What Penn State's Jim Knowles Will Confront in Return to Ohio State

Ohio State coach Ryan Day called Knowles' departure in January "abrupt." The Nittany Lions' defensive coordinator returns to Ohio Stadium on Saturday.

Penn State Nittany Lions defensive coordinator Jim Knowles walks on the field prior to the Blue-White spring game at Beaver Stadium. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Penn State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles returns Saturday to Ohio State, where he won a national championship last season but wasn't invited to the celebration. How will be received? Perhaps a bit brusquely, based on Ohio State coach Ryan Day's comments Tuesday.

Meeting with reporters in Columbus, the Buckeyes' head coach said their parting was "abrupt" last January, when Knowles became Penn State's defensive coordinator seven days after the College Football Playoff championship game. As Day said, relationships change.

"Like any relationship, when it breaks off, sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad," Day said at his weekly media availability. "But there really hasn't been much communication [with Knowles]. He did a great job when he was here, helped us win a national championship, and kind of left it at that.

"And then it was, 'Hey, we've got to go get a replacement' and move on from there. So that's kind of how it is. And it was abrupt. But we certainly respect the work that he did when he was here."

Penn State made Knowles the highest-paid assistant in college football, paying him more than $9 million over three seasons. In February, former Penn State coach James Franklin detailed the post-championship conversations with Knowles, which went quickly and had support from the school's check-writing administration. Knowles did not attend Ohio State's championship celebration while finishing negotiations with Penn State.

But this season, Knowles' Penn State defense hasn't been championship-caliber. Penn State has struggled operating in Knowles' admittedly complicated system, something Franklin noted often before he was fired Oct. 12. The Nittany Lions rank 90th nationally in rushing defense, 68th in sacks per game and 80th in third-down defense.

Further, Penn State's defense gave up fourth-quarter leads against Northwestern and Iowa by allowing eventual game-winning touchdown runs in the final five minutes.

Day wound up hiring Matt Patricia to replace Knowles, and Ohio State will bring the nation's top-ranked defense to Saturday's game.

"The fact that Matt was available, man, it ended up being a home run," Day said.

Day also addressed Ohio State fans, which may or may not have been related to Knowles' return.

"Make it as hard as possible and make it a really difficult environment for them to operate in," Day said.

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Expecting 'curveballs' from Penn State

Penn State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles talks with reporters during Nittany Lions football media day at Beaver Stadium. | Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Despite Penn State's four-game losing streak (by a combined total of 13 points), Day said he expects Knowles to have his defense ready for the Buckeyes.

"When you have so many years with somebody, you have so much stuff that you can get yourself distracted [with]," Day said. "It's going to come down to fundamentals in this game. He will definitely have some curveballs. He always does. So we have to identify what those are early on and then go from there."

Day also said that Penn State's 3-4 record won't affect his team's preparation. The Nittany Lions are 20.5-point underdogs against Ohio State, the largest spread in the series since 2019, though recent games have been relatively close. Four of Penn State's eight straight losses to the Buckeyes have been decided by eight points or less.

"These games against Penn State have always been a battle," Day said. "It was a battle last year, and it's going to be a battle this year. But we knew that when we saw the schedule. We're not going to circle opponents on our schedule, but we know that that one is going to be a battle."

Day added that the Buckeyes need to be on "high alert" to guard against a potential upset at home.

"They really have a nothing-to-lose mentality, so we have to be on high alert at all times for things," Day said. "They have two weeks to put together different things on offense, defense, and special teams that they haven't put on film. We know that. And certainly, when you have a coaching change like they did, we expect that.

"You have to expect the unexpected, be on high alert, know that they sort of have that mentality going into the game. So all of those things matter. At the end of the day, you've still got to go play the play, and you don't know what's going to come. But we have to understand what our opponent is and the fact that they've had two weeks to prepare and change up the looks."

Penn State visits No. 1 Ohio State on Saturday at Ohio Stadium. The game is scheduled for noon ET on the FOX Big Noon broadcast.