Ohio State vs. Penn State matchup has lost all its glamour

Ohio State vs. Penn State has notoriously been such an exciting matchup in years past.

In 2024, the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions clashed on the road in University Park, Pa., with Ohio State coming out in a nailbiting display, 20-13. The year prior saw another similar result, with the Buckeyes winning 20-12. Since 2010, the Buckeyes have lost a measly two times, winning 13-of-15 matchups between the two sides.

And each of the meetings has been exhilarating.

Two of the games since the 2016-17 season have ended with Ohio State winning by a singular point, four ending within one score and all being within at least two scores.

Those are not just average, everyday games. Those are eye-grabbing, seats glued to the chair results. Each matchup presented an exciting battle between two teams looking to compete to be one of the top programs in the country and hopefully raise a conference title at the end of the campaign.

However, the 2025 rendition the Buckeyes vs. Nittany Lions matchup doesn't look to be as exciting.

And that's disappointing.

Prior to the start of this season, this was a matchup that was circled on nearly everyones schedules. With it being roughly 10 weeks into the season, many viewed it as a potential game that could determine where Top 10 seedings would be and who would end up hoisting the Big Ten title at the end of the season.

Those guesses would have been good ones.

The Buckeyes were looking to be an exciting, young team in 2025. They had sophomore signal caller Julian Sayin entering as the man under center, freshman Bo Jackson as the lead man in the backfield, Jeremiah Smith leading the charge outside the hashes as a potential Heisman candidate and an elite defense that had an incredibly high ceiling.

Fast forward through seven games, the Buckeyes are a pristine 7-0 with dominant wins over each team they have faced. The only remotely close game came against the then-Top 5 ranked Texas Longhorns, 14-7, in the season opener.

But since then, its been all Ohio State and nothing less.

Sayin has been unstoppable, the rest of the offense has been extremely efficient and the defense just found its second shutout of the year, now allowing 16 points or less in each game this season.

For Penn State, they were expected to be just as highly regarded as the No. 1 Buckeyes.

They returned quarterback Drew Allar, built up a strong culture bent on winning and also had a very kind first three games of the season. If they came out strong and ironed out the kinks, they could've been right alongside Ohio State.

At one point this season, they were ranked within the Top 5 but fell down the ladder and out of the Top 25 within weeks.

But, reality hit the team fast.

They won the first three games of the year against Nevada, FIU and Villanova, showing some glarring issues they needed to address. Eventually, they couldn't just coast by and over the last four games they've been dominated and exposed.

They suffered a six point defeat to Oregon, 30-24, a five-point loss to UCLA, 42-37, a one-point loss to Northwestern, 22-21, and most recently a one-point loss to Iowa, 25-24. The team fired its head coach James Franklin and moved into a new era of the team.

There's no way this game is going to live up to its preseason expectations, just based off the different seasons the two programs have had up until this point.

However, it may present a trap-game-type situation for the Buckeyes.

So either way, head coach Ryan Day better have his side ready to go with hopes of keeping an undefeated season alive with the chance to fight for back-to-back national championships.

The two sides will matchup against one another for FOX's Big Noon Kickoff game of the week on Saturday, Nov. 1. They will meet up at 12:00 p.m. from Ohio Stadium.