How can the Buckeyes beat Penn State? Three keys for Ohio State football game
Ohio State football travels to Beaver Stadium for a Saturday showdown with No. 13-ranked Penn State. The No. 2-ranked Buckeyes haven't played a ranked opponent since Week 1, and the matchup is just the second road game of the season for Ohio State as it has built a 7-0 record.
The Buckeyes have crushed every team they have played impressively. Ohio State's offense has scored at least 45 points in every game since since the 21-10 win over Notre Dame in Week 1. The Buckeyes have scored at least 49 points in five straight games and have surpassed 50 points three times.
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And one of those games was against an Iowa team that entered the week with a top-10 defense.
Penn State, 6-1, has lost just one game this season, against Michigan on the road.
If the best thing about 7-0 is getting to 8-0, as one former Ohio State coach is prone to tweeting, how can the Buckeyes get to 8-0 this week?
Here are three keys for Ohio State against Penn State on Saturday:
Ohio State must finish drives vs Penn State
Ohio State is one of only 131 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision that has come away with points from all of its trips to the red zone this season. Most of the time, the Buckeyes ended up with touchdowns, but in Saturday’s rout of Iowa they settled for field goals on three out of the seven times they were inside the Hawkeyes’ 20-yard line. It’ll be critical for the Buckeyes to maximize scoring opportunities against the Nittany Lions, who have an opponent red zone touchdown conversion rate of 40% that is tied for the nation’s fourth-best, and have an offense more capable of capitalizing.
OSU defense needs to pressure the pocket
In his best performance of the season in a win over Minnesota last weekend, Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford was pressured a season-low five times, a rate of 16.1%, according to Pro Football Focus. While he is mobile, Clifford is still a more effective passer when throwing from a clean pocket with a completion percentage of 67.1%. When under duress, he’s completed 44.7%. The Nittany Lions’ offensive line often affords him protection, but the Buckeyes are starting to fluster passers. Ten of their 19 sacks have come in the last two games.
Guard the deep ball
Parker Washington is the receiver for Ohio State’s secondary to monitor, as he has replaced Jahan Dotson as the Nittany Lions’ top pass catcher and can be an explosive downfield threat. He has caught at least one pass of 20 or more yards in six out of seven games, and his 35-yard touchdown catch against Minnesota was a particularly impressive haul, leaping over a defensive back as he crossed into the end zone.
Key matchup for OSU vs. PSU
Ohio State rush offense vs. Penn State rush defense
The Nittany Lions’ rush defense has been performing a Jekyll-and-Hyde act. It was ranked in the top-five through six weeks, allowing an average of 79.8 yards per game, and held Minnesota star running back Mohamed Ibrahim to a season-low 103 yards on 30 carries last week. But in between, it surrendered 418 yards on the ground in its loss to Michigan, the third-most Penn State had given up in a game since 1947. If the Buckeyes impose their will in the trenches in similar fashion, will the Nittany Lions crack?
Key stat for Ohio State football
7: Average margin of victory of Ohio State’s past five wins over Penn State.
Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Contact him at jkaufman@dispatch.com or on Twitter @joeyrkaufman
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football keys to beating Penn State in Happy Valley
