PENN STATE VS OHIO STATE: BIG 10 MATCHUP OF THE WEEK
#3 Penn State hosts #4 Ohio State this Saturday at Beaver Stadium. But who’s going to take it all? We’re Espen (Ohio State fan) and Arnav (Penn State fan) and this is why we think our team is going to win this ball game.
PENN STATE
The Nittany Lions have had a perfect season thus far, with a 7-0 record, making them one of just eight undefeated teams in the FBS. They’ve had several notable victories, and a 4-0 record against teams in the Big 10, one of the best conferences in college football.
OFFENSE
Penn State’s offense has been connecting in past weeks. Sophomore quarterback Drew Allar has been the leader of this team, with over 1600 passing yards on a 12-4 touchdown-interception ratio. He has the 10th best quarterback rating in the nation at 83.6, meaning he’s completing the majority of his passes. Allar isn’t scared to throw the ball deep either. He has incredible arm talent, and has college football’s best tight end Tyler Warren to throw to, who’s had several monsters in the past few games, his best being 17 catches for 224 yards and a incredible touchdown snag over a USC defender. Other notable receivers are Liam Clifford, Harrison Wallace III, and former OSU player Julian Fleming. Fleming is a very talented receiver with limited targets thus far, but this could very well be a big breakout game against the team he once played for. Penn State can hit the run game too, with running back duo Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen in the mix. They’ve both been able to compliment each other’s games, which has helped the offense develop. Penn State has a complete offense that can challenge a solid Ohio State defense
DEFENSE
The Nittany Lion defense is currently sitting at the #4 best defense, allowing an average of just 14.3 points to offenses in seven games. They’ve allowed 267.6 total yardage to teams per game. Penn State’s defense includes NCAAF stars like Jaylen Reed, who ended last week’s game with an interception touchdown, and Kobe King who had several hard hits. This will be Penn State’s hardest matchup defensively, but it isn’t anything they aren’t used to. Although they’ll have to guard rising star Jeremiah Smith, the Nittany Lion secondary has been performing well, and hasn’t allowed many deep shots and aggressive ball catches, which is a main succeeding point for Smith. On the ground, Penn State has big defensive tackles to prevent big gains, and linebackers with good vision.
PAST WEEKS
Ohio State is coming off a very narrow 21-17 win against Nebraska, which was a game predicted to be a blowout, and the game before was a loss to Oregon, so they haven’t been looking great the past few weeks. Penn State is coming off a tremendous 15 point win against Wisconsin, a team that has been arguably better than the Cornhuskers. Ohio State’s senior quarterback Will Howard also has had a rough few weeks, throwing multiple costly interceptions, and having poor clock management, which is what lost OSU the game against Oregon. It’s true that PSU’s quarterback Drew Allar could potentially be out with an injury, but in his debut sophomore flex player Beau Pribula played excellent, throwing 1 touchdown and 98 passing yards on a 11/13 completion-attempt ratio, with very limited playing time. Regardless of who’s starting, Penn State is a team that has been developing the passing game more and more, and combining their deep play ability with their already elite run game and has the ability to run up the scoreboard in this one.
OHIO STATE:
The Buckeyes enter as the #4 team in the country with a 6-1 record. However their only loss was to the best team in the country, Oregon. Besides that game, they have showed complete dominance.
Past Weeks:
Despite Penn State’s perfect record, the Nittany Lions are much worse than their 7-0 record suggests. Penn State almost suffered a loss to the atrocious Bowling Green Falcons. Penn State only won by a touchdown, and Bowling Green is sitting at a measly 4-4. Penn State also only beat USC by three points just two weeks ago. Against power five teams, Penn State has yet to score more than 34 points. Penn State could very realistically be 5-2, and Drew Allar, Penn States starting quarterback, will be a game time decision on Saturday. Ohio State on the other hand has had a much tougher schedule than Penn State, and are experienced against really good teams like Oregon. Ohio State will be much more prepared coming into this game than Penn State. Just a reminder that Ohio State won this matchup last year. Penn State has not beaten Ohio State since 2016.
Defense:
Ohio State has simply shown extreme dominance this football season. Ohio State has a 6-1 record, and their only loss came to the greatest team in the country, Oregon. Ohio State could have won that game if quarterback will Howard slid earlier to allow time for Ohio State kicker Jayden Fielding to kick a game winning field goal. Their dominant defense has allowed less than 18 points in every game except for the Oregon game. Ohio State has an NFL ready defense, and last year Ohio State held Penn State’s offense to just a measly 12 points, and Drew Allar was an awful 18-42 passing. JT Tuimoalau has a great history of playing against Penn State, and he will continue to be a force on the defensive end. Jack Sawyer will also have multiple opportunities to get to Allar.
Ohio State Offense:
The talent on Ohio State’s roster is almost unmatched across college football. It starts with their elite running back duo in Treveyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins. Judkins already has 6 touchdowns and over 500 yards, including a 86 yard burst against Western Michigan. Henderson is averaging a fantastic 7.2 yards per carry. Will Howard, Ohio State’s quarterback, is currently leading the Big Ten in passing touchdowns, also thanks to the help of elite wide receivers Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka, two future NFL players. Smith is averaging over a touchdown per game this season, and is almost guaranteed to get one against Penn State. Ohio State has put up multiple 50 point outings, and a 49 point game.
