Penn State Ready to Bring "IF" Mentality to Game at No. 1 Ohio State

The Nittany Lions are three-touchdown underdogs against the Buckeyes. "Obviously no one's giving us a chance," interim head coach Terry Smith says.

Penn State Nittany Lions interim head coach Terry Smith enters Kinnick Stadium before the game against the Iowa Hawkeyes. | Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

Before his first game as Penn State's interim head coach, Terry Smith wore a T-shirt that read "IF" into Iowa's Kinnick Stadium. So did most of the Nittany Lions, who nearly pulled off a victory over the Hawkeyes but ultimately lost their second straight one-point game. Now, Penn State faces an even bigger "IF" on Saturday at Ohio State.

The top-ranked Buckeyes are 20.5-point favorites against Penn State, the largest spread the Nittany Lions have faced for any game in 12 years. In 2013, Penn State was a 25-point underdog at No. 15 Wisconsin for the final game of Bill O'Brien's tenure. Penn State sent O'Brien into the NFL with a 31-24 victory over the Badgers, and "you're wrong" were among his last words to reporters as Penn State's head coach.

Smith on Monday channeled some of O'Brien's energy, even though he didn't work for the Nittany Lions then. At his first regularly scheduled Monday press conference since taking over for James Franklin, Smith positioned Penn State as the plucky underdog that heads to Columbus with a purpose.

"Obviously no one's giving us a chance, and I'm going to emphasize that to our team," Smith said. "I don't think we've ever been 20-point underdogs since I've been here, but it's motivation. No one believes in us, and we're going to come out and fight like we did at Iowa. But we're going to fight a little harder."

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Penn State interim head coach Terry Smith on his team being a 20.5-point underdog at No. 1 Ohio State.

🎥Penn State Athletics pic.twitter.com/TllQ2mPJlj

— Mark Wogenrich (@MarkWogenrich) October 27, 2025

The point spread is the largest between Penn State and Ohio State during Smith's 12 years on the Nittany Lions' staff, according to Oddsshark. Ohio State was a 20-point favorite in 2019 and 2010, but Penn State covered both spreads, losing 28-17 in 2019 and 38-14 in 2010. Ohio State was the home team in both games.

Ohio State has been a rough place to play for Penn State since the program joined the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions are 2-14 at Ohio Stadium since 1993, with an interim head coach earning one of those wins. In 2011 defensive coordinator Tom Bradley, who took over after Joe Paterno was fired that November, led the Nittany Lions to a 20-14 victory over the Buckeyes and interim head coach Luke Fickell.

Since then, Penn State has lost six straight games at Ohio State. The Buckeyes have won the last eight in the series overall and are well positioned to make it nine. Ohio State features the nation's top-ranked defense, which has allowed just four touchdowns in seven games, and a Heisman Trophy contender in first-year starting quarterback Julian Sayin, who leads the nation with a completion rate of 80 percent.

Yet Smith said that Penn State emerged from its bye week confident about its preparation and "ready to go" to Ohio State. Following the Iowa game, Smith said that the "IF" T-shirts represented the idea of "endless possibilities." He wants Penn State to bring that ethos to Columbus this week.

Penn State arrives at Kinnick Stadium wearing “IF” T-shirts. pic.twitter.com/kwRQNfCNWG

— Mark Wogenrich (@MarkWogenrich) October 18, 2025

"We just wrapped up a really productive week," Smith said. "We were able to reset and take a good look at where we were and how we want to continue to grow as a football team. I'm extremely happy with our players and how we approached the bye week. The energy in the building has been very positive. I'm proud of our leadership in the locker room and how connected this group is right now.

"We have a tremendous opportunity here on Saturday to go to Ohio State. They're a very well coached team, very talented, coach [Ryan] Day has done an amazing job with those guys. This is why you come to Penn State, for this big stage, to play in games like this and be able to compete against the No. 1 team in the country and have an opportunity to beat those guys."

Penn State visits Ohio State for a 12 p.m. ET kickoff Saturday at Ohio Stadium. It will be the Nittany Lions' first appearance this season on the FOX Big Noon broadcast.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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