Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Kickoff: 8pm
TV: ABC
Ohio State came out this week with a chip on their
shoulder and took it to Michigan
State. Penn
State started their game
playing not to lose and fell behind early. At half time both teams came out with
different attitudes. Penn State
attacked Michigan
on both sides of the ball and played to win while the Buckeyes came out and ran
the clock out for two quarters. Penn State
clearly is on a roll while Ohio
State may have finally
found their groove. Momentum may be with
the Lions but they visit Columbus
this week and the cards are stacked against them despite being favored by two
points. Not only have the Buckeyes
seemingly found a groove but the game is at night, it’s Homecoming for OSU and Penn State
has never won in the ‘Shoe since joining the Big Ten. Penn
State will arguably be
the most balanced team the Buckeyes will face all year and OSU will be the most
talented team the Lions will face in the 2008 regular season. This will be a fantastic game so buckle your
chinstraps for this one.
By Pete Quint
OSU “O”
Call it a groove or a rhythm or whatever but the Buckeye
offense seemed to have it during first half of the Michigan State
game. Some mistakes were made and
assignments blown but overall the offense played very well. The line was aggressive and attacked the
Spartan defense, quarterback Terrelle Pryor keeps getting better and Beanie
Wells played like a Heisman Trophy candidate.
The most important part of the performance was the fact that it looked
like the players were having fun. Somewhere
between the Purdue game and the Michigan
State game the Buckeyes
realized that football was supposed to be fun and it showed on the field. The coaching staff seems to be echoing the
fun factor and mixed things up getting a long completion to wide receiver Brian
Hartline and short passes to the fullback and tight end. The Penn State defense is scary good with
leading tackler Navorro Bowman (71) and sack machine Aaron Maybin (10) leading
the way. They and the rest of the PSU
defense will do everything they can to stop Wells. The Buckeye offensive line is still suspect
and if they don’t get tough up the middle, Beanie won’t have a chance. If the Lions can effectively stop Wells then
the pressure is really turned up on Pryor.
Getting in a few middle and long pass completions early on would do
wonders for the confidence of the young quarterback and the play scheme of the
Buckeye offense.
OSU ”D”
The Buckeye defense stuffed MSU running back Javon Ringer
last week and they will attempt to repeat their efforts against PSU running
back Evan Royster. The dazzling 6-1, 212
lb sophomore is averaging 111.6 yards per game, 7.7 yards per carry and has ten
rushing touchdowns on the season. The
emergence of Royster has everything to do with the improvement at the
quarterback position. Daryll Clark has
reenergized a Penn
State offense that has
been dormant since the Michael Robinson days.
Clark has a big arm and is an effective
scrambler. The Nittany Lion offensive
line has been nothing but outstanding this season. Though undersized by Big Ten standards, the PSU
line is athletic and aggressive. The
offensive line, lead by senior center A.Q. Shipley, has allowed only six sacks
on the season, however Penn State uses a similar blocking scheme to Michigan
State’s which the Buckeyes had tremendous success against. The Buckeye defense played a strong game last
week and will have to equal that performance to keep the Lions in check.
Summary
The intangibles are stacked in favor of the Buckeyes however
the Nittany Lions are favored by two.
Head coach Joe Paterno wants to win one in Ohio Stadium and this might
be the last chance he gets before he retires.
Winner of this one will almost assuredly win the Big Ten. Running the table, Penn State
has as good a shot as anyone to be in the national title game while the
Buckeyes, running the table or not, will need some help to get back there. The Nittany Lions are ready for this game and
will come out looking to put the Buckeyes to bed early. Are the Buckeyes ready? OSU hasn’t won a game of this magnitude since
the 2006 #1 Ohio State
v. #2 Michigan
game. The Bucks can win this game but
their potential to lose the game is just as good. Until the team and the coaching staff prove
it decisively on the field there will still be doubts in the minds of many
Buckeye faithful.
Prediction: OSU 27 –
PSU 17
Why OSU will win:
Play like you did last week and keep it up for all four
quarters. The Homecoming crowd will be
good and lubed up for this one and the team can feed off the intensity of the
fans. Don’t get conservative on this
team unless you have a four touchdown
lead.
Why OSU will lose:
If the team that played OU shows up. Coaches and players alike need to perform
like the Big Ten and national title are on the line because…well…they are. Loser of this game will be out of contention
for both.
Crazy stat or the
game:
-Since joining the Big Ten in 1993, Penn
State has never beaten Ohio State
in Columbus.
-PSU is averaging 45 points per game.
PSU players to watch:
Sophomore RB #22 Evan Royster
Junior QB #17 Daryll Clark
Senior WR #24 Jordan
Norwood
Freshman LB #18 Navorro Bowman
Sophomore DE
#59 Aaron Maybin