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Game 5: Ohio State, Beaver Stadium, 7:30pm (ABC)

Judge Smails

Judge Smails

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This year, that game may be coming a little earlier than usual, at least if you ask college football analyst Paul Finebaum.

Joining the RoundTable on WJOX on Monday morning, Finebaum was asked to weigh in on next week’s showdown between No. 4 Ohio State and No. 9 Penn State. It’s a matchup that most believe will determine the winner in the B1G.

Finebaum didn’t shy away from his expectations, either. He said that Saturday night in Happy Valley will be college football’s game of the year.

“This is an intriguing game. There seems to be that one game every year in college football,” Finebaum said. “But, I mean, this really is the game of the year in college football. This is easily (Ohio State’s) most difficult task.”

Finebaum made the argument that the Nittany Lions provide the toughest test of the season for the Buckeyes, and that the winner would likely be headed to the B1G Championship and College Football Playoff.

It’s not just Finebaum who believes Saturday night’s contest is one of the biggest in the sport. According to ESPN’s Playoff Predictor, the Ohio State-Penn State game is the most impactful contest remaining on the regular season schedule.


 
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Where do they get this shit from? Just make it up completely?

https://247sports.com/college/ohio-.../Penn-St-vs-Ohio-St-by-the-numbers-122432717/

Things to note:
Penn St has had a slow start every game this season, thus they've played their starters almost the whole game all 4 games.

Noahbuckeye

Like you stated they have had their starters in the entire game the whole season.



We rotate everyone 1st through 3rd string all game except for QB and OL. And the backup QB and OL has played in the 4th quarter of every game except App State.
 
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OHIO STATE PREPARING TO PLAY IN ONE OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL'S TOUGHEST ROAD ENVIRONMENTS AT PENN STATE
Dan Hope on September 24, 2018 at 2:54 pm @dan_hope
96872_h.jpg



There’s no question, though, that making the trip to University Park increases the degree of difficulty for the Buckeyes.

“It's just a difficult place. Certainly one of the top five stadiums to play in, hard to play in,” Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer said Monday. “Very loud and the fans are very into it just like our Horseshoe. You've got to be ready for that kind of environment.”

“It’s different playing at Penn State. It’s at their house,” Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins said Saturday. “Playing at AT&T Stadium was kind of a neutral site for us, because we have a really great fan base. But playing at Penn State, as a recruit going to their games in high school and (knowing) how loud it can get over there, going my freshman year and seeing how hectic it can get, I just want to focus on how we can execute at the maximum level.”

While this year’s Penn State team is different than the one that beat Ohio State two years ago, and also different than the one that took a 15-point lead into the fourth quarter of Ohio State’s eventual 39-38 win at Ohio Stadium last year, Meyer says he believes this year’s Nittany Lions are just as capable of putting his Buckeyes to the test.

“I see a very good team … very, very good, very well-coached,” Meyer said. “So we don't see much difference at all. Scheme's very similar to what they've done in the past.”
 
Penn State 1st in the NCAA in Red Zone efficiency. 22 trips to the Red zone, 21 touchdowns, 1 field goal. 16 rushing touchdowns. That is just bully ball. Great offensive line play, and impossible to stop the read option down there with a slippery guy like McSorley. Even if you give up yards to Ohio State, if you can hold them to field goals in the red zone (Haskins is not a threat to run outside of scrambles), there is your winning formula.

 
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For what it's also worth, the best player in college football will also not be listed in this weeks depth chart. Nick Bosa. He's not playing.
 
Blue Band not throwing away it’s shot this weekend....

 
Does anyone know the time for the actual Kick-off? Is the preshow at 7:30pm?
 
ejb25 said:
Does anyone know the time for the actual Kick-off? Is the preshow at 7:30pm?
Click to expand...

After the Nissan Pregame Rush and a visit to the Nissan Heisman House, they might get around to an actual football game around 7:45.
 
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Ohio State Buckeyes: Penn State Game Is The First Real Test
written by Cay North September 25, 2018

And while Penn State is slightly below Ohio State in the rankings, they’re certainly on the same level. If Penn State pulled off the win, it wouldn’t be out of the question for them to trade places in the polls with the Buckeyes. They have advantages that other teams don’t, too. Ohio State had to play TCU in Texas, but TCU doesn’t have near the amount of fan support that Penn State does.

Playing at Beaver Stadium at night is something that you would expect from a late season matchup. Not one in week four. If you’re the visiting side, it’s not the game that you want as one of your first real challenges of the year. Because let’s face it. Oregon State, Rutgers, and Tulane were all warm up games. Even counting TCU as a quality opponent, the Buckeyes have at the most only faced a single team that’s anywhere close to their level.

Now, they have to go into an environment that is known as one of the best in college football. It comes only shortly after Urban Meyer returned as the head coach of the team, and while his absence didn’t have much of an impact, that wasn’t against teams like Penn State.


The point here isn’t that Ohio State is going to lose, or that they haven’t played anybody. It’s that they may be unprepared for a true test, while Penn State started the season out by almost being upset. Additionally, they turned relatively close games against Pittsburgh and Illinois into blowout victories. They’re no stranger to playing in close games like these, and they’ve come out on top in each one of these.

If Ohio State enters halftime, or even the fourth quarter, how will they react? That’s a question that’s hard to answer because they have less experience in those close games. But if the game is close, Penn State is closer to a sure thing. As much of a sure thing as you can have in a game like this, which will be decided by a small margin because of the two teams roughly being on the same level.

We don’t know yet if Ohio State will show up when it matters in a game like this. They may, they may not. But if there’s one distinct disadvantage that they have compared to Penn State? It’s that, while we can’t predict accurately how either side will perform, Ohio State has more unknowns.
 
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BuckIQ: How Ohio State gears up defense for Penn State, Trace McSorley

The Buckeyes have had some occasional issues allowing explosive plays early in the season, and that has been perhaps the primary concern for a team with national-title aspirations.

Penn State is the only team in the country averaging more points per game than Ohio State, which certainly makes this a measuring-stick game for the progress of a defense that has worked in a handful of new faces in key positions. On the road in a hostile environment with the stakes at their highest, clearly the Buckeyes would prefer to avoid an offensive shootout with Trace McSorley.
 
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