Plenty of points likely in Ohio St.-PSU clash
COLUMBUS, OHIO » Saturday night’s clash between No. 4 Ohio State and No. 9 Penn State for Big Ten East supremacy promises to be an offensively explosive affair.
The programs boast the two top scoring offenses in the country through four games, with Penn State averaging 55.5 points and the Buckeyes right behind them at 54.5. They’re also No. 1 and 2 in touchdowns with 31 for Penn State and 29 for Ohio State.
It’s a good look for the Big Ten, which hasn’t been able to claim the top two scoring teams in the country this late in the season in 28 years. The last time two Big Ten teams played each other while holding down the top two scoring spots was 1962, when No. 8 Wisconsin beat No. 1 Northwestern.
Ohio State and Penn State are likely to land multiple punches during a raucous, nationally televised “white-out” game at Beaver Stadium . Las Vegas oddsmakers expect the game to be one of the highest scoring in college football this week, with a total of 71 points.
“This is going to be a 12-round heavyweight fight with a bunch of good, talented players on the field and two teams with sound schemes,” Penn State coach James Franklin said this week. “There’s going to be plays made. We just have to keep battling and keep swinging and stay focused on the goal at hand.”
Saquon Barkley is gone, so Miles Sanders is getting the chance to be Penn State’s featured back. He’s averaged nearly 124 yards per game with five touchdowns. Veteran quarterback Trace McSorley has been an active part of the ground attack, scoring six touchdowns on top of eight passing.
On the Ohio State side, quarterback Dwayne Haskins Jr. has 16 touchdown passes — second in the nation — without having played large chunks of the second half because three of the four games were blowouts. He’s completing 75 percent of his passes and has shown he can throw into narrow windows and rely on Ohio State’s experienced receivers to do the rest. It also helps that he has one of the country’s best running back tandems behind him in J.K. Dobbins and Mike Weber.
“With Haskins, it’s important just to try to make him as uncomfortable as you can, get someone in his face as often as we can and make him get the ball out earlier than he might want to,” Penn State safety Garrett Taylor said. “If we pressure him, we’re going to do well.”
Ohio State coach Urban Meyer has tried to deflect some of the accolades being heaped on Haskins, whose name is starting to come up in Heisman Trophy conversations.
“A quarterback is a production of the offensive line, and they’ve been playing at a very high level,” Meyer said. “They’ve done a very good job protecting Dwayne this year. And other than (the TCU game), we get our hands on a ball, we usually catch it. They’ve been very good at that. Dwayne would be the first one to admit it.”
Penn State avoided an upset from Appalachian State in its opener, then routed Pittsburgh and hung 63 points each on Kent State and Illinois.
The Buckeyes scored 77 against Oregon State in the first week and blew out Rutgers before pulling away in the second half for a 40-28 win over thenNo. 15 TCU. Last week, Haskins did most of the damage in the first half before Ohio State backed off the gas and cruised to a 49-6 win over Tulane.
Now comes the most important game on the schedule for the offensively prolific teams.
“Once we get our opportunities, we definitely have to connect and capitalize,” Ohio State receiver Terry McLaurin said. “We could get into a shootout. We have to prepare for that.”
OHIO STATE VS. PENN STATE Records: No 4. Ohio State (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) at No. 9 Penn State (4-0, 1-0) TV: ABC, 7:30 p.m. Line: Ohio State by 3. Series: Ohio State leads 19-14. WHAT’S AT STAKE?
The winner strikes the first major blow in the Big Ten East race and emerges as the lone remaining unbeaten team in the conference. There are still plenty of challenges ahead for both teams, but this one could go a long way toward determining which — if any — Big Ten team makes the College Football Playoff.
KEY MATCHUP
Ohio State center Michael Jordan and the interior of the Buckeyes’ offensive line vs. the middle of the Penn State defense, anchored by DT Kevin Givens and LB Jan Johnson. In victories against Pittsburgh and Illinois, the Lions had issues with the run. Both teams put up huge first-half numbers before it seemed some adjustments were made and Penn State’s offense erupted and forced the Panthers and Illini to abandon the run. Can Jordan lead the way for TBs J.K. Dobbins and Mike Weber? PLAYERS TO WATCH Ohio State: QB Dwayne Haskins. The junior is setting a torrid pace in his first season as starter for the Buckeyes. Haskins has thrown 16 touchdown passes and one interception. Penn State: QB Trace McSorley. The senior is not quite the pro prospect that Haskins will be, but McSorley gets it done with his arms and legs. He has thrown eight touchdown passes and run for six scores. FACTS & FIGURES The teams rank No. 1 (Ohio State) and No. 2 (Penn State) in FBS in scoring . ... The winner of this game has won the Big Ten each of the past two seasons . ... The Buckeyes are among the best in the country in converting third downs, doing so at a 58.8 percent clip to lead the Big Ten and rank third in FBS . ... Penn State is 13-15 in 28 previous games matching top-10 teams, including 3-5 against Ohio State . ... This will be the fourth consecutive whiteout game at Beaver Stadium in Happy Valley with the Buckeyes visiting . ... Ohio State star DE Nick Bosa is out for weeks after surgery on a lower abdomen injury.