Welcome to Penn State-Ohio State Week
STATE COLLEGE, Pa.| Penn State coach James Franklin was on a high school football field in New Jersey last Saturday when Ohio State played Maryland. It was Franklin's fourth state of a four-day, five-state recruiting trip that also took him to Connecticut, Florida, North Carolina and Massachusetts. He admitted to checking the score but not watching the highlights until he got home late that Saturday night.
"You think I’m standing on a high school sideline at a high school game watching other games?" Franklin asked Saturday. "No."
Sorry, but yeah, we thought we'd ask. Even though Franklin's shoes were still wet following Penn State's 63-0 dismissal of UMass, it already was time to turn the clocks ahead. At 6:57 p.m. ET on Saturday, Penn State-Ohio State week began. A little early scouting report couldn't hurt, right?
Franklin tried to hit snooze on the Big Ten's first Game of the Year — "I just want to have a few hours of normalcy and like hang out with my wife," he said — which was understandable. As coaches often say, winning is difficult. Franklin has won 11 games in a row for the first time in his career. So he should enjoy that.
Still, the Death Star looms. Franklin is 1-8 against Ohio State, and 0-4 at Ohio Stadium, where the Lions have a fully tortured history. The pick-6s they've thrown there alone fuel nightmares. But this Penn State team, with its generational defense, field-tilling offense and newfound special teams threat, should quietly consider itself a contender even as a road underdog. This is perhaps the most consequential regular-season game of Franklin's coaching career, primarily for what it represents. Penn State brings its best-outfitted playoff team to Ohio Stadium since 2017. The Lions led that game by 11 points with 5:42 remaining. You know and J.T. Barrett know what happened next.
So following the win over UMass, Franklin wasn't going anywhere near an Ohio State preview. And neither were his players. Quarterback Drew Allar, who played high school football less than two hours from Columbus, didn't want to begin the hype. "No, I'll give it a few hours," he said.
Maryland native, and former Terp, Chop Robinson said he watched that Ohio State-Maryland game while at home on the bye weekend but only casually with family. Tight end Theo Johnson, who played at Ohio State in 2021, instead wanted to talk about this post-game celebration first.
"It's really hard to win, and every single Sunday we put up in the team meeting teams that lost games that they were supposed to win," said Johnson, who caught his first two touchdown passes of the season against UMass. "We try to enjoy every single win."
Still, the Lions offered a few hints toward why they'll be ready for the Buckeyes. Penn State reached 6-0 by winning in a variety of ways. They have consistently bludgeoned opponents defensively, shaken themselves from late wakeup calls on offense and routed every opponent in the second half. The Lions have outscored their six opponents 153-17 in second halves. Their defense travels, and it plays just the right pressuring style to rattle a pocket quarterback.
Sure, Penn State isn't an explosive-play offense this season. It's stunning that the longest rushing play (39 yards) belongs to fourth-string back Tank Smith. And yet the Lions move methodically, convert in the red zone and have just enough under-the-surface polish lurking to make Ohio State nervous. At some point, Buckeyes defensive coordinator Jim Knowles surely is asking, Nicholas Singleton is going to go yard, right? Will it be against us?
"I feel really good about the team," Allar said. "I think we’ve done a great job of improving our process each week and focusing on ourselves and correcting the mistakes we’ve made so far and improving on that. This week in practice really showed that. I think we put together a really good week of practice in general, and I think it showed up to today [vs. UMass]."
Everyone at Penn State is leaning on the team's consistency. The Lions have scored in every quarter this season. They've committed just one offensive turnover. They've allowed only one team to score more than 14 points. That's what Franklin wants to bring to Ohio State: a consistent, level-headed roster that won't be underprepared or overwhelmed.
"We have as good a balance [on this team] as I think we've had, and maybe that I've been around," Franklin said before the game last week. "Are there some areas of balance that we're probably still searching for? Yes. But I think our ability to run or pass the ball [on offense] is problematic. I do believe that."
Defensively, Penn State is playing with equal balance, the kind that offenses don't know how to attack. The defensive line generates pressure because the secondary delivers coverage downfield. The linebackers are missing fewer assignments and clearing more tackles. The cornerbacks run terrific man-coverage sets, giving the ends time to work. The cycle continues and works in concert. Here's how Adisa Isaac, who made 3.5 tackles for loss against UMass, sees it.
"Keep your poise, stick to your ground rules, nobody do anything extra, and stay in your lane," he said. "Everybody has a role. ... I feel like what we're doing is working. It's about cleaning it up and not making mistakes that could hinder us. I feel like we’re on the right track. We've just got to polish up."
Franklin asked for a breath Saturday night before applying that polish. Fine. But there's no doubt he's as primed for this game as anyone. Welcome to Ohio State week.
More on Penn State
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Penn State 63, UMass 0: Breakdown of another Beaver Stadium shutout
How Daequan Hardy made Penn State special teams history vs. UMass
James Franklin says scheduling comments were mischaracterized
Penn State's official NIL collective now has an official beer
Big Ten, playoff expansion 'magnifies' scheduling strategies, James Franklin says
Penn State cornerback Johnny Dixon is finally drawing some attention
AllPennState is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWogenrich. And consider subscribing (button's on the home page) for more great content across the SI.com network.
