Ohio State football vs. Penn State: Three players to watch
By Ryan Stano
![Oct 22, 2022; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Emeka Egbuka (2) celebrates the touchdown with wide receiver Julian Fleming (4) during the third quarter against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Ohio Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports Oct 22, 2022; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Emeka Egbuka (2) celebrates the touchdown with wide receiver Julian Fleming (4) during the third quarter against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Ohio Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/642858a903633bbd5b167f602e742225acecb4b0c6a30a847727b2a2fbf0d3ef.jpg)
The Ohio State football team has dominated the competition they’ve faced so far. No game has been a single-digit ball game. They haven’t played good competition quite frankly. That changes on Saturday when the Buckeyes travel to Happy Valley to take on Penn State.
Penn State has a top-40 offense and a top-20 defense. They are ranked 13th in the country, but there are questions about how good they really are too. The best team they played was two weeks ago when they got blown out by TTUN. Last week against Minnesota was their best win.
There are three players that I’m watching in this game. Normally, I just name Ohio State football players. This week, I’m going to start with a Penn State player because I’m fascinated with how they are going to move him around and decide who he’ll cover.
1. Joey Porter Jr. is the best DB the Ohio State football team has faced
Ohio State has been able to throw the ball all over the field against everyone they’ve played so far this year. That’s because they have so many weapons that teams can’t possibly cover them all. That’s still going to be true this weekend, but the Nittany Lions have at least one good corner.
That corner is Joey Porter Jr. While he doesn’t have an interception yet this year, he has a whopping 11 passes defended. He does a good job of making sure that the receiver he is covering doesn’t catch the ball if it’s thrown his way. He’s their best corner by a mile.
Who the Nittany Lions decide to put him on will be very interesting to me. My guess is that he’ll most likely be on Marvin Harrison Jr. for most of the game, but he could switch on to Jaxon Smith-Njigba or someone else if they keep torching the rest of the DBs.
In the end, it won’t really matter who he’s on. C.J. Stroud will likely just opt to throw the ball to one of the other 5,000 weapons he has on this offense. The rest of the Penn State defensive backs aren’t slouches, but they aren’t on Porter Jr.’s level.
The next player that I am watching in this game is a Buckeye that had perhaps the best game of his career against Iowa.