The Penn State at Ohio State match is a game-changer. The 7th-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions travel to Columbus to take on the 3rd-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes. Both programs are amongst the Big Ten’s three undefeated teams. This means the game could decide who represents the East in the Big Ten Championship. Ohio State leads the all-time series 23-14 and won last year’s game 44-31. Penn State has only had one win over Ohio State since 2012. Before Saturday’s showdown, we will take a look at:

• The overall talent. 
• Two newcomers at quarterback.
• Key players, matchups, and coaching. 

Penn State at Ohio State – An Even Match

Both teams are an even match in their recruiting, with Penn State closing the gap. Penn State has had top 14 recruiting classes yearly, except two since 2014. “In Penn State’s Dominance on 2023 Freaks List the Sign of a New Norm,” Jordan Epp talks about the change. “Between 2015 and 2023, Penn State brought in eight five-star recruits and 117 four-star recruits, also according to 247Sports.” Penn State had six players, the most in the history of Bruce Feldman’s Freak List. This has led to many 4-star talent and “freaks” at almost every position. 

Quarterbacks

One of those four stars is Penn State quarterback Drew Allar. The surprise was that Allar, out of Medina, Ohio, was not recruited by Ohio State. The Buckeyes felt they were set at quarterback with prospects Quinn Ewers, who reclassified up a year, and Devin Brown. Penn State was able to take advantage of this and get a commitment from Allar. 

Allar’s Prospects

Allar spent his first year as a backup for Sean Clifford, a four-year starter for Penn State. While Allar could appear in 10 games, his reps were severely limited. Despite those limited reps, he was able to show enough to be the clear heir apparent. 

Allar Stats

In this season opener versus West Virginia, Allar showed that he was the future at the position. He threw for 325 yards and three touchdowns, with only eight incompletions in his first start. Since then, Allar has thrown for 1,254 yards, 12 touchdowns and no interceptions. This leads to Allar having a 65.2 completion percentage. Despite his lack of interceptions, he has not taken a lot of chances. Allar has only completed 12 passes downfield. The best-rushing attack in the Big Ten has taken the pressure off of him. 

Kyle McCord

Ohio State’s quarterback Kyle McCord also understands the notion of waiting his turn. Going into the 2021 season, the Buckeyes had to replace Justin Fields, who recently went to the NFL. The quarterbacks in the mix to start, Ewers, McCord, Jack Miller, and C.J. Stroud, had zero combined starts. Stroud was eventually named the starter and held the job for the rest of his time there. With Stroud starting and Ewers looming, consider this. McCord could have felt the pressure to transfer. Instead, McCord was the top backup. He even started a game his freshman year against Akron when Stroud went down. 

Two Years Later

Fast forward two years later. McCord is the last one remaining. Ewers and Miller transferred, while Stroud has moved on to the NFL. McCord was ready to fill the void that Stroud left. The landscape felt familiar to him. He had the following:

• Game experience.
• Has been in a quarterback competition before.
• His favorite target in high school, Marvin Harrison Jr., became college football’s best receiver. 

McCord Stats

McCord was able to beat out Brown to open the season. He has since held on to the job, throwing for over 1,651 yards and 11 touchdowns to an astounding one interception. No moment for McCord was more significant than when he helped Ohio State drive down the field vs Notre Dame. His completion on third and 19 to help Ohio State get to the one-yard line symbolized his growth as a signal caller. 

Allar vs. McCord

While Allar and McCord are off to solid starts, they have a strong foundation surrounding them. The game starts on both sides of the line for each team. 

Penn’s Offensive Lines

Penn State has one of the best offensive lines in the country, led by Olumuyiwa Fashanu. Fashanu surprised many when he passed up the NFL draft to come back another season. Running behind Fashanu are Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen. They both have 300 yards and at least three touchdowns. Look at their ability to get downhill quickly. Pair that with the solid offensive line. This has led Penn State to give up 22 tackles for loss this season. 

Ohio State to Slow it Down

Ohio State looks to slow down their running game with:

• Tyleik Williams
• JT Tuimoloau
• Michael Hall Jr.
• Ty Hamilton
• Jack Sawyer

Williams leads the unit with 27 tackles. He had six tackles for a loss and four pass breakups. With top cornerback Denzel Burke questionable, the Buckeyes must also find a way to get to Allar. Tuimoloau and Sawyer are both top 15 in pressure. Tuimoloau also had his best game against Penn State last year. He finished with three tackles for a loss and two interceptions, with Fashanu on the sideline. 

The Curve

Consider defensive coordinator Jim Knowles and defensive line coach Larry Johnson’s group. Will they keep improving? If they do, this will be a great matchup to watch. Ohio State’s defense limits explosive plays, which is Penn State’s biggest weakness. OSU is up to first in reducing explosive plays after being 26th last year, with a rate 6.6%. 

Penn State at Ohio State – Consider This

Penn State is amongst the worst teams in creating explosive plays. According to the Athletic:

“This year, the Nittany Lions rank 129th in the FBS in plays from scrimmage longer than 20 yards. They have 16 in six games and one play longer than 40 yards, the lowest number among all 133 FBS teams. Each Nittany Lion running back has not run over 19 yards on a carry. They only have one 100-yard game between them, against Delaware.” 

Offensive vs Defensive

The other side of the matchup is Ohio State’s offensive line vs. Penn State’s defensive line. Ohio State’s offensive line coming into the season was questionable. They lost Paris Johnson, Dawand Jones, and Luke Wypler to the draft. They went into the transfer portal to replace them and relied on backups to fill the void. The newcomers have struggled both in the run and against pressure. The Athletic’s Cameron Robinson Teague went on to call this their biggest weakness.

“Ohio State’s running backs average 1.93 yards before contact (65th nationally), according to TrueMedia. The pressure rate allowed is 25.9 percent (31st), and the sack rate allowed is 4.9 percent (45th).” 

Ohio State’s Weakness is Penn State’s Advantage

Look at Penn State’s defensive coordinator, former Miami head coach Manny Diaz. He looks to exploit this mismatch with his defensive line. Chop Robinson leads Penn State’s defensive line. He has drawn Micah Parsons’ comparisons, Adisa Issac and Dani Dennis-Sutton. 

The Stats

Audrey Synder of the Athletic said:

“Penn State has 27 sacks (second in the country) and leads the nation with 4 1/2 per game. Isaac leads the team with five sacks, Robinson has three, and Dennis-Sutton has 1 1/2. Last game alone, they had seven sacks. They also pressure passers on 50.5 percent of their dropbacks and have a sack rate of 14.5 percent. Their pressure rate goes up 62.2 percent when they send a blitz. If they look to send more pressures, like Purdue did last week, Ohio State could be in for a long night.” 

The Questions

The key matchup to watch is Ohio State’s wide receivers vs Penn State’s secondary. Ohio State has arguably the best pipeline of future NFL receivers. There is none more significant than Marvin Harrison Jr. This is especially true when going into a game with the following listed as questionable:

• Treveyon Henderson, running back 
• Miyan Williams, running back 
• Chip Traynum, running back
• Emeka Egbuka, wide receiver

Harrison

Last year, Harrison and Egbuka were only the second Ohio State duo to have over 1,000 yards in the same season. Harison had a slow start, only having two catches in his first game and three against Notre Dame. But he bounced back. Harrison has four 100-yard games on the season, 29 catches for 604 yards, and five touchdowns.

Buckeyes Players and Experience

Look behind Harrison at the former linebacker converted to a tight end, Cade Stover. The Buckeyes have an inexperienced group. Their lack of experience is not why they are not on the field. Ohio State has plenty of talent. Five-star talent is waiting for their opportunity behind other highly touted players. Freshman wide receiver Brandon Innis showed this last week against Purdue. His first catch went for a touchdown. 

Nittany Lions Top Defense

The Nittany Lions are the top defense against the pass. Illinois was the only game where they allowed a touchdown through the air. Their secondary is led by cornerbacks Kalen King and Johny Dixon. The duo has picked up where Joey Porter Jr. left off and looks to be next in line to go to the NFL. Each corner has not given up more than nine catches, no touchdown, and has less than 100 yards against them. The team has only given up 121.2 passing yards per game and 4.6 per attempt. 

Penn State at Ohio State – The Separator

For two teams that are evenly matched, coaching could be the separator. Penn State’s James Franklin and Ohio State’s Ryan Day remain great coaches and recruiters. But they have struggled in big games that define their season. On the road, Franklin is 2-11 against the top 25 teams and 0-9 against the top ten teams. Against the Buckeyes, Franklin is 1-8, with his only win being in 2016 at Happy Valley. Every year since, he has lost, despite both teams being in the top ten in the 2017-2019 stretch. 

Coach Day

As for Coach Day, he has lost only six games. The problem is that two of those losses were in back-to-back seasons against Michigan. For either team to win, they must flip the notion that they struggle in big games. 

Penn State at Ohio State – The Outcome

Has Penn State caught up to Ohio State, or will the Buckeyes continue their dominance? Find out with University Foot-ball. 

Authored by Tarohn Finley