{"id":67229,"date":"2024-10-29T13:40:08","date_gmt":"2024-10-29T17:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=67229"},"modified":"2024-10-29T13:40:08","modified_gmt":"2024-10-29T17:40:08","slug":"penn-state-vs-ohio-state-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2024\/10\/29\/penn-state-vs-ohio-state-preview\/","title":{"rendered":"Penn State vs. Ohio State Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"

To preview Penn State vs. Ohio State, it\u2019s showtime in State College.\u00a0 On Saturday, the third-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions will host the fourth-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes.\u00a0 This is Penn State\u2019s fifth Big Ten contest of the season, and they will look to stay undefeated.\u00a0 The Nittany Lions defeated Wisconsin 28-13 on the road last week. \u00a0This contest represents the pinnacle of the toughest stretch of the Penn State schedule.\u00a0 With the quarterback position<\/a> a question mark because of Drew Allar\u2019s<\/a> injury, head coach James Franklin needs to rely on the rest of the roster to carry this game.\u00a0 Following Ohio State, Penn State will take on Washington at home before traveling to Purdue.<\/p>\n

The Buckeyes enter the game with a record of 6-1, and are 3-1 in their Big Ten games.\u00a0 Their only defeat came at the hands of #1 Oregon in a thriller. Ohio State will be looking for a statement win this weekend.\u00a0 Coach Ryan Day and his Buckeyes are also looking to right the ship in a way.\u00a0 After a dominant start to the year, Ohio State lost the game to Oregon in Eugene.\u00a0 Then, following a bye week, they picked up a win at home against Nebraska.\u00a0 However, they trailed in the fourth quarter of the game.<\/p>\n

#4 Ohio State (6-1) at #3 Penn State (7-0) Preview<\/h3>\n

When & Where: <\/strong>Saturday, November 2, 12:00 pm ET, at Penn State (Beaver Stadium)<\/p>\n

Last Game\u2019s Results: <\/strong>Penn State won at Wisconsin by a score of 28-13.\u00a0 Ohio State beat Nebraska at home by a score of 21-17.<\/p>\n

Last Season\u2019s Results: <\/strong>Penn State finished ranked #13 after a 10-3 season that ended with a Peach Bowl loss to Ole Miss.\u00a0 Ohio State was #10, with a record of 11-2 overall, including a 14-3 loss to #8 Missouri in the Cotton Bowl Classic.<\/p>\n

Series History: <\/strong>Ohio State leads the series all-time by a 23 to eight margin.\u00a0 The teams met last season when Ohio State won 20-12.\u00a0 Penn State\u2019s most recent win against the Buckeyes was in 2016.<\/p>\n

Penn State vs. Ohio State Preview: Nittany Lions to Watch<\/h2>\n

Head Coach James Franklin<\/h3>\n

James Franklin has done a good job representing Penn State and is signed to a long-term contract.\u00a0 The university has confidence in him to lead the program moving forward.\u00a0 However, he needs to win the big games to cement his legacy.\u00a0 His ability to overcome a recurring problem, and use a risk as an opportunity, will be key this week.<\/p>\n

The Competition<\/h4>\n

To be known as one of the best coaches in the country, Franklin must beat the best.\u00a0 Ohio State has proven to be a very difficult opponent for Franklin and Penn State to conquer.\u00a0 Day has won all six contests against the Nittany Lions.\u00a0 As Penn State has welcomed Andy Kotelnicki this season as the new offensive coordinator, Ohio State has brought in Chip Kelly to run the offense.\u00a0 His creativity will challenge Tom Allen\u2019s defense.<\/p>\n

Sluggish Starts<\/h4>\n

Penn State has shown, on multiple occasions this season, an inability to get off to fast starts in games.\u00a0 They either trail early or are far behind in the time of possession battle.\u00a0 This dynamic put pressure to execute flawlessly later in those games.\u00a0 So far, it has worked out.\u00a0 However, against an opponent like Ohio State, a slow start could spell disaster.<\/p>\n

Allar\/Pribula: QB or Not QB?<\/h4>\n

The quarterback position is a risk for Penn State following Allar\u2019s injury.\u00a0 In his Monday press conference this week, Franklin suggested that the decision on who will start at quarterback for Penn State will come down to the wire.\u00a0 It will likely be a game-time decision.\u00a0 Strategically, this could be an advantage for Franklin.\u00a0 Both Allar and Beau Pribula<\/a> are talented but bring different skill sets.\u00a0 Allar has a rocket for an arm.\u00a0 Pribula can be a rocket taking off from the pocket as a running quarterback.\u00a0 In the win over Wisconsin<\/a>, both quarterbacks were successful.\u00a0 Even if Allar starts, Pribula should see some snaps to change things up.\u00a0 Franklin and Kotelnicki should look to exploit the uncertainty.<\/p>\n

Franklin\u2019s chances to break through against Ryan Day are good.\u00a0 Ohio State enters in a (relative) slump.\u00a0 The Buckeyes need to prepare for two different quarterbacks in Allar and Pribula.\u00a0 Franklin needs to get Penn State off to a fast start in this game.\u00a0 This will show the opponent, the fans, and his own team that this season is different.<\/p>\n

Offensive Tackle Drew Shelton<\/h3>\n

When there is instability and uncertainty at the quarterback position, it is imperative for the offensive line to step up.\u00a0 However, that is a bit more complicated than normal for Penn State this week.\u00a0 The line is dealing with their own injuries, but still needs to be a rock in this game.<\/p>\n

As the left tackle, junior Drew Shelton<\/a> is charged with protecting the blind side for both Allar and Pribula.\u00a0 Giving the quarterback enough time to go through his progressions is important, especially against a defense like Ohio State\u2019s.\u00a0 When Pribula enters the game, even when he scrambles he will need lanes to escape through.<\/p>\n

It would be very easy to put more of the onus on star running backs Nick Singleton<\/a> and Kaytron Allen<\/a>.\u00a0 No matter who plays quarterback, handing the ball off to arguably the best running back tandem<\/a> in the country makes things a lot easier.\u00a0 However, without strong run blocking from the offensive line, there is only so much the back can do.<\/p>\n

The offensive line suffered its own injury concern against Wisconsin.\u00a0 Anthony Donkoh<\/a> missed significant time against the Badgers.\u00a0 If he is unable to go in this game, Nolan Rucci<\/a> should get the majority of snaps in his place.\u00a0 Importantly, Shelton will need to step up as a leader on the offensive line to fortify their play.<\/p>\n

\"Penn
Photo courtesy:\u00a0 Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To preview Penn State vs. Ohio State, it\u2019s showtime in State College.\u00a0 On Saturday, the third-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions will host the fourth-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes.\u00a0 This is Penn State\u2019s fifth Big Ten contest of the season, and they will look to stay undefeated.\u00a0 The Nittany Lions defeated Wisconsin 28-13 on the road last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5172,"featured_media":67235,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[32817,7983,2539,837,73,309,7524,3348,1073],"class_list":["post-67229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-bigten","tag-andy-kotelnicki","tag-big-ten-football","tag-chip-kelly","tag-james-franklin","tag-ohio-state-buckeyes","tag-penn-state-nittany-lions","tag-penn-state-quarterbacks","tag-ryan-day","tag-tom-allen"],"modified_by":"Tony Siracusa, CFB Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5172"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67229"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67229\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}