Ohio State Football: Breaking down the Penn State Nittany Lions
The team Penn State had last year is very different from the one they brought into this season, and the depleted team Ohio State will face is even more so.
Replacing K.J. Hamler, Yetur Gross-Matos, and several other key starters – particularly on defense – would have been a challenge by itself. But since the beginning of the season, the losses have piled up for Penn State.
Game-wrecking linebacker and former Ohio State recruiting target Micah Parsons opted out. Then injuries to running backs Journey Brown (890 rushing yards and 12 TDs in 2019) and Noah Cain (443 yards, 8 TDs) have left Penn State severely undermanned at some key positions and missing two of their best players from 2019.
However, all is not lost for the Nittany Lions, who return several starters on an offense that put up 488 total yards in a 36-35 loss against Indiana on the road in the Big Ten opener. The scoreline reveals their deficiency: the defense. Defensive lineman Shaka Toney and cornerback Lamont Wade are the only ones who stand out.
On offense, quarterback Sean Clifford had a big 2019, throwing for 2,654 yards, 23 TDs, and 7 INTs, while rushing for 402 yards and 5 TDs. In week 1 against the Hoosiers, Clifford was 24/35 for 238 yards and 3 TDs but also threw 2 INTs.
With 119 rushing yards and a TD, stopping the QB run will be vital for the Ohio State defense Saturday night. Running back Devyn Ford did well enough in substitution of Cain, rushing 69 yards and a TD.
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For Ohio State DBs, staying on TE Pat Freiermuth will be key for winning against Penn State. Freiermuth continued where he left off from an excellent 2019 (43 receptions for 507 yards and 7 TDs) with 7 catches for 60 yards and a TD. WR Jahan Dotson added 4 receptions for 94 yards and a TD, while six other Nittany Lions caught passes for just 84 yards and a TD (true freshman Parker Washington).
Stopping the Penn State offense will be the main goal for Ohio State in Happy Valley while scoring against the Penn State defense shouldn’t be too difficult.
Led by Toney and Wade, the Penn State defense did well in terms of total yardage allowed against Indiana (just 211 total yards), but couldn’t get the job done in the red zone, allowing Indiana to score 36 points.
In 2019, Penn State ranked fifth nationally in rushing yards allowed per game (95), but 100th in passing yards allowed (251.5).
Besides Toney and Wade, the Nittany Lions have just two seniors (DT Antonio Shelton and CB Tariq Castro-Fields), and the opt-out of Parsons has left the linebacker unit a little thin.
However, the Nittany Lions’ defense had their hands full because of three turnovers by their offense. So if the offense can minimize turnovers against the Buckeyes, it could be a key for James Franklin’s team.
Special teams were solid in 2019, but three missed field goals (albeit one was 57 yards) against Indiana kept Penn State from winning the game.
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If the Buckeyes offense takes advantage of any Nittany Lions turnovers, the game could get ugly quickly. However, if the Nittany Lions defense doesn’t have their backs against the wall, Saturday night’s primetime battle could be a good match-up, even with all the losses for the Nittany Lions, especially at running back.