by The offense put the pedal to the metal against Nebraska and the Buckeyes will look to do more of the same on Saturday. Penn State’s defense is better than Nebraska’s but there are a ton of weapons to try and contain.
Coming off of a nearly perfect game, Justin Fields looks sharper, stronger, quicker and better than last season. That’s saying something because Fields was great last season and finished third in the Heisman voting.
Penn State will look to slow down Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson who combined for 13 catches, 233 yards and one touchdown last week. This could open up opportunities for speedster Jameson Williams and superstar freshmen Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Julian Fleming.
The only concern is if Master Teague and Trey Sermon can get the ground game going. The two running back are extremely different runners than the man being replaced in J.K. Dobbins. Against Nebraska, running the ball was not nearly as explosive as last season. That being said, Teague was solid in the red zone.
The defense was torn to shreds on the opening Cornhusker drive. That changed quickly and the silver bullets stepped up. Haskell Garrett asserted himself as a dominant defensive tackle and the defensive ends played well.
Despite tackling well, Cooper, Smith, Friday, Harrison and Jean Baptiste did not generate as much pressure as fans or coaches would have liked. They will continue to improve as a unit, and I would expect some more linebacker blitzes coming soon with Baron Browning off the edge.
Nebraska was so focused on running that the secondary was not tested. We will learn a lot more about that group this weekend. Due to a lack of running back depth, Clifford will probably drop back and pass around 30-40 times. Shaun Wade, Sevyn Banks, Marcus Williamson, Marcus Hooker and Josh Proctor will be busy.
