This weekend, the No. 3 Penn State Nittany Lions will look for their biggest win in recent memory as they welcome the No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes to Beaver Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Nittany Lions enter the game with a 7-0 record after defeating Wisconsin 28-13 last weekend in Madison, erasing a second half deficit for the second straight game.
Ohio State will come to Happy Valley after narrowly escaping an upset bid from the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The Buckeyes are 6-1 this season but after losing to Oregon three weeks ago in Eugene and then putting together an unsatisfactory effort against the Cornhuskers, there are questions and concerns building around the scarlet and gray.
Over the course of the week there will be plenty of storylines that will be discussed surrounding this premier matchup but here are four storylines that will likely be talked about the most.
1. Injuries stacking up for both teams
Enterting next Saturday, neither Penn State nor Ohio State will be at full strength, especially the Nittany Lions. Throughout this season, the Nittany Lions have been battling the injury bug. Already missing notable names and expected contributors in LB Keon Wylie, DE Zuriah Fisher, S KJ Winston, TE Andrew Rapplyea, RB Cam Wallace, and WR Kaden Saunders, the Nittany Lions also saw QB Drew Allar, DE Dani Dennis-Sutton, and RT Anthony Donkoh all leave their week nine win over Wisconsin with injuries and their availability going forward is questionable at this point in time.
The injury bug hasn't been as bad for Ohio State but the Buckeyes are down two offensive linemen as left tackle Josh Simmons left their game against Oregon with an injury before seeing Zzen Michalski, their backup left tackle leave Saturday's game against Nebraska on the cart in the fourth quarter. Star safety Lathan Ransom was also notably held out of Ohio State's matchup with Wisconsin and is considered day-to-day.
2. One head coach can begin to change a narrative
One thing that Penn State head coach James Franklin and Ohio State head coach Ryan Day have in common is that a popular narrative surrounding both is that neither can win the big game.
The records do say that both have historically struggled against top ranked opponents.
Franklin entering this upcoming weekend is just 3-17 in his career against top-10 ranked opponents while Ryan Day is 1-7 against top five ranked teams after Ohio State's loss to Oregon earlier this month.
While one win won't completely change narrative it certaintly can help one's cause.
For James Franklin, the win would perhaps be the biggest of his career at Penn State. A win would propel the Nittany Lions to 8-0 on the season, giving themselves a significant chance to go 12-0 this season and a shot at the Big Ten Championship. Not to mention the impacts it could have as a perception for the program on the recruiting trail and in the national discussion.
For Ohio State, it serves as almost a must win game. While the Buckeyes would likely make the playoffs at 10-2, a second regular season loss in which the program significantly invested in NIL and in the transfer portal would be a shocking development considering the preseason expectations. A loss wouldn't put Ryan Day on the hot seat in the eyes of the Buckeyes administration but would certaintly create more ire from an Ohio State fan base that already has doubts in their head coach.
For the first time in a very long time between these two teams, all the pressure is on Ohio State heading into Saturday.
3. Happy Valley will be the center of the college football universe
This upcoming weekend, Happy Valley will be the center of the college football universe. For the first time since 1999, Beaver Stadium will host a top five matchup. The last meeting came when the No. 3 Penn State Nittany Lions hosted the No. 4 Arizona Wildcats in week one of the 1999 season, a 41-7 win for Penn State.
This will be the 18th top-five matchup all-time for the Nittany Lions who own a 6-10-1 record in the previous 17 matchups. The program's last win in a top-five matchup came in that 1999 game against Arizona.
On top of being a top five matchup, both ESPN's College Gameday and Fox's Big Noon Kickoff show will be live from outside the Bryce Jordan Center and inside Beaver Stadium while former president and current presidential candidate Donald Trump is expected to be in attendance.
4. Allar, Howard facing childhood teams
Obviously this one rides on the idea of Drew Allar being ready to go on Saturday against Ohio State but if he is able to, this weekend's matchup will see the NIttany Lions' Drew Allar and Ohio States' Will Howard face their childhood teams.
Allar, a high four-star recruit out of Medina, Ohio grew up an Ohio State fan but committed to the Nittany Lions in the spring before his senior season. The Buckeyes had not offered prior to his commitment, as Allar had a major senior season, Ohio State would over but it would be all too late in his recruitment. Howard, was a middle of the road there-star prospect, only holding a handful of Power Five offers before he committed to Kansas State. He would go on to have a strong career in Manhattan before entering the transfer portal and transferring to Ohio State this offseason.
Following the Buckeyes win over Nebraska on Saturday, Howard brought up his recruitment and his feelings on the upcoming matchup.
"I grew up a Penn State fan. I wanted to go there my whole life. They didn't think I was good enough. But, I guess, we'll see next week if I was."
Notably, Ohio State didn't offer Howard either coming out of Downingtown West High School.
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