Ohio State Football’s rushing attack should feast vs PSU

Ahead of Ohio State football’s primetime showdown with Penn State this Halloween weekend, there are many potential advantages for the Buckeyes. Ohio State’s rushing attack on offense could be the area that allows them to take over the game early, leading to another dominant victory.

The Bucks are going against the Nittany Lion rush defense that currently ranks 69th in the country allowing over 160 rushing yards per game. Penn State’s rushing defense harshly dropped after being dominated on the line of scrimmage in their embarrassing loss to Illinois. Somehow PSU managed to allow 357 rushing yards to Illinois when the Illini passing attack provided no threat with bad QB play and only 38 passing yards to show for.

At times, Illinois was using formations with seven offensive linemen with two tight ends. Even with the Illini clearly running the ball and Penn State stacking the box, the Lions could not stop the bleeding. On the game, Illinois averaged over five yards per carry with their lead back, Chase Brown, rushing for over 220 yards.

Here are some clips of Brown’s big day versus Penn State.

It was a mess on every front for Penn State’s rushing defense. Illinois’ o-line was bullying them off the snap over and over again, and the Nittany Lions struggled to get backs down quickly with many missed tackles. Something that came as a huge surprise to me was how effectively Illinois was able to run off-tackle with several pulling blockers.

You would think with PSU’s athletic advantage and speed on defense they would stimmy those off-tackle runs. That was far from it all game long. While the Illini’s backs played well, they are not the most explosive or speedy backs, but they ran very hard.

There were countless runs with Illinois backs not being touched until 8-10 yards past the line of scrimmage. Maybe Illinois is still on James Franklin’s mind because of how bad they got punked on the line of scrimmage.

If Penn State’s rushing defense was that bad even though they stacked the box quite a lot, how bad will it be against Ohio State?

How is Penn State going to slow down the Ohio State football team’s rushing game?

There is a lot of NFL talent on Penn State’s defense, so they are certainly capable of playing much better. The area where I’m not sure how they get much better in only a week is getting dominated on the line.

Illinois’ offensive line was good and put forth a tremendous effort in the upset, but they do not stack up to OSU’s o-line. The offensive line in Columbus this season could be the best in all of college football, at bare minimum it is top three. It will be a major disappointment if the Ohio State o-line cannot get a good push in the run game.

As mentioned, Illinois used a lot of pulling blockers to run off tackle to the short side of the field. This worked more times than not with Illini tailbacks running freely. Without a doubt, the Scarlet and Gray have a much more athletic line compared to Illinois. Ohio State’s pulling blockers on off-tackle runs could be even more effective versus Penn State.

Now let’s address the elephant in the room, does Illinois have TreVeyon Henderson? No, hardly anyone has a back as impressive as the star freshman. So if Penn State struggled with solid Illinois backs, what happens when they have to chase Henderson?

Henderson is a completely different ball game compared to what Penn State played last week.

Once again comparing the Ohio State football team and Illinois’ rushing attacks, the Buckeyes average 6.2 yards per carry versus the Illini’s 4.5. The effort from Penn State should be better this weekend since they typically play the Buckeyes tough. If they don’t, Franklin really could be on his way out.

Even if the Big East foe puts up a good fight, I still have no idea how Ohio State’s rushing attack is merely halted with Henderson and this o-line. Don’t forget Miyan Williams either, he had himself a good game against Indiana. Williams alone would give Penn State fits running behind this line, but Henderson as well makes it nearly impossible to stop.

In addition, PSU was able to stack the box frequently against Illinois since they utterly cannot pass the ball. Ohio State has one of, if not the most, explosive passing attacks in the nation. The Nittany Lions have to account for everything on defense, making the Bucks rushing attack even more troublesome.

If OSU gets some of the room Illinois did last week in the run game, Henderson is taking a big one to the house with his special vision and burst. The fact Saturday night could get messy with more rain coming, running the ball could end up being a huge key.

Ohio State football can win this matchup with ease and in dominating fashion if the run game operates as it should.