Ohio State Travels to Happy Valley for Another Top-Five Clash

Buckeyes Looking For a Statement Win as They Take on Undefeated Penn State Nittany Lions

The 6-1 Ohio State Buckeyes will travel to Beaver Stadium on Saturday to take on one of the few remaining unbeaten teams left in the 7-0 Penn State Nittany Lions. Both teams come into the game not playing their best. Ohio State’s last three weeks featured a heartbreaking one-point loss to Oregon followed by a bye week. The Buckeyes’ last outing was an underwhelming four-point home win over Nebraska that left Buckeye fans with a variety of concerns.

Penn State, meanwhile, needed overtime in their three-point win over USC a few weeks ago. They also had a bye week when Ohio State did, and returned from the bye with a two-score win over Wisconsin where they trailed at halftime and lost starting quarterback Drew Allar for a good portion of the game. Both teams haven’t played their best ball as of late and likely have their best games ahead of them. The storylines are all over the place, so let’s dive into them.

 

Will Howard Leads a Buckeye Team with Much to Prove

Former Kansas State quarterback (and Pennsylvania native) Will Howard has stepped up for the Buckeyes in big ways en route to a 6-1 and nearly 7-0 start. He will now return to a place he wanted to call home growing up, but Penn State never gave him the chance. The Buckeyes have given him a chance and he has ran with it. He’s completing 74 percent of his passes for 1,795 passing yards, and 22 total touchdowns with four interceptions. He made some big throws and had an important rush late in the Nebraska win, and is really coming into his own as a leader for the offense.

Ohio State’s run game needs to step up, and part of the struggles have been on the offensive line. There have been injuries across the line including star left tackle Josh Simmons and his backup Zen Michalski, which has shown the lackluster depth at the position. The Buckeyes offense ran 31 times for just 64 yards last game, which is simply embarrassing given the talent they possess. Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson are up to nearly 1,000 combined rushing yards on the year and 10 total rushing touchdowns. Judkins caught the game-winning touchdown pass last week, but both running backs will look to help out the offense on the ground this week. They are averaging 6.4 and 7.2 yards per carry on the year respectively.

The passing game has been doing just fine with Howard at the helm. As I predicted in the last preview, Carnell Tate had his big game against Nebraska with over 100 yards receiving and a score to get the Buckeyes started in the first half. Jeremiah Smith continues to be great as he had his ninth total touchdown of the season and still leads the team with 623 yards receiving. Emeka Egbuka is up to a team-high 43 receptions and also has 546 receiving yards and six touchdowns.

The defense kept the Buckeyes in the game against Nebraska and made enough big plays to win. They held Nebraska to 152 passing yards and no passing touchdowns with one interception. They gave up 121 rushing yards and 3.7 yards per carry, and one rushing touchdown was their only time conceding into the endzone. They made a huge stand inside the five after the offense turned it over, and also sealed the game with an interception by Jordan Hancock. Overall, they’ll need to make big plays again against a solid Penn State offense in a tough environment. It is up in the air on who starts under center for the Nittany Lions, so the defense will need to game plan for both quarterbacks throughout the week.

Jordan Hancock seals the game for Ohio State 🫡 pic.twitter.com/OdygROzyHA

— The Silver Bulletin (@tSilverBulletin) October 26, 2024

Junior linebacker Sonny Styles and fifth-year senior linebacker Cody Simon have led the silver bullets with 43 and 33 tackles. Sophomore safety Caleb Downs will continue to make plays and be a leader, and has 30 tackles this season. The defensive line will need to get more pressure on the quarterback especially this game, but the team does have 20 sacks. JT Tuimoloau leads the team with four, with Ty Hamilton, Jack Sawyer, and Tyleik Williams each with two and a half sacks. Every sack and tackle in general will be that much more important as the Buckeyes look to accumulate some bigger wins on their resume, which starts with this talented Penn State bunch.

 

Penn State Puts Undefeated Record on the Line

Junior quarterback and Ohio native Drew Allar has had a good season and was playing well against Wisconsin before suffering an injury that knocked him out for the rest of the game. Allar has 1,640 passing yards with 12 passing touchdowns and four interceptions, but it is not yet clear on his status for Saturday’s big clash. In his relief, sophomore quarterback Beau Pribula came in and went 11/13 for 98 yards with a passing touchdown and no turnovers in a tough environment. Pribula has seven passing touchdowns and one interception in his two seasons with the Nittany Lions.

Junior running backs Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton form the second-best rushing duo in the Big Ten and will need to be held in check if the Buckeyes want to come out victorious. Allen leads the team with 509 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns, rushing for five yards per carry. Singleton boasts a 6.4 yards per carry average and has 483 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns on the year. Pribula has been able to use his legs and is the third-leading rusher on the team, and has a rushing touchdown of his own.

Senior tight end Tyler Warren has turned into one of the best at the position in the country. He easily has the team-lead in receiving yards, and two games ago against USC posted a statline of 17 receptions, 224 receiving yards, and a touchdown. He followed that up last week with seven catches, and has more than double the receptions of anyone else on the team. Him and Singleton are tied for the team-lead with four receiving touchdowns. Four wide receivers help out the quarterback led by junior Harrison Wallace III who is second on the team in receptions (22), receiving yards (350) and tied for third with two receiving touchdowns. Juniors Liam Clifford and Omari Evans, along with fifth-year senior and Buckeye transfer Julian Fleming, round out the wide receivers and each have 148 receiving yards or more this season.

The Nittany Lions defense has been up-and-down allowing 30 and 27 points to USC and Bowling Green respectively. They’ve also held the other five teams to 13 or less, including just seven points to then-No. 19 ranked Illinois. Safeties Jaylen Reed and Zakee Wheatley lead the team with 44 and 37 tackles respectively and each have at least one interception. Linebackers Kobe King and Tony Rojas both have 30 or more tackles and anchor the defense for Penn State. Defensive end Abdul Carter is one of the best in the country, and will be arguably the biggest problem of the entire game for the Buckeyes. He has 30 total tackles, four sacks and a forced fumble this season. Zane Durant is a defensive tackle who has 18 tackles and two and a half sacks for the defensive line.

 

Something’s Got to Give

Both teams come into the game with some questions and we will get some of those answers Saturday afternoon in State College. From line struggles to injuries, both teams will have plenty of worries heading into this game.

Ohio State has had success against Penn State as of late, and is coming off of a 20-12 win in Columbus last season. The Buckeyes have won 11 of 12 in the series and everyone remembers the JT Tuimoloau masterclass last time these teams played at Beaver Stadium.

This game will come down to what versions of these teams we get, especially Penn State. As of now, the quarterback is undecided, and the defense has either played very well or had lots of areas of concern in every game. If Ohio State is able to run the ball in some capacity to open up the air raid, they should have success in this game. It will come down to the defense to make enough plays against a Penn State offense that may struggle if the momentum is not going their way.

Jeremiah Smith showed against Oregon he is just fine in these environments, and Emeka Egbuka will get a lot of the targets as he and Howard continue to have a great connection. I see Smith continuing his elite play and possibly hitting the 100-yard mark, with Egbuka hauling in seven catches and a touchdown. Henderson and Judkins need to find some big plays like Henderson did last time the scarlet and gray played here, and I think they will find just enough to get it done.

When it all comes down to it, Ohio State has the better roster and their quarterback will be better than an injured Allar or healthy Pribula. Howard has all the added motivation going against a team he used to want to play for, but they didn’t write back. The Buckeyes will get back in their groove, but it won’t be easy, and this game may come down to a few plays in the fourth quarter. However, an ever-so important win for the Buckeyes gives them a great chance to recover and regroup with two easier matchups following. Ohio State owns Penn State, let’s not get it twisted.

Prediction: Ohio State 27 Penn State 17