ESPN College GameDay 2017: TV Schedule and Predictions for Week 9 Location

The ESPN College GameDay crew had one of its easiest decisions on the year in Week 9 by sticking in Big Ten territory for the heavyweight bout between the No. 2 Penn State Nittany Lions and the No. 6 Ohio State Buckeyes.

Those Nittany Lions were the hosts of Week 8's broadcast during a whiteout against then-No. 19 Michigan, a 42-13 dismissal of the Wolverines ahead of Saturday's encounter.

Urban Meyer's Buckeyes aren't exactly strangers to this spotlight, either. This is the third Ohio State game the crew will cover this year after a special Thursday edition to start the season, a 49-21 win against Indiana. It's also the second time the Buckeyes will host the show, the first a 31-16 loss to then-No. 5 Oklahoma.

Here's a look at everything to know about a much-needed visit to Columbus.

College GameDay Week 9 Info

Date: Saturday, October 28

Time (ET): 9 a.m. to noon; game is at 3:30 p.m.

Location: Ohio Stadium

Watch: ESPN, Game on Fox

Live Stream: Fox Sports Go

Preview

Nati Harnik/Associated Press

This game has a little bit of something for everyone.

The eventual winner has an opening to the conference title game and a shot at the College Football Playoff. There's also a bit of a revenge-game narrative here for the Buckeyes considering the Nittany Lions knocked them off while they were riding high a year ago.

For Meyer and his Buckeyes to get vengeance in a game that might be more important than the annual date with Michigan, it comes down to containing Penn State standout Saquon Barkley.

Barkley leads the country in all-purpose yards and sits on 757 rushing yards and eight scores, which translates to a 6.5 per-carry average. To say the running back is a big-play threat would be an understatement, but let's have Pro Football Focus illustrate the point:

Rest assured the Buckeyes understand the threat Barkley presents—road game or not.

"No question, he's the best all-purpose guy we've probably faced in probably, maybe my career," Meyer said, according to Stats LLC (via ESPN.com). "He's obviously a great running back. But they do a good job using him and creating matchup issues."

Defensively, Ohio State hasn't been tested since the aforementioned loss to Oklahoma, though the big problem came via quarterback Baker Mayfield.

On paper, the Buckeyes will counter with an explosive offense that has rattled off 54 or more points in each of its past four wins, a streak that also happens to feature the opposition failing to score more than 21 points. 

Quarterback J.T. Barrett has hushed critics, throwing for 21 touchdowns and one interception on the season, while J.K. Dobbins hasn't had any problems assuming lead-back status considering he's averaging 7.8 yards per carry on the way to 775 yards and five scores.

Clearly, fans can expect some offensive fireworks to highlight the gameweek's slate, as both offenses average at least 463 offensive yards per game. This has the feel of a game wherein the last team to hold the ball wins between two evenly matched programs.

Prediction

It's hard to pick against a player like Barkley.

A year ago, he ran for 99 yards on just 12 carries while Penn State took down then-No. 2 Ohio State 24-21. Therefore, he gashed the Buckeyes for 8.3 yards on limited chances even though Ohio State held the ball for 37:19.

Maybe the bigger point of separation here when making a pick leans on the fact Penn State is the nation's stingiest defense, limiting opponents to 9.6 points on average. The Buckeyes are explosive and will put the unit to the test, but even a year ago, Barrett could only put up a 28-of-43 effort for 245 yards and a touchdown while the ground game averaged 4.2 yards per carry.

Point being, Penn State easily has the avenue to a game flow-controlling approach and Barrett and Ohio State is due for a regression after playing a soft schedule. Look for it to show as Barkley makes fans around the globe start thinking about the upcoming NFL draft.

Prediction: Penn State 27, Ohio State 24

Stats and information via ESPN.com unless otherwise specified.