Penn State is an 18.5-point underdog Saturday at Ohio State, and the betting total rests at 60.5.

How will the game play out?

The outlook ahead of this Big Ten East affair changed drastically after the Nittany Lions dropped a 20-18 contest at home to Illinois hours before the Buckeyes ran over Indiana in Bloomington.

Ryan Day's team is riding high, while James Franklin's is looking to end a three-game skid. How will the matchup play out?

Our staff gives its predictions below.

Ohio State will win a subdued game that is never in doubt even though the differential on the scoreboard will probably show only a couple of touchdowns through most of it.

Penn State’s defense makes enough plays and typically can slow opponents down to avoid the complete car wreck type of situation. So that might look like a little field position trading, an Ohio State touchdown, some more field position trading (with Penn State’s offense doing virtually nothing against this Ohio State defense), a field goal here, a touchdown to end the half, and a 17-0 Ohio State lead that might as well be 56-0.

Open the third quarter with another touchdown and, if you’re Ohio State, send in the backups.

Ohio State 31

Penn State 0

At this time a week ago, there was every reason to think that Penn State could go to Columbus and keep things close against Ohio State, even in prime time on the road.

Now, it feels like there is next to no chance that will happen.

Is it an overreaction or just the reality of the situation?

The Nittany Lions were exposed against an Illinois team that lined up to run and kept doing so over and over again. Their defense will keep the visitors in it for a bit, but there’s not much pointing to a close or competitive contest unless Sean Clifford is magically fully healthy and able to run again. He says he will be, but time will tell.

Ohio State 48

Penn State 17

I think this is a question of whether or not this game gets really ugly, not whether or not Penn State wins. Ohio State has an excellent rushing attack that is more than capable of exploiting the same gaps Illinois did last week. It doesn't turn the ball over very much. C.J. Stroud’s poor start seems more like the exception than the norm. If Sean Clifford is still limited, I’m really not sure that Penn State can move the ball on offense. That doesn’t paint a pretty picture.

Ohio State 38

Penn State 10

A month ago, I could have made a case for Penn State as the kind of team that was capable of hanging in there with Ohio State on the road, even in a relatively high-scoring game. But the Nittany Lions’ window of opportunity appears to have closed. The Buckeyes have turned out to be the team everyone thought they were before they lost to Oregon and scuffled to an unimpressive win over Tulsa. After an up-and-down start, C.J. Stroud has settled in nicely as Ohio State’s starting quarterback, and he’s got the best supporting cast in the Big Ten in Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, TreVeyon Henderson, etc.

Meanwhile, the Nittany Lions have been a different team since Sean Clifford was injured at Iowa. They’ve scored one touchdown in their past six quarters of game action and managed eight points in nine rounds of overtime against Illinois, the last seven of which began at the 3-yard line. If Clifford is as healthy as James Franklin indicated at his presser on Tuesday, that’ll help. But not enough to avoid a loss in Columbus.

Ohio State 42

Penn State 13

Penn State is absolutely designed to hang with Ohio State. You can argue that their recruiting strategy, especially at the skill positions, has been centered around this particular game.

The problem though is that the current team isn't physically capable of hanging with Ohio State. They haven't been able to get a run game going all season, and although Ohio State's defensive line is young, they're incredibly talented.

As we saw last week, Penn State's offensive line, and now the interior of its defensive line, has become a weak spot, and I just can't see them overcoming that in this matchup. Treveyon Henderson is running behind a stacked offensive line that should have the kind of success Illinois had last week. I can't believe I just typed that.

Oregon beat Ohio State because they were able to rush for 269 yards that day, averaging 7.1 yards per carry. Until Penn State has that kind of production against an inferior team, I can't predict them to go off against Ohio State. I do think we'll see the passing game get back to looking like it did a few weeks back, but it won't be enough if Penn State can't pick up steady yards on the ground.

I do think that +18.5 is an overreaction to last week's game.

Ohio State: 38

Penn State: 24

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