
The Ohio State Buckeyes are on the home-stretch of an amazing season and with two games remaining, an old foe will arrive to stand in the way of a College Football Playoff bid. Penn State will visit The Shoe to attempt to de-rail the Buckeyes’ plans to end a two-year drought where they suffered terrible road losses to Iowa in 2017 and to Purdue in 2018. Will the Nittany Lions continue the trend? Will another conference foe, with this particular one being in the same division as the Buckeyes be able to pull it off?
This game is often decided by splash plays from any phase of the game. Penn State has won on a special teams play with a blocked field goal with little to no time left that resulted in a touchdown three seasons ago. Ohio State has won the last two and four of the last five contests. The last two were won by a single point, 39-38 at Columbus and 27-26 during a White Out, where Haskins brought the team back from a three-score hole. This contest will be in Columbus and although the team has yet to play in the second half, specifically the 4th quarter, Penn State will attempt to score early and often, all while leaning on their defense to keep the Buckeyes at bay.

Fields Impending Heisman Push
With a few precious weeks left of the 2019 season, everything the Buckeyes have accomplished is all part of the grander scheme of playing for another National Championship. Penn State is in the way this weekend and the last three-game stretch will most likely be Top 10 contests between CFB Playoff hopefuls that could add a bit of intrigue to the Buckeyes path back to the big dance. They have to fend off #8 Penn State this week, #13 or better TTUN at Ann Arbor in week 14, and #10 or better Minnesota or #12 or better Wisconsin in the Conference Championship Game before the final playoff rankings are released.
Justin Fields has the skills and the platforms these next three weeks to surge up the Heisman rankings if he continues to light up the scoreboard and against this type of competition. 31 passing scores and 10 rushing scores against one single interception is crazy and he could potentially be unleashed in the second half and in crunch-time during the 4th quarter. He is unproven, but if the moment comes, he will be ready. He has a chance to prove why he is Heisman-worthy and if everything goes well, he can overtake former Buckeye and now LSU QB, Joe Burrow for the lead by the seasons’ end. He has the weapons to make a run, but it all depends on his poise during the final stretch.

The Predator’s Return
Chase Young has been the talk of Buckeye Nation and he has ended his two-game suspension for taking money to fly his girlfriend to the Rose Bowl. He is now back with a massive boulder of a chip on his shoulder and he has returned to haunt every offensive opponent that he has left on his schedule. James Franklin was sarcastic during a press-conference stating that “Chase Young is back for good-old Penn State”, and he might have been the source that got Young in the weeds, but we will never know and it is all in the past now.
Big boy football in the Big Ten will continue and the chase for rings is still on-going. Young’s addition will add more juice to the defense and they will try to punish Penn State. They will have their hands full with Hamler and Friemuth, but I can see their assigned defenders coming out with an edge. Hamler will be matched up with Wade, who he beat for 90+ yards and a score on a slant route. Borland and/or Harrison will be guarding the seams, where Friemuth has hurt defenses. This defense has not given up many splash plays, but this will be a test against Hamler and company. The opposing running backs are good too, so we will see how or if the Buckeyes can negate the playmakers and the young opposing quarterback.

Defensive Firepower
The Penn State defense has been a stellar group up until being upended by Minnesota. They have a top defense highlighted by a former recruiting target, Micah Parsons. I am not 100% on what happened, but he approached the college gameday staff and something happened that affected his status, and I am assuming it was illegal. He quickly fell out of the short-list of defensive targets before heading to Penn State. Now, two years later, he is leading this defense and he will be looking to ruin the Buckeyes’ dream season. He plays in an aggressive defense that matches up in talent with the Buckeyes, but do they have the depth?
The Buckeyes have loads of depth players on offense and on defense. They will look to flex their muscles with it in order to wear down this defensive group. This group of Slobs has a chip on their shoulder and they have been great so far. This will be another great test to see where they are at and I am planning on them being ready. They have already proved it against Wisconsin and Michigan State. They have a rough road ahead, but the focus will be on Penn State.

Running Wild With Depth
The Penn State message boards were on something this week, and they called Dobbins a one-trick pony and they called out the Cadillac position for its “lack of depth”. One thing that Dobbins isn’t, is a one-trick pony. He plays and runs hard, and he can catch the ball when necessary. He is a key cog in this offense and he has been amazing when leaned upon. He is certainly aware of the comments and I think he will punish this defense.
He also has a couple of partners that accompany him in the backfield in Master Teague and Steele Chambers. DeMario McCall is there and he is a change-of-pace back that plays in garbage-time. Marcus Crowley got hurt a couple of weeks ago, but the walk-on backs can be valuable cogs as well, but this game will be centered on Dobbins and Teague. This will be a bloodbath and we can only hope that the line opens up a bunch of holes for team Stiff Arm and Harm.

Buckeye Bonus
This weekend is homecoming week and it marks the last game for the Buckeye upperclassmen. With a big-time opponent on the schedule in Penn State, this is where the Buckeyes use their magic to re-load to take over those who are graduating and those who might leave early for the NFL. They have been on one of the best runs and it can only help their needs to restock the cupboard and what better platform than against one of your rivals in Penn State? This week will have a large group of potential targets and a few current commits will be on-hand to seal the deal. With or without them, the Buckeyes have been successful on the recruiting trail with Ryan Day and his staff, and I do not see that changing. This week is a recruiting milestone and with a big win, they can potentially flip and snag a few before the early signing day period.
Matchups To Watch
- Fields versus Clifford
- Zone 6 versus Penn State Back Seven
- Hamler and Friemuth versus Ohio State Back Seven
- Chase Young and The Rushmen versus Penn State O-Line
- The Slobs versus Parsons and Gross-Matos
Prediction:
I want to predict this close, but I feel that the talent and depth would put the game out of reach. The last two games have been close between both teams, but this might be the year where the close games cease to exist. I think with the potential narc on Penn State’s sidelines and with Young returning, I think of TTUN beatdown in 2018.
The Ohio State Buckeyes defeat The Penn State Nittany Lions 48-17.
#GoBucks











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Back Seven Improvement
J.K. Dobbins returns from what he himself has called as a sub-par season at the Buckeyes Cadillac position, he will attempt to redeem himself in the 2019 season. In a season where he logged 1,053 rushing yards and 263 yards receiving, he is looking for more yardage in what could be his last season at Ohio State. He will look to best his 12 TD total to establish himself as a legendary Buckeye RB and leave his mark.
The question is will the Slobs play to their usual standard? The Slobs are usually great year in and year out, but with the departure Prince, Jordan, and Knox, can the next generation of slobs live up to the expectation and help Dobbins gash offenses? With a nearly-new starting five of Munford, Jackson, Myers, Davis, and Bowen can they be another nasty starting five?
Damon Arnette left NFL money for another season for redemption in the Scarlet and Gray. The story a year ago was his inability to cover and the consistent penalties incurred, but with a new position coach in Hafley, he had to come back to prove himself. He, along with Okudah and Wade have all secured their usual spots can the trio regain their BIA swag? Or will they fall further away from the standard that has been a constant for the past few years?

Arizona has been connected to a Quarterback prospect in the draft, but unfortunately, it isn’t to Haskins. They have their eyes set on Kyler Murray, the Oklahoma Sooners stud who spurned the Oakland A’s to pursue football instead of baseball.
Oakland has a franchise Quarterback in place in Derek Carr, but John Gruden might be ready to turn the page on him with Haskins. By acting as the understudy, it would give time for him to master the playbook while biding his time. There could also be some waves during the draft and we could see Carr getting traded during the draft.
The Giants are the most connected to when talking about Dwayne Haskins. With the combination of being a lifelong Giants fan and the teams need for a solution after Eli calls it quits, it seems like a perfect storm for the team.
The Jaguars are in dire need of a Quarterback after cutting ties with Blake Bortles. They have put a bandaid on the situation with the former Eagles Super Bowl hero Nick Foles, but the future remains murky.
Denver has needed a Quarterback since the end of Peyton Manning’s playing days and it is beginning to show. Firstly, I am a fan of this franchise and it hurts, but Haskins at this spot would restore my faith in John Elway.
The Bengals are in a spot where they could keep the former Ohio State product in the state of Ohio and it could certainly happen. Andy Dalton has been iffy over the last couple of season and his health is a huge concern.
The Dolphins moved on from Tannehill and they could get a steal with a plummeting Dwayne Haskins. If all of the previous teams pass on him, I would be upset, but it is the name of the game.
The last team on the docket is the Washinton Redskins. They have a lot of depth in the Quarterback room with Alex Smith recovering from a gruesome leg injury, the recent trade with Denver for Case Keenum and then there is Colt McCoy too.

