Ohio State v Penn State Preview

Penn State travels to Ohio State this Saturday to play the 8th ranked Buckeyes in Ohio Stadium. Quarterback Terrelle Pryor still remembers the loss in Columbus two years ago when Penn State upset Ohio State in their own stadium in an otherwise great season. This year is a little different with Ohio State at the top of the conference and Penn State trying to achieve some success as they find the right combinations on offense.

By Steve Patterson

Penn State Head Coach Joe Paterno reached 400 career wins last week against Northwestern and feels better about his team that has now won three in a row. At 6-3 overall and 3-2 in the Big Ten, Penn State hopes to upset Ohio State again this season and move higher in conference rankings. The Buckeyes are coming off a bye week which has historically been a rough game for them under Head Coach Jim Tressel. But if they can win out in November they will have a share of the conference title for the 6th straight year and a chance to play in the Rose Bowl. So both teams are motivated.

Pryor is a different player than the one that lost a fumble late in the 2008 match and enters this game ranked 5th nationally for a quarterback and first in the Big Ten. With 20 touchdowns and a completion percentage of 67.6% some felt that he might be ready to jump to the NFL after his junior season this year. But he made Buckeye fans happy this week when he publicly stated that he would return for his senior season in 2011.

Penn State was hoping to have Pryor on their side of the ball but missed out on the Pennsylvania recruit to Ohio State. They have since have had a hard time finding their next great signal caller and hope Matt McGloin can fill that role. McGloin finally got a start when Rob Bolden was injured against Minnesota earlier this season. He has since been very productive leading the Nittany Lions on their current three game win streak. This week McGloin made some public statements about his recruitment, his need to walk-on at Penn State, and Terrelle Pryor holding up his scholarship with a delayed college selection of Ohio State. Of course any player that is qualified will get their own scholarship offers, but the comments add some fuel to the fire for tomorrow’s game.

Also for Penn State, Evan Royster is back and running well with 734 yards already this year and 4 touchdowns. Derek Moye and Brett Brackett are nice targets for McGloin, each with 4 touchdowns and a combined 1,000 yards. If Penn State is able to get past the Buckeyes they still face Michigan State at the end of the season.