Game Preview: Penn State vs. Ohio State
In what is sure to be their toughest test to this point of the season, the Penn State Nittany Lions (4-2, 1-2 B1G) will host the No. 13 Ohio State Buckeyes (5-1, 2-0 B1G) under the lights at Beaver Stadium.
After starting the season 4-0, Penn State has dropped its last two. First it was a demoralizing Homecoming loss to Northwestern in which Penn State was unable to get anything going. After a bye week the Nittany Lions traveled to Ann Arbor and fell 18-13 to a Michigan team that was in free fall. Following another bye week, Penn State is looking to avoid dropping their third straight Big Ten matchup.
“We were able to rest our players, we were able to work on technique and fundamentals and some scheme things that need to improve,” said head coach James Franklin Tuesday. “We were able to get on the road recruiting. We were able to scrimmage the young guys. We were able to get a lot of work done, so [it was a] really productive bye week.”
Ohio State boasts the fourth best offense in the country, averaging 46.5 points per game. They have a top-25 defense, a top-20 rushing attack and despite the preseason loss of Braxton Miller, a top-35 passing attack.
J.T. Barrett has filled the role of Miller and made a somewhat seamless transition from backup to Big Ten starter. On the season, Barrett has thrown for 1,615 yards and 20 touchdowns, while only throwing five interceptions. However, all of Barrett’s interceptions came in the first three games of the season, meaning he is getting smarter with the ball, something that doesn’t bode well for Penn State. Along with his arm, Barrett can also use his legs to get out of trouble. He reinforced this last week against Rutgers when he ran for a season high 107 yards and two scores.
On the other side, Christian Hackenberg has had a less than stellar campaign so far. Although he has thrown for 1,637 yards on the season, he only has five passing touchdowns to go along with seven interceptions. The real frightening statistic is that Hackenberg has only one passing touchdown in his last four games.
Hackenberg’s struggles can certainly be partly attributed to the continued struggle of the offensive line, which has been the weak point of the Penn State team all season. Against an Ohio State team that is deep on both sides of the ball, the Nittany Lions will need their offensive line to come up with a big performance because their defense will most likely yield more points than they usually do.
"Ohio State and Coach Urban Meyer, you look at their program and their team’s doing a tremendous job. Probably the best combination that we've seen so far this year," said Franklin.
The one good thing for Penn State going up against the Buckeyes is that they are guaranteed a good attendance at Beaver Stadium. Couple that with the fact that it is the annual white out game and Happy Valley should be rocking come 8 p.m. Saturday.
"Obviously we would love to have a huge, home field advantage, which I anticipate us having," Franklin said. "107,000 Penn State fans wearing white, screaming and going crazy.”
Even more so than last week, Penn State needs a win. Franklin believes it will start with something that Penn State has struggled with all season, offensive balance.
"The games that we have had some balance and have been able to establish somewhat of a running game we've been able to do some nice things. That's something we're not going to shy away from. We're still committed to doing that,” said Franklin.
Kick off between Penn State and Ohio State is set for 8 p.m. and the game will be televised nationally on ABC. ComRadio has complete coverage beginning at 4 p.m. with The Tailgate Show live from outside the All Sports Museum.
Photo Credit: (AP Photo/PennLive.com. Joe Hermitt)
Jack Milewski is a freshman majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email him at jbm250@psu.edu.
