A unique QB matchup for Penn State and Ohio State
Penn State and Ohio State will meet in the biggest Big Ten game of the year to date this weekend in Columbus. The 6-0 Nittany Lions travel to Ohio Stadium, a real house of horrors for Penn State over the years, to face the 6-0 Buckeyes with both teams having eyes on the inside track to the Big Ten East Division championship. Both teams have young star quarterbacks on the rise this season that will take the spotlight this weekend.
The most unique part of this quarterback battle is Penn State’s Drew Allar is a former Ohio high school star and Ohio State’s Kyle McCord was a standout on the Pennsylvania high school football fields. Now the two are intertwined in one of the Big Ten’s upcoming QB battles.
Penn State and Ohio State will often be familiar with each other’s players after pursuing many of the same players on the recruiting trail. There may be no more accurate suggestion when it comes to the quarterbacks. Being the star quarterbacks in their respective states put Allar firmly on Ohio State’s radar and McCord on Penn State’s. But as fate would gave it, they each went to the neighboring state’s powerhouse program.
So far, those decisions have seemed to work out.
McCord is in his third season with Ohio State but his first as the starting quarterback. The New Jersey native who thrived at St. Joseph’s Prep in Philadelphia has finally gotten back in sync with former high school teammate wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., and the Ohio State offense is thriving more because of it. McCord has also helped lead his Buckeyes to a massive road victory in a defensive battle at Notre Dame.
Coming into this week, McCord is the Big Ten’s second-leading passing leader with 1,651 passing yards and 11 touchdowns with just one interception thrown.
Penn State’s Allar is also in his first year as the starting quarterback. After serving as the understudy to Sean Clifford (also from Ohio) and getting some good opportunities to get on the field throughout the 2022 season, Allar took over the reins of the offense in Happy Valley. Allar is also among the Big Ten’s passing leaders with 1,254 yards and 12 touchdowns without an interception. Allar is the only Big Ten passer in the top 10 without an interception thrown this season.
McCord has already gone up against a legitimately good opponent in Notre Dame, but this could arguably be his biggest challenge so far. Penn State’s defense has been excellent this season, although admittedly against inferior opposition. The same will also be said for Allar. Allar has yet to face much of a team with a pulse, although Iowa’s defense is considered above average by most. But playing Iowa at home in a whiteout game is quite a different task than going on the road in one of the Big Ten’s toughest atmospheres.
There is a lot riding on the outcome of this game, and the pressure on Allar and McCord will be unlike anything either faced so far. Which ever quarterback manages to overcome the adversity faster or more effectively will likely be the one leading his team to a major win in the Big Ten East, Big Ten championship, and College Football Playoff hunt.
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