Penn State football team girds itself to take on nemesis Ohio State [opinion]

Oct. 15—The preliminaries are thankfully over after Penn State's 63-0 thrashing of overmatched Massachusetts.

All of Penn State's eyes — and much of the nation's — will be on Saturday's Big Ten East showdown at Ohio State, the first of two games that, as usual, will go a long way toward defining the Nittany Lions' season.

"Obviously we've been battling these guys for years and years," defensive end Adisa Isaac said, "so this is a great test for us and I'm looking forward to it."

It's unclear whether Penn State coach James Franklin punished Isaac for talking about the Buckeyes before Sunday. But Franklin would be lying if he said they weren't on his mind since the Lions' thumping of Iowa on Sept. 23 or longer.

He's 1-8 against Ohio State, even though six of the last seven meetings have been decided in the fourth quarter. That record is an albatross around his neck and the Penn State program.

Since joining the Big Ten, the Lions are 2-15 at Ohio Stadium. Their only wins came in 2008 with Joe Paterno sitting in the coaches box after hip surgery and in 2011 with Tom Bradley serving as interim coach in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal.

Penn State, though, has battled Ohio State into the fourth quarter in the last three meetings in Columbus as underdogs of 6.5 points in 2017, 19 points in 2019 and 19.5 points in 2021.

The Buckeyes were listed as 5.5-point favorites Sunday by several outlets, so the Lions are not expected to win again.

They're playing very well, though, carrying an 11-game winning streak with each victory by at least 14 points.

Penn State stayed first in the nation in total defense, passing defense and pass defense efficiency and moved up to second in scoring defense and rushing defense. The Lions are first in sacks and fifth in tackles for loss.

"Our main thing is chasing greatness," defensive end Chop Robinson said after collecting two sacks against UMass.

On offense, sophomore quarterback Drew Allar continued to protect the football. He has yet to commit a turnover in 16 college games, including six starts. He's making terrific decisions and on-time passes. He's completed 65% of his throws for 1,254 yards and 12 touchdowns and has run for three scores.

"It's been an ideal situation," Franklin said. "We've been able to get a first-time starter a ton of experience with normal downs, two-minute situations and third-down situations. It's an ideal situation with how well the offensive linemen and (especially) left tackle (Olu Fashanu) are playing with a running game that's effective.

"The thing that makes me feel good about Drew is that he's very humble and his approach is consistent."

The Lions are averaging 44.3 points per game, fifth in the nation, and have shown an excellent balance between running and passing.

"Overall I like where we're at," Franklin said. "We have found ways to win. We've won (in) different ways. We've won at home. We've won on the road. We've won at 11 a.m. We've won in the rain. We've won in the heat.

"I just think we're getting better. We're practicing more consistently at a high level."

Isaac has been in uniform four times against Ohio State without winning. The memory of Penn State's 44-31 loss last year at Beaver Stadium, a game in which the Lions led in the fourth quarter, burns in his mind.

"It's the missed assignments that can lead to bigger things against different teams," Isaac said. "Correcting little stuff like that is going to really help us show the dominance of our defense.

"We can't afford those mistakes against those good teams, like we've done in the past. We've made a couple mistakes that have hit us for long ones. We have to limit those."

Franklin understands what's at stake. A win over the Buckeyes can stamp the Lions as one of the top contenders to make the College Football Playoff. He declined to talk about the Ohio State game Saturday evening probably to take a deep breath before a critical week.

"I just want to have a few hours of normalcy," he said. "I want to hang out with my wife and my buddy. I want the players to enjoy it for a couple hours. Once Sunday hits, that's all anybody's going to want to talk about."