and keep the Mean Green offense at bay.

Meanwhile, the Nittany Lions are looking to punctuate a lost season with a fifth straight bowl appearance and their 11th trip over the last 12 seasons. The offense has found its groove behind Kaytron Allen, who became the program’s all-time leading rusher last weekend, and Nick Singleton, who tied Saquon Barkley for the most all-purpose touchdowns in school history.

On Saturday Penn State will play Rutgers (3:30 p.m. BTN), which hasn’t beat the Nittany Lions since 1988.

» READ MORE: Terry Smith wants to be Penn State’s next head coach: ‘If I don’t speak for myself, who will?’

Considering the Nittany Lions’ run-heavy approach, Rutgers (5-6, 2-6 Big Ten) will have to prove it can stop the ground game. The Scarlet Knights’ defense ranks 127th in rushing yards allowed (201.7) and gives up 31.1 points per game, which ranks in near the bottom nationally. With Penn State riding a two-game winning streak and plenty of momentum heading into Piscataway, N.J., it could be a long day for Rutgers, which also is fighting for bowl eligibility.

🏈 What’s Penn looking for in a new head coach now that Ray Priore is stepping down? Priore has been with the Quakers for nearly 40 years, his last 11 as head coach. Whomever comes in next will be looking to kickstart a program that has fallen in recent seasons, but the Quakers won 12 Ivy League titles with Priore in the building, including consecutive titles in 2015 and 2016 with him as head coach.

🏈 How will Eastern look after having a week off to prepare for Saturday’s Division III playoff game against Franklin and Marshall College (noon, watch live)? If we’re looking at history, just fine. Following a 39-37 nail-biter against King’s College on Sept. 27, the Eagles had a bye week and then dropped 37 points on Delaware Valley College on Oct. 11, which perennially is one of the better teams in the Middle Atlantic Conference.

🏈 How big or (not) will the transfer-portal exodus be starting next week after Penn State’s regular-season finale? The word is that players are fond of interim coach Terry Smith, but is it enough to play in whatever bowl a six-win Big Ten team would compete in after such a tumultuous season? Not to rip off a Band-Aid, but this was the No. 2 team in the nation at one point. Wild.

No. 1 Ohio State at No. 15 Michigan (noon Saturday, Fox29)

One of the most storied rivalries in all of college football, the Wolverines are 9.5-point underdogs at home against the 10-0 Buckeyes. There’s nothing Michigan would love to do more than beat Ohio State, and if it can, that could be just enough to clinch a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff.

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