Penn State football can still make a bowl game, but would it go?

Penn State football is roiled in the middle of an epic five-game losing streak.

The Nittany Lions have lost their head coach, their starting quarterback and, certainly enough, their once-promising ways during the past month.

But could this team still play in the postseason?

Interim head coach Terry Smith was asked that on Monday, specifically whether his team would go if invited.

These Lions, even with another loss Saturday to No. 2 Indiana, could become bowl game eligible by winning their final three against struggling Michigan State (3-6), Nebraska (6-3) and Rutgers (4-5). The Cornhuskers, by the way, just lost their starting quarterback for the rest of the season to injury, too.

At least for now, Smith said he would expect his team to attend the postseason, probably a lower-level Big Ten-affiliated game like the GameAbove Sports Bowl in Detroit, the Rate Bowl in Arizona or the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl. Each is a day or two after Christmas.

“My mindset is we’re trying to win this week and, as we continue to win, why wouldn’t we want to play football? This is what we signed up to do,” Smith said. “We want to take advantage of every opportunity in front of us.

“We’ll clearly talk with the players, as well,” he added. “My feeling, based on how they’re performing right now, if we win enough games to get to bowl eligibility, they would play. Because they haven’t laid down yet.”

Penn State (3-5, 0-5 Big Ten) almost certainly would need to win three more times to be invited to the postseason. They did play in the Pinstripe Bowl in New York City with a 6-6 record in 2014, beating Boston College in overtime.

However, that came during James Franklin’s first season as head coach. Now, with Franklin fired and the future of this coaching staff and even its players uncertain, managing a postseason game could prove challenging.

Of course, the Lions must find a way to break their losing streak, first. They’ve lost five straight for the first time since 2020 and have never lost more than seven in a row.

They are 14-point underdogs to Indiana, which has never won in Beaver Stadium.