Betting Line: Ohio State -20.5 | O/U 44.5
Both Ohio State and Penn State got the week off prior to their matchup in Columbus this coming Saturday. The Buckeyes have won each of their first seven contests in convincing fashion, while the Nittany
Lions, who were once national championship hopefuls, sit at 3-4 with four-straight losses.
Ohio State has looked every bit like the No. 1 team in the country through the first nine weeks of the college football season. As one of five undefeated teams in the Top 25 of the AP Poll, it has really only been the Buckeyes and Indiana who have been consistently dominant in every game so far.
Following a slow-paced 14-7 win over Texas in the opener, Ohio State has won its last six games by a combined score of 241-34 (or 171-34 in the five games against FBS teams). The Buckeyes’ defense has been particularly impressive, ranking No. 1 the nation allowing only 5.9 points per game. Matt Patricia’s group has allowed double-digit points only once this season (16 against Illinois), and is coming off a 34-0 shutout of Wisconsin.
Offensively, while the rushing attack still needs work, Julian Sayin has been outstanding at quarterback. The redshirt freshman is completing an FBS-best 80% of his passes with 19 touchdowns to just three picks. It also helps that he has the best receiving duo in the country, as Jeremiah Smith (49 catches for 602 yards, 7 TDs) and Carnell Tate (34 catches for 587 yards, 6 TDs) have both been unstoppable.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Penn State’s season has been nothing short of a disaster. Following a respectable six-point loss against Oregon, the Nittany Lions proceeded to drop games to UCLA and Northwestern, prompting the firing of longtime head coach James Franklin.
To make matters even worse, quarterback Drew Allar suffered a season-ending ankle injury in that loss to the Wildcats, and so Penn State has to turn to redshirt freshman Ethan Grunkemeyer. A former four-star prospect in the 2024 class, Grunkemeyer struggled mightily in his first start against Iowa, completing 15 of his 28 pass attempts for 93 yards with two interceptions in a game that Penn State lost 25-24.
Defensively, it was massive news in the offseason when the Nittany Lions managed to hire away Jim Knowles from Ohio State, but as has always been the case for Knowles’ defenses, it takes a few years for his system to really take hold, and it has been a struggle in year one thus far. The Penn State defense hasn’t been atrocious, ranking 31st nationally allowing 19.3 points per game, but it definitely has not lived up to expectations.
This is a very interesting football game. Penn State is having a disastrous season, but at the end of the day this team still has Penn State talent. Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton are two dynamic running backs, Devonte Ross and Trebor Pena were two highly touted transfer portal additions at wide receiver, and the defense still has stars like Dani Denis-Sutton, Zane Durant and freshman phenom Chaz Coleman.
Even though these are two teams heading in polar opposite directions, Ohio State cannot afford to take this game lightly. The Buckeyes have won the last eight meetings between the two schools, but every one of them has been within two scores — with four one-score wins and a pair of wins by a single point.
Ohio State has not defeated Penn State by more than 20 points since 2015, when they won 38-10 in Columbus.
All lines and odds are presented by FanDuel Sportsbook.
