The Buckeyes are coming off an emotional high as they survived a scare at Camp Randall last week, and now they head to possibly an even tougher environment in Happy Valley to take on the Penn State Nittany Lions. Much like the Badgers last week, the Lions come in having an extra week of rest and time to prepare for Ohio State.
The Nittany Lions are led by 3rd year head coach James Franklin who comes into this game 4-2 on the season and still possibly riding the hot seat, even with the reassurance of his schools athletic director. A win over Ohio State might be enough to secure him his job for another year.
The game will be under the lights at 8pm EST on ABC, and a full on “White-Out’ is expected as it always is when Ohio State comes to town. It will be a raucous crowd Saturday night, and as the Buckeyes have traveled to Norman and Madison already this year they should be well prepared for what to expect when they take the field.
The Intangibles
TV: ABC (Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Samantha Ponder)
Radio: Ohio State IMG Network 97.1 WBNS (Paul Keels, Jim Lachey, and Matt Andrews)
Online: WatchESPN / Ohio State IMG Network / TuneIn
Social Media: @OhioStAthletics / @PennStateFball
Series Record: 17-13 (Last meeting: Ohio State 38 – Penn State 10 in Columbus)
Previewing the Nittany Lions:
The Nittany Lions enter the game 4-2 (2-1 in the Big Ten). Their schedule has not been tough as Michigan is the only ranked team that they have played, and they got whitewashed by the Wolverines. Their other loss came to Pittsburgh in week two that ended when McSorley threw an interception with 1:15 left to seal the deal for the Panthers 42-39.
The Lions boast one of the best running backs in the nation in sophomore Saquon Barkley. Barkley has run the ball for 582 yards so far this season along with eight touchdowns. The second leading rusher on the team is quarterback Trace McSorley. While he only averages 2.8 yards per carry, his ability to extend plays and scramble will add a wrinkle the Buckeyes haven’t seen in a few weeks. Penn State comes into the game ranked 88th in the country in rushing yards per game at 152/game.
The passing game comes in doing much better at 53rd in the nation behind McSorley. Although he only completing 58% of his passes he has thrown for 1436 yards and eight touchdowns to his talented wide receiving trio of Chris Godwin, DeAndre Tompkins and DaeSean Hamilton. Add in tight end Mike Gesicki and there are a lot of guys the Buckeye secondary needs to concern themselves with on Saturday.
On the offensive line, the Nittany Lions are giving up over seven tackles for a loss per game which ranks near the bottom of the FBS. They are a relatively young line with two freshman starting at left guard and right guard and are led by seniors Paris Palmer at left tackle, and Ryan Bates at center. The line has given up 14 sacks so far this season to go along with the tackle for a loss number, which means that they have had trouble stopping the opposing teams front seven from wreaking havoc in the backfield. They will need to have a solid game on Saturday if they want the ball game to stay close, as we know what the Buckeye defense is capable of.
On defense, Penn State comes in ranked 52nd in total defense giving up 381 yards per game with 208 of it coming on the ground. Their leading tacklers are safties Marcus Allen and Malik Golden who have combined to make 92 tackles on the season. The fact that their safeties have been making most of the tackles so far this season is a good indicator that their run defense needs some work. The Nittany Lions have forced nine turnovers this season, and to have success against the Buckeyes they will need to get a few more.
On the defensive line they start three juniors and a senior in Evan Schwan. Schwan has three tackles for a loss on the season to go along with two quarterback sacks. Their leader in the sack department is Garrett Sickles who has 2.5 to go along with his 3.5 tackles for a loss.
At linebacker the Lions are very young starting a true freshman in Cam Brown and a sophomore in Manny Bowen. Bowen has proved he can be a problem in the backfield as he has five tackles for a loss and a quarterback sack on the season. Brown is playing mainly because Brandon Bell and Jason Cabinda have been sidelined for a few weeks with injuries. That might change this week as both Bell and Cabinda might see some playing time this week according to James Franklin.
Joey Julius gets targeted against Maryland two weeks ago. Image courtesy of USA Today.
We can’t talk about Penn State without talking about their kicker Joey Julius who has been all over the media this season, from his weight issues to him being targeted on kick-off’s by opposing teams defenses. Through all of that Julius is 10/12 on the season on field goals and 20/24 on extra points. Two weeks ago against Maryland, one of their players was tossed from the game for targeting Julius and was subsequently suspended by head coach D.J. Durkin for another game.
Previewing the Buckeyes:
The Buckeyes enter this match-up 6-0 after escaping Madison with a 30-23 OT win. The Buckeyes did not get back into Columbus until 5 am on Sunday morning, and it shifted the schedule a bit for the week. Ohio State had an easy time with the Lions last year winning 38-10 at home, but two years ago they struggled in a game they led 17-0 at halftime. They let the lead slip away and ended up walking out of Happy Valley 31-24 winners in double overtime thanks to J.T. Barrett’s toughness.
Speaking of J.T. Barrett, he is the leader on offense and everything the Buckeyes do flows through him. Last week he set the Ohio State career total touchdown record with his pass to Noah Brown in the 4th quarter giving him 89 total touchdowns in his illustrious career. Barrett enters the game with a 4/1 TD to INT ratio completing 63% of his passes on the season.
At running back the Buckeyes have a bounty of options starting with redshirt freshman Mike Weber. Weber enters the game averaging 102 yards per contest, although he only had 11 carries for 46 yards last week at Wisconsin. Expect Weber to get more carries this week to take the load off of J.T. running the ball. Curtis Samuel is the H-back who enters the game with over 800 yards of total offense to his name. He lines up at running back and at wide receiver making him as versatile a back as there is in the nation. The Buckeyes also have Dontre Wilson who has become more of a pass catching back than a running back, but can tote the rock also.
The Buckeye wide receivers really consist of Curtis Samuel and Dontre Wilson along with Noah Brown. Those three account for 61 of Barrett’s 96 completions on the season (63%). Other targets include Parris Campbell, Marcus Baugh and Terry McLaurin who have a combined 22 catches between them. The Buckeye wide receivers are going to have to start to produce more going forward if the Buckeyes want to be a viable national title contender this season.
The Buckeye offensive line is led by senior Pat Elflein, who has been an anchor for the very young group. Along with Billy Price they have allowed the Buckeyes to run for over 300 yards per game (4th in the country). Jamarco Jones, Isaiah Prince and Michael Jordan are all starting on the line for the first time this season and there does not seem to be a drop off from last year’s veteran group.
On the defensive side of the ball the Buckeyes are led by a strong defensive line that struggled a bit against Wisconsin in the first half, but got it together for the 2nd half more or less shutting down Corey Clement. The line is anchored by Tyquan Lewis and Sam Hubbard and bolstered by Robert Landers, Dre’Mont Jones and Nick Bosa. Bosa has had a few highlight worthy moments early, but he really stepped up against Wisconsin when the Buckeyes needed him the most. The whole line came up with the big 4th down stop to end the game, sacking Alex Hornibrook.
At linebacker, the Buckeyes boast arguably one of the best in the nation in Raekwon McMillan, the two guys flanking him have been having stellar seasons of their own. Chris Worley and Jerome Baker have been making plays all over the field this season. Baker leads the team in tackles with 39, while McMillan has 36 and Worley had 30. Baker has 5 tackles for a loss, 1.5 sacks and 1 interception return for a touchdown along with a fumble recovery. These three do not miss many tackles, and their solid play is part of the reason the Buckeyes sit at 6th nationally in total defense.
In the secondary, the Silver Bullets have intercepted 11 passes so far this season which ranks them tied for 5th in the nation. Led by sophomore Malik Hooker and Marshon Lattimore, along with seasoned veteran Gareon Conley, the Buckeyes have set up a no-fly zone in the secondary. The Buckeyes have given up only 159 yards per game through the air so far this season which ranks 6th nationally.
Three Key Match-ups:
- Saquon Barkley vs Ohio State Defense: Although the Buckeyes came away with a 38-10 victory last year in Columbus against the Lions, running back Saquon Barkley put his name on the national stage with his 194 yard outburst on 26 carries. The key for the Buckeye defense will be to make sure that Barkley does not hit the open field, because if he does you can put six on the board. He is having another good season so far this year, and the Buckeyes will need to bottle him up to force Penn State to throw the ball.
- Ohio State’s Wide Receivers vs Penn State Secondary: Penn State comes in with the 13th best pass defense in the country giving up only 172 yards per game on 62% passing. The Buckeye wide receivers are going to have their hands full as Marcus Allen and Malik Golden have been playing lights out in the secondary this season. Guys other than Curtis Samuel and Dontre Wilson are going to have to start stepping up, and this would be a great game to prove themselves.
- Ohio State vs Happy Valley: After the emotional game last weekend in Madison, the Buckeyes may face an even louder stadium this week at Happy Valley. The students and alumni alike will be there in full support with their “White Out”. The Buckeyes were the more talented team in 2014, and had to hold off Penn State in overtime in order to secure the victory. No matter how down Penn State may be, they will always give the Buckeyes a game at Beaver Stadium.
Prediction:
The Buckeyes enter this game as nearly a 20 point favorite, and I believe that is very generous. Like I have said above, no matter how down Penn State is they always seem to give the Buckeyes fits in Happy Valley. I expect this one to start out slow for the Buckeyes coming off the emotions of last week, but they will get it ramped up and pull away in the second half. Buckeyes 34 – Penn State 17.
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