It's now or never for James Franklin as Penn State hosts Ohio State on Saturday

It may sound extreme but it is now or never for James Franklin and the Penn State Nittany Lions hosting Ohio State Saturday afternoon. James Franklin has had a great run in Happy Valley but rarely has he found success against the likes of Ohio State and Michigan.

Luckily for him there are no more divisions in the Big 10 meaning his team will rarely have to play both teams during the regular season. Even with playing Ohio State they get the game at home and maybe, this Ohio State team isn't as good as folks expected coming into the season.

We've seen Ohio State come up short in Eugene against Oregon and even after a bye week they looked less than great against Nebraska in Columbus last Saturday.

This Buckeyes team has had struggles running the ball and that is not a recipe for success considering how much Offensive Coordinator Chip Kelly uses the run in his offensive game plan. It will be interesting to see how effective Drew Aller will be after his injury against Wisconsin and if he can't give it a go will Beau Pribula look as good as he did against the Badgers?

I wouldn't say Saturday is a must win for James Franklin, but I know he wants to shed that label of not being able to beat the best in the Big 10.

I hate that this game isn't a night game in Beaver Stadium, but it will still be a raucous atmosphere. This fanbase will bring a lot of energy and we will see if Penn State can turn that energy into a huge win against Ohio State. On the other side there is a lot of pressure on Ryan Day to win this game as a second conference loss puts the Buckeyes' national title hopes on life support.

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