Ohio State vs. Penn State: TV Info, Live Stream and Preview for Big Ten Showdown
The Ohio State football team has a golden opportunity to make a loud statement on Saturday night. The only question is whether the College Football Playoff selection committee will be listening.
The Buckeyes hit the road to take on Big Ten foe Penn State in front of as raucous of a crowd as you can find in college football and a prime-time audience on national television. As for the Nittany Lions, they have a chance to turn their season around with an upset after losing two straight to Northwestern and a struggling Michigan team.
Penn State probably also wants some revenge from last year’s embarrassing 63-14 loss in Ohio Stadium.
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Here is a look at all the essential information for the Big Ten showdown as well as a preview.
Date: Saturday, Oct. 25
Time: 8 p.m. ET
Place: Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania
TV: ABC
Live Stream: Watch ESPN
Preview
Ohio State looks like a completely different team since its stunning loss to Virginia Tech back in early September, but it will be challenged by a stout Penn State defense.
The Nittany Lions have the nation’s top run defense, which is allowing a measly 60.8 yards per game, and the sixth-best scoring defense at 15.2 points a game. However, Penn State has done its defensive damage against less-than-stellar competition and is now facing an Ohio State team that is rolling, as Adam Rittenberg of ESPN and Paul Myerberg of USA Today pointed out:
Ohio State is fresh off a game that saw it rack up an astonishing 324 rushing yards against Rutgers behind J.T. Barrett, Ezekiel Elliott and an array of other playmakers. It also tallied 269 yards on the ground against Maryland, 380 against Cincinnati and 284 against Kent State.
It’s safe to say something has to give between the Buckeyes’ rushing attack and Penn State’s stout run defense.
It’s not just the Ohio State rushing attack, though, that is steering an offense that just set a program record with four straight games of 50 or more points. The Buckeyes are fourth in the nation in scoring offense at 46.5 points a game, and Barrett is picking up some Heisman momentum with his arm and legs.
In the last four games, Barrett has 1,170 passing yards, 17 passing touchdowns, one interception, a 68.3 completion percentage, 263 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns. Eleven Warriors noted that his raw statistics look awfully similar to Jameis Winston’s from his Heisman season in 2013:
Many people wrote Ohio State off when Braxton Miller went down with an injury before the season started, and this is a chance for Barrett to prove in front of a national audience that there is a new star quarterback leading the way for the scarlet and gray. The defending Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week could also butt his way into the Heisman discussion with an impressive performance.
Barrett’s counterpart in this matchup is the key to Penn State’s entire offense.
Quarterback Christian Hackenberg is third in the Big Ten with 1,637 passing yards, but he only has five touchdown passes to go with his seven interceptions. From a talent standpoint, Hackenberg is likely a future NFL quarterback, and he can put some points on the board quickly, especially at home, if the Buckeyes take this matchup lightly.
One of the men in charge of stopping that Penn State offense is Ohio State defensive line coach Larry Johnson. His presence on the sidelines is an interesting twist because he coached at Penn State for 18 years before joining Urban Meyer’s staff.
Johnson discussed the upcoming game, via Tim May of The Columbus Dispatch: "It will be different…You spend 18 years at one place, a long time, then you walk back in there, different sideline. But I’m looking forward to going back. I’m looking forward to going back with Ohio State University. I’m looking forward to going back and being excited to play in the stadium."
That Ohio State defense has 12 sacks, 23 tackles for loss and eight interceptions during a four-game winning streak. The Buckeyes are also in the top 25 nationally in scoring defense, passing yards allowed and first downs allowed.
To make matters worse from Penn State’s perspective, the Nittany Lions have a whopping 19 combined points the last two games. Scoring 19 points would be a productive quarter for the Buckeyes the way their offense has been rolling lately.
On paper, this really should not be that close. The one challenge for Ohio State will be the overall atmosphere, which should be electric under the lights. However, the Buckeyes can put a quick end to the noise level if they jump out to an early lead, and that is likely exactly what Meyer wants to do.
The Penn State offense is an abysmal 111th in the country in points per game (21.2) and doesn’t have the firepower to keep up with Ohio State. The red-hot Buckeyes offense and potentially underrated defense will simply overwhelm the Nittany Lions from a talent perspective.
This one will not be competitive into the final quarter.
Prediction: Ohio State 41, Penn State 14
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