Ohio State Football: 3 bold predictions vs. Penn State in Week 9
By Shawn Ekwall
Ohio State football will host Penn State in a Big Ten matchup with serious conference title implications on Saturday night.
Ohio State football hosts Penn State in a massive Big Ten showdown. Penn State enters off an impressive dismantling of Michigan last Saturday in Happy Valley. Both teams have aspirations of the College Football Playoff, and a win Saturday puts one of them in the Big Ten East driver’s seat.
Let’s cut to the chase: This game will be dissected in more ways than a frog in a sophomore Biology class. Big Ten heavyweights Penn State and Ohio State come in with momentum and both look to stay unbeaten in Big Ten conference play. Ohio State can ill-afford another loss of it hopes to remain in contention for one of the four College Football Playoff spots.
Penn State’s resurgence under head coach James Franklin has been nothing short of remarkable. The No. 2 Nittany Lions have a superstar in running back Saquon Barkley. Entering Week 9, Barkley looks to be the Heisman favorite having rushed for 757 yards and eight touchdowns. Quarterback Trace McSorley has thrown for 1,879 yards and 14 touchdowns. Add that with a Penn State defense which hasn’t allowed 20 points in a game this season, and you have the recipe of a National Championship contender.
Urban Meyer seems to have righted the Buckeye’s ship after an early-season loss to Oklahoma at the Horseshoe. Credit the improved play of quarterback J.T. Barrett and the consistency of running back J.K. Dobbins as reasons why the Ohio State freight train is back on the tracks and racing at top speed.
With both teams having to face co-division leader Michigan State in the coming weeks, the loser of this game puts themselves behind the proverbial eight-ball coming down the home stretch of the season.
Here’s three bold predictions for this Saturday’s showdown at the Horseshoe in Columbus.