In three of the last four years, Ohio State’s game against Penn State has been a deciding factor in the Buckeyes’ advancement — or lack thereof — to the Big Ten Championship game.
Ohio State’s last three trips to Penn State have all resulted in one-possession games, one of which ended with the Nittany Lions stunning an undefeated Buckeyes in 2016. Despite Penn State’s misstep against Indiana to open the season, both sides of the Ohio State-Penn State matchup understand the magnitude of the game.
“You’ve got to earn wins against these guys, so it’s going to be one of those games where we’ve got to start from the beginning, take care of the football, play really strong, get the game into the fourth quarter and win it in the fourth quarter,” head coach Ryan Day said Tuesday in a Zoom call.
While Ohio State was able to handle business — downing Nebraska 52-17 — the Nittany Lions stumbled against No. 17 Indiana, falling to the Hoosiers 36-35.
Penn State, who outgained Indiana by 277 yards, committed 10 penalties that inflicted 100 yards of damage.
Penn State head coach James Franklin said his team played with passion but self-inflicted miscues led to the loss.
“We made mistakes that we typically haven’t made, which are the turnovers and the penalties, which we preach all the time are things that get you beat since the beginning of time — especially the penalties,” Franklin said Tuesday. “The other was explosive plays and we were able to limit those, but we didn’t make enough of them ourselves.”
Although Penn State will look to correct its mistakes without star linebacker Micah Parsons, who opted out of the season Aug. 6, and depth at running back following the injury to sophomore running back Noah Cain, the Nittany Lions still have plenty of weapons to challenge the Ohio State defense.
One of the Nittany Lions most proven playmakers is junior tight end Pat Freiermuth, who has snagged 16 touchdown receptions in his career.
In 2019, Ohio State largely used then-junior linebacker Pete Werner to keep Freiermuth out of the endzone.
With Werner now playing on the inside of Ohio State’s defense, Day said they have been working through different personnel to limit the mismatch posed by the 6-foot-5 tight end.
“He’s a matchup issue — first and second and third down,” Day said. “Whether it’s the run game, he’s strong and powerful, but he’s also a matchup in the pass game — man-to-man. He can get big and go get jump balls — he can body you up.”
Ohio State’s secondary, which was largely untested against a run-heavy Nebraska offense, will get a chance to grow against Penn State.
Redshirt junior cornerback Shaun Wade said he knows this matchup will be different.
“We didn’t really get challenged downfield, but this week it’s definitely going to be a challenge,” Wade said Wednesday in a Zoom call. “All of them are kinda deep ball, fast guys and the quarterback will throw it, so we’ll definitely have a challenge this week.”
On the ground, the Penn State offense is without running backs Journey Brown, whose season is in jeopardy due to an undisclosed medical condition, and Cain.
Turning to a less experienced back in sophomore Devyn Ford, who carried the ball 20 times for 69 yards against the Hoosiers, redshirt junior quarterback Sean Clifford has taken on some of the responsibility of maintaining a dangerous rushing attack.
Clifford carried the ball 17 times for 119 yards and a touchdown in the season opener.
Defending a mobile quarterback has been a concern for the Buckeyes after allowing Nebraska’s quarterback duo to rush for 164 yards.
Day said mistakes led to the breakout runs against Nebraska and emphasized that it only takes one misstep to lose a game.
“Whether it’s in pass protection, whether it’s in the run game, whether it’s a stunt here or there, all it takes is one play against a team like Penn State and you lose the game,” Day said. “So we’ve got to clean all those things up this week.”
On the defensive side of the ball, Day said the Nittany Lions boast “as talented defensive ends we’ve seen in a while.” The group is led by redshirt senior defensive end Shaka Toney, who accounted for two sacks against Indiana.
The personnel and schematics are not the only thing being focused on as the Buckeyes head into their second game.
The trip to Pennsylvania is the first time Ohio State will play on the road in a COVID-19 focused environment.
Beyond the elimination of the white-out crowd numbering more than 110,000 thousand, COVID-19 has resulted in the implementation of protocols that Day and his coaching staff are hoping won’t act as a distraction to the players.
“It’s our job to make sure we cover all that stuff so the players don’t have to worry about it — as few distractions as possible,” Day said. “We’ll work hard to make sure that plan is organized, it runs smoothly and then the players are able to focus on the game.”
