A new report from our Friends at Eleven Warriors says that Rod Smith a Senior Running Back has been dismissed from the team…

Senior running back Rod Smith has been dismissed from Ohio State, sources told Eleven Warriors Monday night.

This is certainly huge news given its timing. Rod Smith had gotten back in the good graces of the staff and was getting plenty of carries this season his final as a Buckeye either way. His time at OSU was always being stuck as a back up with huge size and lots of potential but never breaking through. No word on why he was dismissed as of yet but I am sure it will come out soon.

Ohio State had a great opportunity to make a statement game Saturday night in Happy Valley and failed to do so, at least on the offensive side of the ball. While the Buckeyes did run the ball efficiently, it was a very poor passing performance from J.T. Barrett.

The Buckeyes dominated the first half after a poor interception call in favor of Ohio State, gave the Buckeyes a short field and a couple plays later Ezekiel Elliott had a very good touchdown run. His early score was the main offensive highlight of the first half for Ohio State. The Buckeye defense did the rest of the work shutting out the Nittany Lion offense in the first half.

The Nittany Lions did a great job right out of the locker room intercepting Barrett off of a zone blitz which began the slow and painful comeback of Penn State.

The Buckeye offense continued its poor and very conservative play. J.T. Barrett played arguably his worst game of the year. He under-threw a couple deep passes, was late on reads across the middle, all of which could be attributed to the lack of effort in play calling to get the young quarterback in rhythm early in a hostile environment. Barrett never really looked comfortable in the pocket all night.

This poor offensive performance put immense pressure on the defense that stood up to the task the best they could. They stifled the Penn State rush game, pressured, hit, and intercepted Hackenburg multiple times.

The defense was put up to one last test on the final drive. Hackenburg drove the Nittany Lion offense down to around the Buckeyes 45, after starting on their own 8 where Joey Bosa created a very clutch sack. Following the sack, Curtis Grant was flagged for a roughing the passer penalty that put the Nittany Lions in field goal range with 30 seconds remaining.

A phantom timeout was called by Penn State that coach James Franklin adamantly stated he did not call.

After a lot shot towards the end zone that fell incomplete, Nittany Lion kicker Sam Ficken drove through the tying field goal to force over-time.

In over-time it was the J.T. Barrett show as Barrett played with immense heart after suffering a knee injury early on. His performance was admirable and very mature in over-time. Barrett used his excellent decision making and his will and desire to score two touchdowns in over-time to lead the Buckeyes to a double OT 31-24 victory for Ohio State.

In what has become a tradition for both Ohio State and Penn State fans, some of this series more iconic images are those of the sad panda QBs of the losing team. We all remember Terrelle Pryor, as a freshman, fumbling away a victory against Penn State and then sitting dejected, hands on helmet as the game ticked to a close. I’m sure some knuckle-dragging Penn State fans will point you in the direction of that image. But we can dish out as much as we take, and nothing makes us happier than seeing a Penn State QB sitting dejected on the sideline as the game slips away. So don’t be surprised if you see a few peppered through this open thread.

Oh, so soon? Hello there, Sad Panda Daryll Clark.

In the wake of last year’s throttling, Penn State fans have all the reason to be scared this Saturday. A night game, in Happy Valley, with the whole nation watching as Urban Meyer continues to build a case as to why his Ohio State Buckeyes should be included in the College Football Playoff discussion. It could get ugly for the home team.

Our resident Penn State Curmudgeon, YNBA, has put together his annual airing of grievances in the form of a game preview, and he doesn’t see things working out too well for Penn State. When you put the safeties of the defense on high alert, it can’t be good:

The two starting safeties for Penn State will be on full alert as Jalin Marshall and Dontre Wilson will add a playmaker element at the H-Back position that Penn State has not seen so far this year. Ohio State will do everything to get these guys into space and safety play will be imperative in keeping these guys from going crazy.

Like YNBA, Chip doesn’t put too much stock in the respective successes of Ohio State’s Offense and Penn State’s Defense. So what will Chip be keying in on?

Penn State’s defense has been keeping the team in games, ranking 6th in the country at points allowed (average 15 points a game). The strength of the Penn State defense is the run defense, while Ohio State prides itself on a powerful running game. With those statistics in mind, keep in mind that these are the opponents Penn State has played up until this point – Central Florida, Akron, Rutgers, Massachusetts, Northwestern, and Michigan. Penn State defeated Rutgers 13-10, largely behind five interceptions of Rutgers quarterback Gary Nova; Ohio State just thrashed Rutgers 56-17.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say Chip thinks OSU’s numbers are a little more realistic and the outcome will prove that out.

As usual, Shannon goes in deep with a Penn State blogger to get the feel for the fans of the other side. Optimism doesn’t seem to be one of the things they’re feeling:

Prediction? Pain. As I said on your podcast, I have Ohio State winning this weekend’s match-up in Beaver Stadium, 35-17 (which if you bet the over at 51.5 is just fine with you). I think Penn State’s defense keeps this game from getting out of hand as it did last season, but I can’t see Penn State ever making much of a game of this with their concerns on offense. I see Ohio State maybe jumping out to an early lead and cruising into the second half before Penn State gets a junk touchdown to make this closer than the score would actually indicate.

So let’s look forward to taking another sad panda to the taxidermist this Saturday. It will look nice next to Moxie McGritty

I say
Ohio State 52
Penn State 20

What say you?

Ever since the loss to Virginia Tech on September 6th, Ohio State has been rolling offensively. Proof? Ohio State has averaged 56 points a game over its last four opponents (Kent State, Cincinnati, Maryland, and Rutgers). Granted, none of those opponents are considered to be college football juggernauts, but it would be fair to state that Ohio State has exorcised the demons (I figured Halloween is right around the corner, so why not be a little colorful with the analogies?) that plagued them as the 2014 college football season began.

Conversely, Penn State seems to be going in the opposite direction. Penn State began the season with a stirring last second victory over Central Florida (26-24) in the season opener, and the Nittany Lions concluded the first month of the season with a 4-0 record. The positive momentum was surprisingly blunted by visiting Northwestern (27-6), then Penn State lost at Michigan (18-13). Considering Penn State had a bye that preceded its visit to Ann Arbor, and still lost to a struggling Michigan team, had to be disconcerting to Penn State coaches, players, and fans. For what it is worth, Penn State is coming into this game with Ohio State off another bye week.

Here are the three areas I will concentrate upon as the kickoff begins at 8pm EST on ABC:

1. Can Penn State’s Defense Slow Down Ohio State’s Offense? – Penn State’s defense has been keeping the team in games, ranking 6th in the country at points allowed (average 15 points a game). The strength of the Penn State defense is the run defense, while Ohio State prides itself on a powerful running game. With those statistics in mind, keep in mind that these are the opponents Penn State has played up until this point – Central Florida, Akron, Rutgers, Massachusetts, Northwestern, and Michigan. Penn State defeated Rutgers 13-10, largely behind five interceptions of Rutgers quarterback Gary Nova; Ohio State just thrashed Rutgers 56-17.

2. Will Penn State’s Offensive Line Be Able To Protect Christian Hackenberg? – Even Penn State coaches and fans recognized going into the 2014 season that the Penn State offensive line was the decided weak link of the team. It would be generous to say that Penn State has struggled to run the ball; Penn State ranks 121st in the country at rushing the ball. Against Michigan, Christian Hackenberg was continually under siege. Ohio State’s defensive line, led by stalwart Joey Bosa, may be extremely difficult to slow down, let alone stop. Will Penn State head coach James Franklin move Hackenberg out of the pocket in order to keep the Ohio State defensive line in check?

3. Ohio State Gets A Sizable Lead; Send In The Backups? – As stated up above, Ohio State has averaged 56 points a game over its last four victories. While it has been rewarding to witness the continuing maturation and development of Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett, it has also been somewhat disappointing that the Ohio State coaching staff has not been giving backup players such as backup quarterback Cardale Jones more playing time. Perhaps I am concerning myself too much on possible negative consequences, but Jones is literally only one play away from having to run the Ohio State offense, yet has had little to no playing time this season. Will Ohio State play its backups and rest its starters if the Buckeyes get a commanding lead over Penn State?

Penn State Head Coach James Franklin will be using the night game atmosphere to his advantage, relying upon the 106,000 fans in Beaver Stadium to impact and disrupt Ohio State with as much noise as possible. As stated up above, Penn State had a bye weekend, so perhaps Coach Franklin has figured out a few things that will keep Ohio State off balance defensively this game. Then again, the oddsmakers in Las Vegas have installed the Buckeyes as 13.5 point favorites, and I always believe there is a reason why there are new buildings and casinos continually being built out there by these individuals. I have it Ohio State 56, Penn State 17.

All games Saturday, October 25, unless otherwise noted.

BUCKEYES

Ohio State @ Penn State. 8:00p, ABC.

The Nittany Lions have not been particularly impressive so far this year. Their wins have been close or against severely outmatched teams. This week, they come off a bye following consecutive losses to Northwestern and Michigan, both 3-4 teams. They’ll be looking to capitalize on a White-Out crowd and avenge last year’s 63-14 beatdown. This is a rare big “National Stage” game against a team that isn’t really that good.

UPCOMING OPPONENTS

Minnesota @ Illinois. Noon, ESPNU.

Michigan @ Michigan State. 3:30p, ABC.

A few weeks ago, I would’ve bet money that Brady Hoke wouldn’t be the Wolverine coach in this game. Will he still be there after it?

Indiana: no game.

OTHER BIG TEN TEAMS

Maryland @ Wisconsin. Noon, Big Ten Network.

Rutgers @ Nebraska. Noon, ESPN2.

Purdue, Iowa, Northwestern: no games.

OTHER OHIO TEAMS

All games on ESPN3 (online) unless otherwise noted.

(Friday, 10/24) South Florida @ Cincinnati. 7:00p, ESPN2.

Akron @ Ball State, 2:00p.

Ohio @ Western Michigan, 2:00p.

Kent State @ Miami (OH), 2:30p.

OTHER BIG NATIONAL GAMES

(Friday, 10/24) Oregon @ California. 10:00p, FS1.

West Virginia @ Oklahoma State. 3:30p, ESPN.

Mississippi @ LSU. 7:15p, ESPN.

That’s right, this week I’m going to tackle college football’s biggest enemy: Margin of Victory. The stat was famously banned from the BCS formula’s computer component, effectively destroying the only unbiased portion of that calculation. The fear was that by allowing MOV to be included, the system would encourage teams to “run up the score” on lesser opponents, a theory that completely ignores the fact that the essential purpose of rankings is to determine which teams are “lesser.”

While I understand the reasoning behind disallowing MOV in a system that will determine who plays for the national championship, I don’t think it’s necessary to ignore it altogether. Sure, it can be misleading or manipulated to some degree, but it can also be a valuable piece of information in comparing teams.

The main flaw with MOV is that is heavily favors offensive teams in comparisons–a 28-0 win is the same as a 56-28 win. To combat that, I started looking at Percentage of Points instead, another neat stat that ultimately has the opposite problem: A 3-0 win is the same as a 70-0 win.

The answer is simple: combine the two. To calculate Adjusted Margin of Victory, I multiplied each team’s MOV by their overall percentage of points and the result is a number that values both offense and defense. The current number one team in Adjusted MOV is undefeated Marshall, averaging over 47 points a game and giving up less than 17. Ole Miss, Ohio State, Baylor and Alabama round out the top five. Michigan State and Nebraska also crack the top ten.

It’s worth noting that Western Kentucky, the #8 team in scoring offense, is ranked #71 in Adjusted MOV. Stanford, the #2 team in scoring defense, comes in at #27.

To be clear, this is not intended to be a complete ranking of teams. Some consideration for winning percentage and opponent strength would have to be added for that to work. But Adjusted MOV can be a useful way to consider scoring when comparing teams without over-rewarding anyone for piling on against weaker opponents.