Quick Hits: What to know about the Ohio State Buckeyes

The Penn State Nittany Lions on Saturday will look to beat the Ohio State Buckeyes for the first time since the 2016 season.

The No. 13 Nittany Lions (6-1) are coming off a 45-17 win over the Minnesota Golden Gophers last Saturday night in their annual White Out. The Buckeyes, on the other hand, are coming off a 54-10 win over the Iowa Hawkeyes are now 7-0 on the season, and are the country’s No.2 ranked team.

Since 2016, Penn State has consistently played the Buckeyes close and tough but has always come up short, often in painful manners. The odds are against the Nittany Lions' in breaking their losing streak to the Buckeyes this weekend as well. Ohio State is considered a 15-point favorite over the Nittany Lions and the line has only moved in small increments in Penn State's favor throughout the week.

With that, let's take a closer look at the Buckeyes with 10 quick hitters.

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1. The Buckeyes might just be the best team in the nation

The Buckeyes are always among the best teams in the country but this season, the Buckeyes might very well be the country's best team all around. Their offense is truly elite while their defense is much improved from a season ago.

The Buckeyes' 49.6 points per game rank first in the country while their 14.9 points allowed per game ranks fifth in the nation. Outside their week one win over Notre Dame, the Buckeyes have been completely dominant, with wins by 33, 56, 31, 39, 29, and 44 points.

They have one of the best quarterbacks in the nation, the best wide receiver room in the nation, and an elite backfield. Put that together with the aforementioned improved defense and it's easy to make a strong argument for the Buckeyes as the nation's top team and the favorite to win the College Football Playoffs this postseason.

2. The Buckeyes are coming off their worst game of the season, offensively...

Despite taking down Iowa 54-10, the Buckeyes all in all put together one of their worst offensive games of the season.CJ Stroud had a solid day completing 20-of-30 passing attempts for 286 yards and four touchdowns but had one interception and could have had multiple additional interceptions in the game.

The Buckeyes on top of the interception had one fumble in the game and only totaled 360 yards, their lowest output of the season. Additionally, it's worth noting the Buckeyes also had a mediocre performance at the beginning of the month against Rutgers in which they only totaled 413 yards with another rather "pedestrian" day from CJ Stroud.

If the Buckeyes come out on Saturday in a similar fashion against the Nittany Lions, Penn State will have a major opportunity to upset the Buckeyes.

3. CJ Stroud is a special talent at quarterback but can be rattled...

Despite having performances less than his norm in two of his last three games, CJ Stroud is still very much a special talent and could very well be the Heisman front-runner at this stage. Stroud has completed 70% of his passes this season for 2,023 yards, 28 touchdowns, and four interceptions.

His arm talent is simply elite with some of the best arm strength in the country and his accuracy is just as strong. Where Stroud does struggle, however, this season is when under pressure, which is not often. Out of his nearly 200 dropbacks this season, Stroud has been under pressure on just 41 dropbacks, 20% of all dropbacks.

Out of those 41 times, he's been under pressure, Stroud has completed just 16-of-34 passing attempts for 226 yards and three touchdowns. He's had half of his turnover-worthy plays according to PFF when under pressure as well. Penn State's defensive line this season has been amongst the best in the country and has consistently gotten pressure on opposing quarterbacks, however, they have yet to face an offensive line as talented as the Buckeyes.

If Penn State's defensive line can get pressure on Stroud throughout Saturday's game, they have a chance to create some chaos as we've seen this season with the third-year signal caller.

4. Not one, not two, not three, not four... Ohio State's deep wide receiver room

As we said above, Ohio State simply has the best wide receiver room in the country. Top wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba has been banged up for most of the season and appeared to potentially reaggravate his hamstring injury last week against Iowa. Even with Smith-Njiba, the Buckeyes' wide receiver room has been just as dangerous. Emeke Egbuka has enjoyed a breakout season with 41 receptions for 735 yards and seven touchdowns.

Philadelphia native Marvin Harrison Jr picked up where he left off in last year's Rose Bowl with 38 receptions for 598 yards and 10 touchdowns. Then there's former Southern Columbia (PA) standout Julian Fleming who has 17 receptions for 327 yards and six touchdowns. Both Harrison and Fleming will be making their homecomings on Saturday afternoon.

That's not to mention tight end Cade Stover who has 18 receptions for 231 yards and two touchdowns. Or depth players such as Jayden Ballard, Xavier Johnson, or Gee Scott Jr.

Joey Porter Jr and Kalen King will be expected to keep whoever they cover on lockdown on Saturday afternoon but it will take much more than just the two potential first-round picks to stop this Buckeyes' passing attack. They'll need big performances out of Daequan Hardy, Marquis Wilson, and Johnny Dixon as well. Because it's much more than just one or two wide receivers that can beat you.

5. Oh, the backfield is pretty good too...

Not only can the Buckeyes beat you on the ground but they just may have the best backfield in the country as well. Coming into the season, it was expected to be the Treyveon Henderson show after the sophomore posted a freshman season in which he totaled over 1,500 yards from scrimmage and 19 touchdowns. He's putting together another strong season with 476 yards from scrimmage thus far.

That being said, junior Miyan Williams has been even better for the Buckeyes with 542 yards from scrimmage this season and is averaging seven yards per carry, he also has nine touchdowns this season.

Worth noting is that the Buckeyes when running the ball love to either go up the middle in between the guards and center or out to the outside. They've had much better success going towards the left end this season, averaging 7.8 yards per attempt rather than the right end where they're averaging just 5.0 yards this season, which of course is still pretty good. The truth is, the Buckeyes really don't struggle running the ball in any direction. Thanks to their superb run blocking and their backfield consisting of both powerful runners who also have a great combination of speed and shiftiness, it's hard to bring down the Buckeyes' tailbacks without them doing much damage.

On the season, the Buckeyes backfield has already totaled 68 forced missed tackles which is not a great matchup for a Nittany Lion defense that has struggled to finish tackles at times throughout the season.

6. The Buckeyes' offensive line is playing at a superb level