Ohio State has consistently stood in the way of Penn State’s dream of winning a Big Ten title and competing for a National Championship.
The third-ranked Nittany Lines have not beaten the fourth-ranked Buckeyes since Oct. 22, 2016, and have lost the last seven meetings against their conference rival.
The two teams meet again on Saturday at noon in a massive game that will once again affect the Big Ten and the National College Playoffs. This time, though, host Penn State could have the advantage and roll into the game at 7–0, while Ohio State is 6–1.
Penn State and Ohio State are two of the winningest programs in NCAA history. Both teams are ranked among the Top 10 all-time in victories and winning percentages.
Penn State and Ohio State are meeting as AP Top 25 opponents for the 23rd time in series history. This matchup is the second time the teams have played as Top 5 opponents in the Associated Press college football poll.
Penn State is off to a 7–0 start for the 20th time in program history and the third time under James Franklin, who was also beaten in 2017 and 2019.
Junior quarterback Drew Allar is on watch lists for the Davey O'Brien Award, Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, Manning Award, and Maxwell Award. He has thrown 1,640 yards with 12 touchdowns and four interceptions over seven games this season.
Over his career, Allar has completed 62.8 percent of his passes (385-of-613) for 4,615 yards and 41 touchdowns (six interceptions) and owns 387 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns.
He ranks first in school history in career interception percentage (0.98), completion percentage (62.8), and passing efficiency (146.2), sixth in touchdown pass percentage (6.69), and tied for sixth with 41 career touchdown passes.
His top pass-catchers include redshirt junior Harrison Wallace III, senior and Ohio State transfer Julian Fleming, and junior Omari Evans.
A pair of juniors—Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton—lead the rushing attack. Allen has 509 rushing yards, while Singleton has 487. Singleton (2,296) and Allen (2,278) are the second set of Penn State teammates to each have 2,000 career rushing yards, joining Lydell Mitchell (2,934 yards) and Franco Harris (2,002 yards) in 1969.
Ohio State also has an explosive offense, ranking second in the Big Ten in scoring with 40.3 points per game and total offense with 471.9 yards per game.
Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard has thrown for 1,795 yards and is second in the Big Ten with 17 touchdowns and just four interceptions. His favorite target is Jeremiah Smith, who is second in the conference in yards receiving per game (89.0) and touchdowns (8).
Running back Quinshon Judkins has rushed for 520 yards with six touchdowns. TreVeyon Henderson also gets carries and has run for 449 yards with four touchdowns. He also caught a touchdown pass.
On defense, the Buckeyes rank first in the Big Ten in scoring defense (11.9 points per game) and total defense (254.4 yards per game).
“Our guys have been in this situation before,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said at his weekly press conference. “Now it’s the time to go win this game and get a top-five victory and that’s what the guys are focused on right now. The coaching staff, everybody in the building, has the focus on winning this game right here.”
