The Penn State Nittany Lions are both highly thought of in the college football world and an afterthought at the same time.
How is this possible? Penn State is the No. 7 team in the AP poll and ranked 6th in the coach’s poll. That explains how respected the 6-0 Nittany Lions are in the sport. At the same time, Michigan is the No. 2 team in both polls and the Ohio State Buckeyes are No. 3. Penn State is beneath their Big Ten rivals in both the rankings and stature, and that’s why this week’s game between the Nittany Lions and the Buckeyes is so important.
Head coach James Franklin has had almost no success in his tenure when competing against Ohio State. The Nittany Lions are just 1-8 against the Buckeyes with Franklin at the helm. The other key factor working against Penn State is playing on the road in Columbus. The Nittany Lions have not been victorious at The Horseshoe since the 2011 season.
However, don’t expect Penn State to feel like it has no chance in this game. While the Lions have been on the wrong side of most of these matchups, the majority of the games have been close. Ohio State has not beaten Penn State by more than 13 points in any of the meetings.
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If Penn State can keep it close early — and they have the defense to limit Ohio State’s offense — this should be a game that goes down to the wire.
Penn State quarterback Drew Allar will dazzle Ohio State with his accuracy and won’t throw an interception
The performance of the quarterbacks in this matchup is bound to have a huge influence on the outcome. Allar appears to have an excellent chance to do more for his team than Kyle McCord does for the Buckeyes.
McCord has shown significant improvement as the season has progressed. He was inexperienced and looked it when Ohio State opened the season against an ordinary Indiana team. He appears to have grown more comfortable each week, and he played a key role in leading Ohio State to a vital road victory over Notre Dame.
McCord has completed 109 of 170 passes for 1,651 yards with 11 touchdowns and 1 interception. That’s clearly a very solid performance.
While the two have comparable numbers, Allar has a little bit of an advantage. He has completed 118 of 181 passes for 1,254 yards with 12 touchdowns and no interceptions. Allar appears to have a stronger arm than McCord and he throws the ball decisively.
The Penn State offense has been quite conservative with a number of short passes and check downs. At some point they are likely to showcase an aggressive side, and it seems likely that they will try to make it happen in this game.
Penn State’s secondary will limit All-America wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. to less than 100 yards and 1 touchdown
Harrison is the best receiver in the nation, and he is almost certain to be the first receiver selected in next spring’s NFL Draft.
He will be the focus of the Penn State defense, and the primary responsibility for slowing down Harrison — they can’t stop him completely — will fall on cornerbacks Kalen King and Johnny Dixon.
King is an outstanding cover man and there is little doubt that this could be a future matchup in the NFL. King had 15 passes defensed a year ago, but just 1 so far this year. Opponents don’t try to pick on him very often.
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