Penn State vs Ohio State Prediction, Game Preview
Penn State vs Ohio State prediction, game preview, how to watch: Saturday, October 30
Penn State vs Ohio State How To Watch
Date: Saturday, October 30
Game Time: 7:30 ET
Venue: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, OH
How To Watch: ABC
Record: Penn State (5-2), Ohio State (6-1)
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Penn State vs Ohio State Game Preview
Why Penn State Will Win
The defense has done enough to be unbeaten … to a point.
Yeah, Illinois hammered away for 357 rushing yards in last week’s win, but 1) there were just 38 passing yards allowed, and 2) how many times and ways did you want the Nittany Lion D to stop the overtime chances?
The defense gave up just 305 yards in the loss to Iowa, it allowed fewer than 300 yards in three of the four games before that, and it has the secondary, the ability to take the ball away, and the pressure to be a bother against the Buckeye offensive machine.
Ohio State might be putting up yards by the bucketload, but Tulsa, Akron, Rutgers, Maryland, Indiana. Oooooooooooooh, CJ Stroud and company weren’t exactly dealing with the 2000 Baltimore Ravens.
Of course, the O put up over 600 yards against Oregon in desperation comeback mode, but the Ducks were missing a few key parts, Ohio State lost, and Penn State’s defense is better.
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Why Ohio State Will Win
Maybe the stats are a wee bit overblown because of the mediocre competition over the last five games, but if you’re No. 1 in the nation in total offense, you’re doing something right.
Let’s just cut to the chase here. TreVeyon Henderson might be the best running back in college football – he just hasn’t been used enough yet as a workhorse on a big stage. That might change on Saturday night.
WRs Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave are going to be in your NFL fantasy drafts for the next decade or so, and helped by the relatively light schedule and all the talent around him, CJ Stroud has the reps logged in to get up to speed.
And then there’s the Penn State offense.
Starting quarterback Sean Clifford got banged up against Iowa and it showed, with the offense only coming up with 287 yards in the loss. Clifford was back last week against Illinois, and the O only came up with 227 yards in the loss.
After a rocky start, the Ohio State defense has become fantastic against the run. It allowed over 200 yards in the first two games – and over 30 points in each- and it gave up just over 76 rushing yards once in the five games since.
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What’s Going To Happen
Allow me to reintroduce myself …
If it feels like a long, long time since you’ve seen Ohio State play – and unless you’re a Buckeye fan, there’s been no reason to tune in to the soft schedule since the loss to Oregon – you might not recognize it.
It’s not that it’s a different team since it opened up struggling against Minnesota and Oregon, but it’s playing like it needed a few games to work out the timing and the kinks, and now it’s all good.
Penn State is still a talented team, but it’s a mess on offense and the defense isn’t going to make up for it.
It’s been able to get by so far against a slew of offensively-challenged opponents – with some due respect to Auburn – but now it’s about to deal with a Buckeye team looking to make one giants statement a few days before the first set of College Football Playoff rankings come out.
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Penn State vs Ohio State Prediction, Lines
Ohio State 38, Penn State 20
Line: Ohio State -18.5, o/u: 60.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 2.5
Must See Rating: 4.5
5: The French Dispatch
1: Finch
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