Penn State vs Ohio State

Here I sit, in the Penn State Berks Library on the eve of what could be one of the greatest victories of all time for Penn State or just another number in the loss column. Ohio State has everything to lose in tomorrow's game, but if the Lions lose, everyone will just say that it was expected. The Lions have nothing to lose, and that, my friends, is why I am predicting a victory. Tomorrow's game will be the toughest test so far for the #1 Buckeyes. Their best opponent was Purdue which was an away game for the Buckeyes. In that game, Todd Boeckman, the Buckeyes' starting quarterback, threw 3 interceptions to a Purdue defense whose secondary does not match up to Penn State's, to say the least. Expect the young quarterback to make some mistakes in a very hostile environment at Penn State. His numbers are hard to find fault in though. He has a 66% completion rating, he has thrown 18 touchdowns and just 7 interceptions overall, and he has only been sacked 8 times. It will be crucial for the Nittany Lions to get a good pass rush, or else Boeckman will burn them to his fine receivers, Brian Robiskie and Brian Hartline. Robiskie is not on the same level as Indiana's Hardy, but he has over 700 receiving yards and 7 touchdown catches so far this season. It could be another difficult day for Justin King who, despite being a spectacular corner, has trouble with tall receivers. Robiskie is 6'3" to King's 6'0" which will make for a better match-up than James Hardy, 6'7", who burned King last week. The Lion's defense is going to face another potent running game aswell on Saturday. The Buckeyes' Chris Wells, is having a fine season, and he is on pace for a 1000 + rush yards at 863 after last week's game. He also has 7 rushing TD's. Last week, Indiana took Dan Connor and Sean Lee out of the picture by limiting the run game, but emerging star, Maurice Evans, a defensive lineman, helped even the playing field with an extremely effective pass rush. He may have won the game for the Lions with his two forced fumbles, one of which he ran back to put the Lions in scoring position, and 3 sacks. Now, what will the offense have to do against the Buckeyes to win? It all rests again on the shoulders of Anthony Morelli. Morelli has finally convinced me that he is a great quarterback, even though Joe has been saying it all along. Aside from an ill-advised end-zone bomb last week in the first quarter that was intercepted, Morelli had another good outing. He threw for two touchdowns, and he threw the ball very crisply and with a lot of poise while facing a hostile crowd. The drive that he engineered in the 4th quarter that culminated on a Rodney Kinlaw rushing TD, was big league play from Morelli, and it shows what he can do under pressure if given the chance. The rushing game is going to have its hands full though because Penn State is not the only Big-Ten school with a linebacker. I am talking about James Laurinaitis, whose name I will continue to butcher throughout this blog. Lauriniatis is a big league linebacker who has racked up more than 50 tackles this season so far, and he will stir things up in the secondary and in the Penn State backfield. The key for the Penn State offense will be to protect Morelli, which is no easy task against a spectacular Ohio State defense. The most points they've allowed this season was 17 against Michigan State, and that is really something, having played the high-powered offense at Purdue. The Lions need to open up the play-calling at home like they did against Wisconsin or else they will not have a chance. The Lions may have the most all around talent on the offensive side of the ball in the whole Big-Ten, they just have to show it. They will need to score touchdowns because they can't settle for field goals in the red zone against Ohio State because you won't find yourself in the red zone often. Penn State needs to come into this game hot with something to prove, and they do have something to prove. I think the Lions have to use Evan Royster more in the running game. He is much better at finding holes in the line than Kinlaw, and he is more of a smash mouth back that will run through the tackles. This is going to be a hard-hitting game for sure, and Royster is the most hard-hitting back. The receivers are also going to have to get open for Morelli, but they have had no problem doing that so far. Look for Norwood to have a great day because he is the best at slipping through unnoticed and finding holes in the zone. I am predicting a Nittany Lion victory 21-17 over the Buckeyes. Let's hope there are no flashbacks to last year when Morelli threw two interceptions that were run back for touchdowns at Ohio State. This is a better team, and the Lions are playing at home where they are unbeatable so far. I stand by my call, Lions win it. Take that Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit because WE ARE...PENN STATE!