Game 7: Ohio State v Penn State

GAME 7       OHIO STATE v PENN STATE

October 22, 2016                                Beaver Stadium                      State College, PA

Penn State Nittany Lions

Location: State College, PA

Stadium: Beaver Stadium (106,572)

Coach: James Franklin (3^rd year): 18-14 at PSU/42-29 overall, 8-12 v B1G, 0-2 v OSU

Series: OSU 17, PSU 13

Last Meeting: 10/17/2015: OSU 38, Penn State 10

Last Penn State win: 11/22/2011: Penn State 20, OSU 14

Coach Meyer (5^th year): 56-4 at OSU/160-27 overall, 5-0 v PSU

2015 Ohio State Buckeyes (12-1)(7-1)                      2015 Penn State Nittany Lions (7-6)(4-4)

42        at Virginia Tech          24                                10        at Temple                    27

38        Hawaii                           0                                27        Buffalo                       14

20        Northern Illinois          13                                28        Rutgers                         3

38        Western Michigan      12                                37        San Diego State           21

34        at Indiana                    27                                20        Army                           14

49        Maryland                    28                                29        Indiana                          7

38        Penn State                   10                                10        at Ohio State                38

49        at Rutgers                     7                                31        Maryland                      30

28        Minnesota                   14                                39        Illinois                            0

28        at Illinois                       3                                21        at Northwestern           23

14        Michigan State            17                                16        Michigan                     28

42        at Michigan                 13                                16        at Michigan State        55

44        Notre Dame                28                                17        Georgia                        24

            (Fiesta Bowl)                                                               (Gator Bowl)

2016 Ohio State Buckeyes (6-0)(3-0)                                    2016 Penn State Nittany Lions (4-2)(2-1)

77        Bowling Green              10                                33        Kent State                  13

48        Tulsa                                3                                39        at Pittsburgh               42

45        at Oklahoma                  24                                34        Temple                        27

S24                                                                                10        at Michigan                 49

58        Rutgers                          0                                  29        Minnesota                   26 (OT)

38        Indiana                         17                                 38        Maryland                    14

30        at Wisconsin                23 (OT)

O22     at Penn State                                                               Ohio State

O29     Northwestern                                                              at Purdue                   

N5        Nebraska                                                                     Iowa

N12      at Maryland                                                                at Indiana

N19      at Michigan State                                                       at Rutgers

N26      Michigan                                                                     Michigan State

The Buckeyes, fresh off a comeback win at Wisconsin in overtime, travel to Happy Valley to take on an up-and-down Penn State team.  It is a team that had their defense shredded by the likes of Pittsburgh and Michigan and came back to have a dominate performance against a decent Maryland team two weeks ago.

OHIO STATE OFFENSE v PENN STATE DEFENSE: Penn State’s defense is coming off a dominate performance against Maryland in which they held the Terps to a mere 11 first downs, 270 yards of offense, and 100 yards through the air.  It is a defense that has allowed just 65 points after halftime which points to good halftime adjustments by the coaching staff.  Senior Evan Schwan and junior Garrett Sickles are the book ends on a very good defensive line.  Schwan comes in with 11 tackles and a pair of sacks, while Sickles has managed 16 tackles. 3.5 TFLs and 2.5 sacks.  The Lions have always been strong in the interior defensive line and this year is no exception.  Curtis Cothran and Parker Cothran, both juniors, are relatively new to their positions, but have stepped up.  Curtis moved from DT to DE during the preseason and has 19 tackles for his career.  Parker has been a mainstay on the defensive line all season, as evidenced by his 39 stops, 6.5 tackles for loss, and two sacks.  The Lions have a few young, exciting players at “Linebacker U”, led by junior MLB Brandon Smith.  A first-time starter in 2016, he is coming off a 14 tackle effort against Maryland, good enough to earn the B1G Defensive Player of the Week.  Sophomore Manny Bowen and true freshman Cam Brown will man the OLB positions.  Since earning the starting role for the Pittsburgh game, Bowen has turned in good performances, totaling 28 tackles, five tackles for loss, and a sack.  He has also been active on covering the backs out of the backfield and the short passing routes as well.  Brown has been a quick learner at his position as he notched ten tackles against Michigan and nine against Minnesota.  The Penn State secondary is led by junior FS Marcus Allen, a legitimate All-B1G performer.  Allen leads the team in tackles with 57 and his 22 tackles against Minnesota were the most by a Penn State player since 2005 and are the most by anybody in the B1G in a game since 2011.  Senior Malik Golden comes in with 35 tackles and three PBU and had 11 stops against Michigan.  Sophomore John Reid and junior Grant Haley will be at the corners.  Reid has contributed 22 tackles, a fumble recovery, and an interception and is coming off his best game against Maryland with five stops, two pass breakups and a tackle for loss.  Haley didn’t play in Penn State’s first two games, but has played well since, with nine tackles, including seven in the overtime win against Minnesota.

Penn State’s defense will try to take a page from the game plan Wisconsin had a week ago.  J.T. Barrett was still a little shaky on his deep throws and Penn State has a front seven that can put pressure on Barrett on passing downs.  But, the last two years, Barrett has shredded the Lions’ defense with his legs, running for two touchdowns in 2014 and running for 102 yards and two more scores in 2015.  The Lions have more to worry about than Barrett, as they will also have to worry about Mike Weber, who has (don’t look now) managed over 600 yards this season and dual-threat Curtis Samuel who has managed 29 catches and can play the RB and receiver positions with equal skill. 

                                             LB Brandon Smith

 

OHIO STATE DEFENSE v PENN STATE OFFENSE: The Buckeyes allowed 236 rushing yards in their 30-23 come-from-behind overtime win at Wisconsin, by far the most the defense gave up through its first six games. The only other time in 2016 an opponent rushed for more than 100 yards on Ohio State came in Week 3, when Oklahoma picked up 177.  Ohio State’s defense faces another high-powered running back in sophomore Saquon Barkley, who shredded the Buckeyes for 194 yards last year and has 582 yards and eight touchdowns so far his year.  He is tied with the conference lead in rushing touchdowns with Iowa’s Akrum Wadley.  Barkley is not the only skill player Ohio State’s defense will have to contain; the Lions also feature wide receivers DeAndre Thompkins, Chris Godwin and DaeSean Hamilton, who all  have at least 18 receptions this season, while tight end Mike Gesicki has 23 and two touchdowns.  These skilled players have helped the development of sophomore QB Trace McSorley, who became just the third Penn State quarterback to register more than 400 total yards in a game when he logged 408 in their win over Minnesota October 1.  McSorley also has thrown at least one touchdown pass in seven consecutive games and is third in the conference in passing yards per game (239.3).  The PSU coaching staff believes the offensive line, which was a weak spot last year, is turning the corner.  It’s still a relatively young offensive line with two freshmen, RG Connor McGovern and LG Ryan Bates, but senior center Brian Gaia has been outstanding as the anchor of the improving offensive line play, as well as senior LT Paris Palmer and junior RT Brendan Mahon.  

                                            RB Saquaon Barkley

SPECIAL TEAMS: Junior Tyler Davis has been an outstanding kicker thus far, hitting on all ten of his field goal attempts with a long of 40 yards.  He has hit on 18 consecutive field goal attempts going back to last season.  Freshman Blake Gillikin has averaged 42.3 yards per punt with a long of 69. 

SUMMARY: The key to this game may very well rest with Penn State’s receivers.  Can they, and tight end Mike Gesicki make enough plays down the field.  The Buckeyes will likely stack the line of scrimmage on most downs to try to contain Barkley, so the burden will fall on McSorley and his receivers.  They have not been shy about testing defenses deep and the Ohio State secondary seems to thrive on that challenge.  The Penn State defense will have to find a way to contain Barrett’s running and try to force Barrett to beat them through the air, hoping he still has trouble hitting the deep routes as he has had the past two games. 

Penn State will have a few wrinkles on both sides of the ball and will keep things close for a while before Ohio State’s talent and speed finally overwhelms them.

                                        OHIO STATE 35, PENN STATE 17