by Photo via Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch
Just three weeks after their stunning road loss to the now No. 1 Oregon, the No. 4 Ohio State football team will leave Columbus once again, this time to face No. 3 Penn State. Happy Valley is one of the toughest places to play in the entire country, and this is perhaps a must-win if the Buckeyes want to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Nittany Lion Head Coach James Franklin has brought his program back to the forefront of college football and has had a consensus top-10 level team for years now, but Ohio State has been a pain in their side for years now, and likely the obstacle that’s stopped them from being in the consistent championship hunt. The last time that Penn State beat the Buckeyes was all the way back in 2016 on the famous blocked field goal that was returned for a touchdown by Grant Haley.
Now, Penn State will have among the best chances they’ll get to repeat that magic. Quarterbacking the Nittany Lions on Saturday will likely be Drew Allar, the former five-star recruit who’s in his second year as the starter. He did leave their win against Wisconsin last week with an injury, but appears likely to play. If he cannot go, sophomore Beau Pribula would get the start.
While Allar was an exceptional recruit and has NFL-level traits, he’s been very inconsistent over the past couple seasons. He threw for 25 touchdowns with just two interceptions a year ago, but also produced some serious duds, most notably in their loss to the Buckeyes last year when he went 18-for-42 with 191 yards and a score. He’s been a bit better this year with his completion percentage, going up almost 12 percent to 71.3, while throwing for 12 touchdowns and four picks. If the Nittany Lions are going to win this game, Allar will have to look like the player he was supposed to be coming out of high school.
In the run game, Penn State has a two-headed monster in Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton, who have 509 and 483 rushing yards, respectively, this year to go along with 12 combined total touchdowns. Both backs are veterans at this point and could go in the upper half of the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft. There’s also a pretty good case to be made that the two are the best running back pairing in the country outside of the Buckeyes’ TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins.
Elsewhere on the offense, tight end Tyler Warren is a must-watch. He leads the team in receiving yards with 559 yards and four touchdowns and his versatility has made him one of the premier tight ends in the sport. So far this season, aside from tight end, he’s lined up in the offensive line, as well as at wide receiver, running back and quarterback. Oh, and he’s recorded both a rushing and passing touchdown this year, too. Also in the receiving core, Buckeye fans might recognize Julian Fleming, who has not had a very large role in his first season in Happy Valley, recording just 10 catches for 148 yards and no touchdowns.
Per usual, Penn State has an incredibly freaky-athletic defensive lineup. They’re led by edge rusher Abdul Carter, who has slid into the Micah Parsons role and now is a candidate to go in the top-10 of the NFL Draft. Fellow edge rusher Dani Dennis-Sutton is also a threat to be a high draft pick, but is questionable to play after an injury last week. Elsewhere, safety Kevin Winston Jr. was supposed to be a centerpiece of the defensive unit, but has been out for weeks with an injury.
On the Ohio State side, it will be crucial for quarterback Will Howard to play mistake-free football. He’s been pretty good so far this season, but is prone to the occasional critical error in judgment, which can’t happen on Saturday. It’ll also be very important to get Henderson and Judkins going again after they’ve been a bit quiet lately. A lot of that rides on the play of the offensive line, which, since losing left tackle Josh Simmons to injury a few weeks ago, has been poor as of late. Now, Simmons’ replacement, Zen Michalski, is doubtful to play this week, meaning another substitute will be needed. The logical and expected move is for Tegra Tshabola to move to left tackle from right guard and Austin Siereveld to step back into the guard spot, but Luke Montgomery saw reps after Michalski’s injury last week at guard with Donovan Jackson moving to tackle. The unit will have to figure it out and fast with the likes of Carter and Dennis-Sutton coming at them on Saturday.
Defensively, the Buckeyes need to keep improving. They reached a low point in the loss to Oregon, but picked it up a bit last week. Head Coach Ryan Day said this week that they’re going to make it a point of emphasis to rotate guys in the defensive line which is supposed to be a strength for the team. The goal is twofold: to keep the starters (Jack Sawyer, J.T. Tuimoloau, Tyleik Williams and Ty Hamilton) fresh while giving guys that have had encouraging flashes such as Caden Curry, Kenyatta Jackson Jr. and Kayden McDonald some reps.
The secondary still needs to figure things out and fast, but the potential return of safety Lathan Ransom should help with that. Caleb Downs has been outstanding this year, but there’s only so much ground he can cover, especially with the inconsistency of the cornerback trio of Denzel Burke, Davison Igbinosun and Jordan Hancock. If, by chance, Ransom does not play, look for Jaylen McClain to step in for him again. Also look for Arvell Reese and C.J. Hicks to get more time alongside the linebacker pairing of Cody Simon and Sonny Styles if the Buckeyes have to switch up their packages to bother Allar and Co. Reese was ejected for targeting in last week’s win over Nebraska, and was supposed to be suspended for the first half of this week’s game, but had the call reversed over the week by the Big 10.
It might be a scary thought to think, but there’s a real chance that this game could determine the outcome of Ohio State’s season. It would be just about impossible for a two-loss team to make the Big 10 Championship and it would also be a tall task to ask that team to somehow sneak into the playoff. Buckeye fans, it’s do or die.
