What Does Ohio State Have To Prove Against Penn State?

The Buckeyes have won five games in a row, but they probably haven't seen a defense that's achieved at Penn State's level quite yet.

Author:
Brendan Gulick
Oct 27, 2021 3:52 PM EDT

The loudest critics of Ohio State football this year are rallying around the Buckeyes' lack of strength of schedule so far. Who have they beaten? Have they played a good defense? Look at Oregon, they lost to Stanford and the Pac-12 stinks!

I think that's all nonsense. They don't have anything they really need to "prove" to me. Anyone that has actually watched Ohio State with a critical eye the last six weeks (five games) can't ignore the massive improvements they've made. The defense hasn't allowed a rushing touchdown in five straight weeks and they've annihilated each of their last four opponents with 50+ point performances.

While I understand those who are saying "let me see the Buckeyes play against a better defense", I think there's significantly better chance that Ohio State hangs 50 on Penn State than loses this game. I don't mean that out of a lack of respect for Penn State. They're a good team and they have talent on both sides of the ball. They're pretty well-coached and have two really, really good coordinators. But I think Ohio State's horses are going to make life really difficult on the Nittany Lions.

If Illinois can run the ball for 347 on the road at Penn State, imagine what the Buckeyes' offensive line and TreVeyon Henderson will do.

I expect C.J. Stroud to be challenged a bit more this week for sure - he's going to have to fit passes into tighter windows because that's what he'll be presented with. Yes, he's been extremely accurate anyways the last few weeks, but this defense is pretty athletic. But I really don't think the Nittany Lions are going to be able to keep the Buckeyes under 35 points on Saturday night and when Ohio State has scored at least 35 points in a game, they are 349-1-1 all-time in program history.

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