Ohio State Football: Weather could work in Buckeyes’ favor
By David Wysong
The Ohio State football team looks to get a huge win over Penn State on Saturday and from the looks of it, the weather could play in the Buckeyes’ favor.
On Saturday, the Ohio State football team will host Penn State in a huge Big Ten battle with major implications not only in the Big Ten East Division Title race but also in the College Football Playoff race. While the Buckeyes have the talent advantage between these two teams, the weather might also give them an advantage.
Yesterday, the forecast for Saturday, according to AccuWeather, said that there was a 75 percent chance of rain from 1 p.m. through 3 p.m. – that entire time frame is during the game – today it says there is about a 50 percent chance during that time frame.
So, if it does rain, how does it give Ohio State an advantage?
Well, rain makes the ball more slippery which in turn makes it harder for quarterbacks to throw. Yes, Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields might not be able to throw as much and the Buckeye offense is so lethal because of Fields’ ability to throw, but him throwing less is still not the end of the world.
Ohio State has one of the best running backs in the country in J.K. Dobbins who has 1,289 rushing yards this season, and they have a guy who would start on almost any other team in the country behind him in Master Teague who has 744 rushing yards. Oh, and Fields has run for 377 yards himself. Their running game is unstoppable.
Penn State, on the other hand, has just one pretty good running back in Journey Brown but he has less rushing yards than both Dobbins and Teague as he has 521 rushing yards on the year.
The Nittany Lions like to throw the ball to their best player on offense in wide receiver K.J. Hamler who has 791 receiving yards on the season. Even if he can play on Saturday – he got banged up last week against Indiana – he still might not be able to get the ball that much if quarterback Sean Clifford can’t throw with the ball being slippery.
Clifford has had success running the ball as he has 374 rushing yards this year, combined with his 2,450 yards passing. However, let’s just be honest – the Buckeyes have just had a lot more overall success running the ball than the Nittany Lions.
Next. 5 predictions for Penn State game. dark
I hope it is not rainy, not only because I will be at the game but because I don’t want to see a team handicapped. If it does rain though, Ohio State will be in good shape on Saturday.