Penn State appears set in its enviable No. 4 ranking following the 49-10 beatdown of Purdue. No one lost above it, though Oregon came precariously close on the road. And the teams right behind PSU − No. 6 BYU and No. 7 Tennessee − each lost critical games and a shot at applying top-five pressure.

PennLive's Johnny McGonigal projects the 12-team College Football Playoff after Week 12. What could the Nittany Lions' path be to a national title?

What is stop rate? It's a basic measurement of success: the percentage of a defense's drives that end in punts, turnovers or a turnover on downs. Defensive coordinators have the s