Over the past two seasons, the Big Ten has hoisted the College Football Playoff National Championship trophy. This was due to veteran coaching, retaining NFL-bound talent, having a quarterback that doesn’t make mistakes and manages the game, a great defense, and a quality-over-quantity approach to the transfer portal. Heading into 2025, it looked like Penn State followed this blueprint and was almost destined to make it a Big Ten three-peat. This year’s Ohio State-Penn State matchup was circled as one of, if not the top, regular-season matchups.
Now, at the end of October, the matchup has lost every bit of hype. The Nittany Lions are spiraling in a free fall. After running through an easy non-conference slate, Penn State fell in double overtime to Oregon. That instant classic isn’t a season-defining loss, as Oregon is a good team. However, the next games cemented this year’s team. The Nittany Lions lost to UCLA. Then Northwestern. Drew Allar was lost to a season-ending injury, and the program got the call from Adidas and fired James Franklin. Then, Penn State lost to Iowa.
While Penn State is now 3-4 and in a nosedive, the Buckeyes are not taking Penn State lightly. Caleb Downs put it nicely: “They have talent like everybody else, and at the beginning of the season they were probably one of the highest ranked teams, but I mean we got to do the same things to prepare every week…There is a fire in us that we are playing Penn State, but no different than any other team.”
Ohio State has won eight in a row and 12 of the last 13, and almost every one has been a battle.
Ohio State Cannot and Will Not Overlook Reeling Penn State
Take Away Only Threat
With Allar’s injury, redshirt freshman Ethan Grunkemeyer took over. Against Iowa, he managed just 98 yards and threw two interceptions. So, Penn State will likely lean on its stud running back tandem of Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton. Despite having down years statistically, Allen and Singleton are a great one-two punch. They returned to win a title, so with Penn State essentially eliminated, they have nothing to lose.
Allen leads the way with 612 yards and nine touchdowns on 98 rushes. Singleton has been the go-to goal-line back with six touchdowns and 274 yards. The Nittany Lions leaned heavily on Allen in the loss to Iowa to take pressure off Grunkemeyer, so he’s coming off a 145-yard, two-touchdown performance.
Matt Patricia’s defense is going to sell out to stop the run and force Grunkemeyer to try and beat them over the top. To put into perspective how rough this Penn State offense is, Iowa outgained the Nittany Lions, 313-266.
The Buckeyes come into this game eighth in the country, allowing just 85.6 yards per game on the ground. Allen can win against good defenses, of course. Iowa’s run defense has allowed 71.1 yards per game against everyone else on its schedule.
This should be a good game for the defensive tackles for Ohio State. Kayden McDonald, Tywone Malone, and Eddrick Houston will work to disrupt the Nittany Lions’ attack and free up Sonny Styles, Arvell Reese, and Payton Pierce to clean it up. If Ohio State can limit Penn State’s ground attack, it should coast to victory.
The Baby Faced Assassin
Fresh off the second bye, Julian Sayin will get a shot to catapult himself into the Heisman conversation. From “Super Sayin” to “Jul-Cool” and “The Baby-Faced Assassin,” Sayin has been amassing a fanbase in Columbus with his pinpoint accuracy and cool demeanor. While he looks like he’s fresh off earning his learner’s permit, Sayin has shown that his ability to quarterback the Buckeyes’ offense is as mature as year two of C.J. Stroud.
Sayin said that he models his play off another former number-10-wearing former Buckeye: Joe Burrow. While Burrow has a few inches on Sayin, there are some similarities in their games. Both can knock the wings off a fly 50 yards away, and both can manipulate the pocket with ease. Obviously, the difference is that Burrow’s breakout season was in his fifth season, leading LSU to the 2019 CFP National Championship. Sayin is three years younger.
Penn State’s secondary held Iowa to 68 yards through the air…but that’s not saying much. For the most part, the Nittany Lions have been great at limiting teams through the air. They have the fifth-best unit to this point, but did allow Oregon to go off for 248 yards and three scores. Nico Iamaleava also had a good day in that first Earth-shattering upset, thanks to a strong run game.
Ohio State’s run game has not been great this year. Or, at the very least, it hasn’t been up to the standard Ohio State expects. The coaches know this and, as a result, Sayin threw it 42 times in the win over Wisconsin.
Will it be more of the same? If the Buckeyes cannot establish the run, it may have to be. It’ll be a test of strength-on-strength, but the Buckeyes have the best weapons the Nittany Lions have faced to date.
Revenge?
It’s well known to this point that Jim Knowles, the Penn State defensive coordinator, bolted from the Buckeyes shortly after the National Championship. Reports surfaced that he wanted to negotiate an extension the week of the CFP National Championship game. While Ohio State was willing to give him a raise, Knowles went closer to home anyway.
Obviously, it was a hot topic this week. Even then, Day and the rest of the captains downplayed it all. They all recognized Knowles’ influence on the title-winning defense and are looking forward to the matchup. Nowhere did anyone mention revenge or getting back at Knowles for leaving for an in-conference rival.
Whether or not they admit it, getting back at Knowles for one reason or another will likely be on the minds of the Buckeyes. Penn State has had some breakdowns this year ala Ohio State’s 2021 issues. His system is notoriously difficult to learn. Expect the Buckeyes to remember those issues and work to take advantage.
How to Watch Ohio State vs. Penn State
Date: Saturday, Nov. 1; Time: 12 p.m. ET
Location: Ohio Stadium
TV: FOX
Main Image: Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images