The Penn State Football Show

I am very confident heading into this game, and i believe the Penn State Nittany Lions are too. They have no reason not to be. They have beaten every team they have faced by two touchdowns or more, and that streak will continue this weekend.

Ohio State has been unimpressive all season prior to last weekend. They had a big win over Michigan State and now everyone is saying the Buckeyes are back. They certainly have gotten better, and Pryor improves each week as he gains experience, but the truth remains, that Ohio State is simply not that good this year. For those who think I am crazy, just wait until after this game.

Look at their season so far. The Buckeyes struggled mightily against lowly Ohio and Troy. They got smoked by USC. They failed to score an offensive touchdown against Purdue. They needed a last-second field goal to defeat the same Wisconsin team that Penn State took to the woodshed.

So what have they done to deserve all this hype? They took it to Michigan State pretty good last week, but the 45-7 score is deceiving. Two of their touchdowns came on fumble returns, and Michigan State's five total turnovers pretty much gift-wrapped this game to the Buckeyes. Also, Spartans quarterback Brian Hoyer was injured and sat out the second half.

It's possible that the Ohio State players have gained a lot of confidence after this win; especially after hearing about how good they are all week and about how they are finally back. It's also possible, and I think more likely, that the players are aware that they don't have a very good team this year. Don't ask me how they aren't good this year -- they returned 19 starters from a team that played in the national championship game -- but they are not a top 10 team.

There is no doubt that Terrelle Pryor is going to be great. But he's not great yet. He can run well, but he doesn't look very comfortable passing the ball. Last week, he threw only 11 passes, completing 7 for 116 yards. Ohio State can not be this one-dimensional if they want to defeat Penn State.

If I'm Tom Bradley, I'm telling my defense to make Pryor beat us through the air. Throw nine guys in the box, and do not let Chris Wells run wild. If Ohio State can establish a solid running game, Penn State could be in trouble. In my opinion, Chris Wells is the best player in the entire country. He has an incredible combination of size and speed, and he needs to be 100% of Penn State's focus defensively. Contain Wells, and you win the game. It's as simple as that. If Pryor and Wells are able to have some success running various zone-read plays, Ohio State might be able to put together some nice drives just like Michigan did, and keep Penn State's explosive offense off the field. I think if Penn State can contain the running game, and for Ohio State into passing situations and make Pryor throw the ball, they will force a few turnovers and make Pryor very uncomfortable. OSU has given up a ton of sacks this year. The Penn State d-line needs to be disruptive and abuse Pryor. He is very young and inexperienced, and with Evans and Maybin in his face all night, he will not know what to do. Pressure will lead to big things for this defense. I will throw this out there: It would not surprise me at all to see Todd Boeckman play at some point in this game.

As I said earlier, I hope Mauti, Bowman, and Gbadu are the starting three at linebacker. As Rudy pointed out though, that's not going to happen. It will once again be Sales and Hull, and Paterno will wait until those two get burned before making the necessary change.

I agree with a comment that Drew made that basically said this game is sort of a lose-lose situation. Either Penn State loses this game, or they win, but the win is diminished because people will say Ohio State is down this year. However, there is nothingi they can do about that, so they must just keep doing what they've been doing, and that's dominating every team they face.

One X-factor. I've heard that it's supposed to rain Saturday night. This could be bad for the Lions. A sloppy field definitely works in Ohio State's favor. Penn State has a much more explosive, wide-open offense. If the field isi wet, this coudl limit the number of things Penn State can do offensively. It will make it a low-scoring battle, which only helps Ohio State.

Offensively, I think PSU needs to continue to do what they've been doing: be balanced. They need to come out throwing, which will open up the running game. The play-calling has been great all year, so Jay and Galen need to just stick with whats been working. Perhaps maybe we will even see a new wrinkle or two. A trick play? Maybe a fake punt/field goal?

I think it's pretty clear how I feel about this game. As long as the field conditions aren't bad, I think Penn State just has too many weaponso and is too balanced to lose this game. The key matchup to watch will be Ohio State's running game against Penn State's front seven. Whoever wins this battle will most likely win the game.

I say Penn State wins by multiple touchdowns and heads into their bye-week in great shape. On another note, this is my boldest prediction of the year: after falling to Penn State, OSU will go on to lose two more games. One at Illinois, and they will close out the season with a shocking loss to Michigan, giving Rich Rodriguez something to celebrate after an atrocious opening season in Ann Arbor.

I do not yet have my predictions for the Breeder's Cup this weekend. I'm waiting on Hottel to say his first so I know which horse not to bet on.