Ohio State Football 2010: Close Game Between OSU and Penn State

Ohio State will take on Penn State at home tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. EST. This will be the first game for the Buckeyes after their bye week, and the first going into a game with a Top 10 BCS ranking. However, PSU is on a comeback run, which could make this a close game.

Advantages

The Buckeyes have a lot of good things going for them going into this game, which, aside from skill, may give them an advantage over PSU.

The first of these advantages is the fact that this is a home game for the Buckeyes. Looking at the record so far this season, OSU hasn’t lost a single game at home, and has in fact outscored the visiting teams by quite a bit each time.

Another advantage OSU has over PSU is the fact that in all the years the two teams have faced off in Ohio Stadium as part of the Big Ten, PSU has only defeated OSU at home once, which happened in a night game two years ago.

Comparison

Despite these helpful advantages, this game won’t be an easy win for the Buckeyes.

Looking at the records of these two teams so far this season would suggest that OSU is the better of the two in this matchup. OSU has beaten Illinois, a team that PSU has fallen to and overall has a better record season-wise and Big Ten-wise.

However, as of their last three games, the Nittany Lions are on a comeback streak, which gave Coach Joe Paterno his 400th win last Saturday. The Nittany Lions will be coming into Ohio Stadium not only wanting to get Paterno his 401st win, but also repeat their victory from two years ago in Columbus.

This determined attitude coupled with skill will give the Buckeyes some trouble on the field. However, while that may give the Buckeyes trouble, it doesn’t mean that they are in trouble.

The OSU offense in comparison to the PSU offense has had more rushing years, passing yards and touchdowns than PSU. OSU has rushed in total 1,906 yards, passed 2,196 yards and has a total of 22 touchdowns this season. PSU in comparison has rushed a total of 1,346 yards, passed 1,979 yards and has had a total of 11 touchdowns.

With statistics like these it seems that the OSU offense is stronger than the PSU offense this season. With a stronger offense, OSU has the ability to outscore PSU if its players can keep connecting and running the way they have been for the last several games.

OSU may also have the advantage on defense as well. This season the OSU defense has held its opponents to scoring no more than 31 points, but in general usually no more than 20 points per game. PSU on the other hand has allowed their opponents to score 33 points against them in one game and has allowed opponents to score significantly more points than them in several games as well.

While this defensive breakdown doesn’t paint the whole picture, it does give insight into the strength of each team's defense. And based on this insight it seems OSU may be the stronger of the two in this arena.

Prediction

Based on the statistics and how each team has played so far this season, it seems OSU should win this game by 7-10 points.

While PSU may have struggled a little this season, they have shown recently that they are a force to be reckoned with, and will definitely give the Buckeyes a run for their money.

No matter what way this game is looked at, it will be a close one, and the team that brings their A-game will be the team to win.