Penn State @ Ohio State preview
Ohio Stadium
Last Meeting ( Nov 7, 2009 ) Ohio State 24, Penn State 7
Penn State gave Joe Paterno his 400th win and third straight this season last week in a comeback against Northwestern, seemingly rescuing a season and perhaps a legacy that was on the brink. The next win for the 83-year-old legend won’t be nearly as easy.
Paterno and the Lions travel to Columbus on Saturday for a date with Terrelle Pryor and No. 7 Ohio State, which has aspirations for yet another Big Ten title and BCS bowl game. Ohio State (8-1, 4-1) has won at least a share of the Big Ten title in each of the last five seasons and will be ensured of at least a tie this season with wins over Penn State, Iowa and arch-rival Michigan.
Through nine games, Ohio State ranks first in the Big Ten in scoring offense (42.0), scoring defense (13.6), total defense (234.22), rushing defense (84.0), pass defense (150.22) and pass efficiency defense (94.95). And since dropping a 31-18 decision to Wisconsin, the Buckeyes have beaten Purdue and Minnesota by a total of 101-10.
What might provide a little hope for the rejuvenated Nittany Lions (6-3, 3-2 Big Ten) is that Jim Tressel is just 2-4 after a bye week as a Buckeye, including a 17-10 loss to Penn State in 2005. Ohio State, however, has lost just once in its last 15 November contests.
The Lions are facing a multi-dimensional quarterback for the third week in a row. Michigan’s Denard Robinson had 381 total yards and Northwestern’s Dan Persa gashed the Lions for 194 yards and three touchdowns through the air and on the ground in the first-half onslaught.
Pryor, another Heisman hopeful, ranks second in the Big Ten and fifth nationally in pass efficiency (165.2). He’s completed 67.6 percent of his passes for 1,997 yards and 20 touchdowns against seven picks. He’s added another four scores and 463 yards on the ground. In the last two contests, the junior has completed 34 of 44 passes for 492 yards.
Pryor gets help on the ground from Dan Herron, who has scored at least one touchdown in eight consecutive games. He leads the Buckeyes with 634 yards and 12 touchdowns and ranks third among Big Ten running backs in conference games with 88.4 yards per game. His favorite receiver is Dane Sanzenbacher, who leads the Buckeyes and is second in the Big Ten with eight touchdown receptions. He has 42 catches for 658 yards, an average of 15.7 yards per catch
Pryor will find it easier to operate against this Lions defense than the other two he faced. From 2004-09, the Lions have ranked third in rushing defense (96.99) and scoring defense (15.1) and fifth in total defense (290.3). This edition has yielded 156.4 yards rushing per game, 20.1 points and 346 total yards. One player who has stood out on an otherwise nondescript defense has been linebacker Michael Mauti, who recorded 11 tackles last week and has been able to make a lot of plays in the backfield this season.
Mired in a quarterback controversy the last two weeks, redshirt sophomore Matt McGloin apparently won the job against Northwestern, although the stubborn Paterno refused to confirm he would start.
McGloin replaced an ineffective Rob Bolden after two series and eventually led the Lions to five straight touchdowns and a 35-21 win. Penn State's 28 first downs, 268 rushing yards and 268 passing yards were all single-season highs for the Lions in their biggest home comeback in nine years.
McGloin threw for 225 yards and four touchdowns, completing 14 of his final 18 throws. In approximately nine quarters of play in wins over Minnesota, Michigan and Northwestern, McGloin has led Penn State to 95 points, completing 41 of 70 passes for 551 yards, seven touchdowns and one interception with a passer rating of 154.8.
In the last two weeks, he’s led the Lions to 10 red-zone scores in 11 chances with the other opportunity ending in a kneel down. Prior to the three-week splurge, the Lions had scored just 65 points in their previous five games with Bolden at the helm, and 46 of those came against Temple and Kent State.
Perhaps the emergence of the passing game has opened up lanes for what had been a sluggish running game. All-time Penn State rusher Evan Royster recorded his second consecutive 100-yard game and 15th all-time against the Wildcats and freshman Silas Redd established himself as Royster’s heir apparent, juking and slicing his way to 131 yards on 11 carries.
McGloin, Royster and company will be taking a step up in competition Saturday. In addition to all of its impressive Big Ten rankings, Ohio State ranks third in the NCAA in total defense (234.2 yards per game) and leads the country with an average of 5.88 three-and-outs per game this season. And like Penn State, the Buckeyes ranked in the top five in scoring defense, rushing defense and total defense from 2004-09.
Defensive end Cameron Heyward, who wreaked havoc in the Penn State backfield in last season’s 24-7 Ohio State win — a game in which the Lions registered just nine first downs and 201 yards of total offense — will likely cause all sorts of problems against the inexperienced Lions offensive line.
Ohio State leads the all-time series 13-12, including 8-6 at Columbus and 11-6 since Penn State joined the conference in 1993.