The reason why Ohio State football vs. Penn State is a big recruiting weekend

The Ohio State football team is taking on Penn State this weekend. Not only is it a battle of rivals, but it’s also a battle of two of the best teams in the Big Ten. Penn State has already lost to Michigan, betting blown out two weeks ago. They are trying to save their season by beating the Buckeyes.

Besides the obvious CFP ramifications, Ohio State taking on the Nittany Lions is a big deal for another reason. It’s a big weekend for recruiting, defensive recruiting in particular. That’s because this is the best offense that the Buckeyes have faced all year long.

Jim Knowles has done masterful work with the defense so far this season. He has them in the top five in yards per game, passing yards per game, and points. They are also eighth in rush yards per game. Quite simply put, the defense has been awesome. But has that been because of weak competition?

The Ohio State football team gets to prove how good their defense is this weekend.

If Knowles’ unit shuts down this Penn State offense too, then there will be no debate. The defense is officially fixed and defensive recruits will come running to play for Knowles. Part of the reason why their 2023 class is still not finished is because defensive recruits wanted to wait and see how good the unit really is under Knowles.

This could be the week when the dam breaks. Ohio State is still trying to land three top defensive end recruits. A good performance at Penn State in a hostile environment would make it hard for any of those recruits to turn their backs on the Buckeyes.

I think the defense can play well. They have a lot of confidence coming off a week where they forced six turnovers. Every week they play, they get more comfortable in Knowles’ system. He hasn’t even deployed the full arsenal of what the team knows yet either.

I can’t wait to see how well this defense plays, specifically in the first half. That will tell us a lot about not only how good this defense is, but how good this team really is. They could show everyone that they are the best team in the country.