Penn State Nittany Lions Coach James Franklin Breaks Down Ohio State Buckeyes QB Kyle McCord

Penn State coach James Franklin says there is a lot to like about Ohio State QB Kyle McCord

Matt Galatzan | Oct 20, 2023

In this story:

Ohio State Buckeyes

The No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes face their biggest test of the season to date on Saturday, when the No. 7 Penn State Nittany Lions come to Ohio Stadium.

The Nittany Lions will present a myriad of challenges for the Buckeyes, including an elite passer in Drew Allar.

However, it is an elite defense that has stolen the headlines for Penn State through the first half of the season.

And if the Buckeyes are going to stay undefeated, first-year starting quarterback Kyle McCord will likely have to have the best performance of his young career.

When meeting with the media this week, Penn State coach James Franklin broke down McCord and why he has been successful in the Buckeyes offense.

"Obviously a big arm. He's a good-sized guy," Franklin said. "Been in their system for a while, so he understands their system... I think they're approaching it a little bit like we've approached it with Drew (Allar) with the first-year starting quarterback. You know, he's doing what he needs to do for them to be successful offensively and win games."

Outside of the system, however, McCord has also been successful for a reason.

In fact, he has thrown for 397 more yards than his counterpart in Allar, with just one less touchdown (11) and only one interception so far this season.

However, the Nittany Lions might have an ace in the hole vs. McCord - and it's not their No. 1 ranked defense.

Not only did Franklin and the Nittany Lions recruit McCord coming out of high school, but his high school coach, Gabe Infante, is a defensive analyst on the Penn State Staff.

In other words, the Nittany Lions are already intimately familiar with McCord.

"If you look at his touchdown-to-interception ratio, really good," Franklin said. "Really good. So I'm not surprised, obviously. His high school coach is on our staff. You know, we recruited him. We know a lot about him. We had a ton of respect for him out of high school and continue to. We think he's going to be a challenge for us on Saturday as well."

Can McCord overcome that challenge and lead Ohio State to a big-time win?

We will find out one way or the other on Saturday at noon.

Published Oct 20, 2023

MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Publisher of LonghornsCountry.com, AllAggies.com, and the Managing Editor of BuckeyesNow.com and TheGroveReport.com He is also the Editor-In-Chief of RamDigest.com and TexansDaily.com. Galatzan graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry under Mike Fisher at DallasBasketball.com in 2014, which at the time was part of the 247Sports network. He also spent two years covering the SMU Mustangs for PonyStampede.com on the 247Sports network. When DallasBasketball.com and CowboysCountry.com moved over to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, Galatzan followed suit, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of LonghornsCountry.com and AllAggies.com a year later. Through the years, Galatzan has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, former Longhorns players Dan Neil and Phil Dawson, and many other recruits, and current/former players for each of the teams he has covered. Galatzan is also a full-time employee in the digital media department for Audacy and KRLD FM's 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, which is the official radio home of the Dallas Cowboys. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan For any inquiries, please email matt.galatzan@gmail.com