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Game 5: Ohio State, Beaver Stadium, 7:30pm (ABC)

This is great. The new Ohio State fiction, joining pee balloons, arm punts, etc. is "Penn State plays their starters the whole game that's why their stats are so good."


Was much more worried about TCU. OSU beats Penn State by at least two scores. This one won't be close...(m)


By Couch Burner on 07:24:55 09/25/18

Penn State stats grossly inflated by keeping their starters late into games -- nearly lost the App State game, struggle through three quarters with Illinois and even the Pitt game poured it on late. I just don't see OSU talent fading in the second half to allow that.

Also, don't see the same kind of speed on that team. TCU had a lot more team speed. Penn State has a few guys -- but, Ohio State can match them with faster guys.

Biggest worry is the LB and S. But, expect a much tighter rotation. Expect only 2 safeties to play majority of the game and at most 4 linebackers. I would also expect this tighter group to have gotten the majority of reps this week.

Haskins and the WR and Dobbins will be too much for Penn State. This is the best offense OSU has had since 2005-2006. I don't see this being close at all.
 
This is great. The new Ohio State fiction, joining pee balloons, arm punts, etc. is "Penn State plays their starters the whole game that's why their stats are so good."


Was much more worried about TCU. OSU beats Penn State by at least two scores. This one won't be close...(m)


By Couch Burner on 07:24:55 09/25/18

Penn State stats grossly inflated by keeping their starters late into games -- nearly lost the App State game, struggle through three quarters with Illinois and even the Pitt game poured it on late. I just don't see OSU talent fading in the second half to allow that.

Also, don't see the same kind of speed on that team. TCU had a lot more team speed. Penn State has a few guys -- but, Ohio State can match them with faster guys.

Biggest worry is the LB and S. But, expect a much tighter rotation. Expect only 2 safeties to play majority of the game and at most 4 linebackers. I would also expect this tighter group to have gotten the majority of reps this week.

Haskins and the WR and Dobbins will be too much for Penn State. This is the best offense OSU has had since 2005-2006. I don't see this being close at all.


TCU didn't look so fast last weekend to be honest....and PSU plays it's 2nd team defense early and often. I honestly think only an idiot would expect a blowout either way this weekend...minus turnovers it's just not going to happen.
 
Every Tuesday the Big Ten holds its weekly coaches teleconference, and this week Penn State’s James Franklin and Ohio State’s Urban Meyer took their requisite eight minutes to preview their upcoming game against each other this week. Meyer went second and answered a series of questions about his team and the challenges that Penn State will present. Here are the highlights.

+ Give Penn State credit because RB Miles Sanders has stepped right in and been outstanding, but it’s the quarterback that gets everything going.

+ The Penn State offensive line is one of the better OLs that the Buckeye defensive coaches have seen.


+ The Whiteout is always a difficult environment. “We’ve had great games with Penn State over the years.”

+ PSU defense has a bunch of new starters, but they are very good and active. Schematically they are what they’ve always been. They can rush both sides and the entire defense understands their scheme very well. The new starters look like old starters.

+ The running game has to keep the offense on schedule. PSU’s defense takes great pride in getting the offense off schedule.

+ Asked about the College Football Playoff decision making process, Meyer said that question is out of right field and hasn’t thought about it because he’s busy coaching football. There are no issues keeping his players from thinking about the playoffs either.

+ Asked what he is most pleased with and what needs to improve most this weekend, Meyer said they can’t give up big plays this week. This is a big-play offense, so it will be tough. What he is most pleased with is that they have survived a couple of injuries and came back from Texas with a win.

+ Dwayne Haskins hasn’t necessarily exceeded expectations because they had high expectations. He has done a great job of managing the offense.

+ Tuf Borland is “playing good.” He is full go now and is no longer limited. “He’s tough as steel.”

+ Trace McSorley has always impressed Meyer with his competitive spirit. He’s a great player.

+ Meyer asked the defensive coaches if there have been any major changes with Penn State’s new offensive coordinators and he was told it’s very similar in terms of aggression and play calling.
 
The guys from Secfans (a talk show) did a review of the game this coming weekend. It's long...

 
Any appetite at all for wearing our Dress Whites for a White Out? #newtradition?

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SBNation
Ohio State-Penn State is making its case as the Big Ten’s highest-quality rivalry

Meanwhile, the last two years, Penn State and Ohio State have a) been the Big Ten’s best teams and b) played its best games.
Their 2016 meeting in Happy Valley was an inflection point on Penn State’s road back to being an elite program. The Nittany Lions won 24-21 on a blocked field goal touchdown runback started by Marcus Allen, and they held on to win the East on a tiebreaker.

pennstt.0.jpg

After that season, the NCAA passed a rule that made it illegal to block a kick by charging forward at the line and jumping, as PSU’s Marcus Allen had done to beat the Buckeyes. That made that game the last huge one ever to end quite like that.

The 2017 meeting in Columbus was just as good. That was a 39-38 Buckeyes win after they trailed from the opening kickoff (a Saquon Barkley 97-yard return) until 1:48 remained and J.T. Barrett found Marcus Baugh for the go-ahead, game-winning TD.

The ‘16 game finished No. 24 on Bill Connelly’s list of the top 100 games that year. The ‘17 game finished No. 4. No matchup treated us to a better pair of games those years.

The quality of play in this series is as good right now as you’ll find anywhere, and the stakes here are as high as they can get in Week 5.
Ohio State enters ranked No. 2 in S&P+. Penn State enters at No. 6. Our most recent bowl projections have both OSU and PSU in the Playoff, and it’s not that hard to envision. The loser of this game could well go on to lose just one game all season, and if that happens and the winner goes on to win the league, it’s in play.

Whoever wins has an obvious inside track to the Big Ten title game, where it’ll likely play a reduced version of Wisconsin. The loser will need help for a Playoff bid.

So this’ll make three years in a row that the teams play a regular-season game that could hardly be more critical.
 
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