A top-25 battle in the Big Ten takes
place in Happy Valley this weekend, as the 11th-ranked Penn State Nittany
Lions take on the 15th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes.
Both teams are a game behind Iowa in the conference standings, so a loss here
would all but eliminate either team from contending for the Big Ten crown.
This series couldn't be any tighter, with each team winning 12 of the 24 all-
time meetings. The home team has won 12 of the last 16 meetings, although Penn
State posted a 13-6 victory in Columbus a year ago.
Ohio State comes into this game having won back-to-back games, including a
45-0 shutout of New Mexico State last weekend. The shutout was the third of
the season for OSU.
The Nittany Lions have won five straight games since their only loss of the
season against Iowa (21-10). Last week, the team used a late offensive
eruption to post a 34-13 victory at Northwestern.
After a slow start to the season, sophomore signal-caller Terrelle Pryor has
strung together a couple of solid performances and is starting to look like
the player that keeps defensive coordinators up at night.
He is obviously a concern for Joe Paterno.
"I think they've done some things a little differently in the offense to take
advantage of his tremendous ability. He started a little bit slow, to be frank
with you, but the last few games he's been very, very overpowering, really.
He's running well, he's throwing the ball well deep. I think he's improved. He
has improved, but he was pretty darn good as a freshman and he's better as a
sophomore and will continue to get better."
While his passing numbers are still mediocre at best (54.6 percent completion
rate, 13 TDs and nine INTs), Pryor is still one of the top duel-threats in the
nation. The athletic signal-caller is the team's leading rusher at the moment,
having amassed 554 yards (6.0 ypc), while scoring six of the team's 15 rushing
TDs.
Junior Brandon Saine (5.0 ypc, one TD) and sophomore Dan Herron (5.0 ypc, six
TDs) add to a ground attack that is netting 186.6 ypg.
When Pryor does look downfield in the vertical game, it is usually in the
direction of wideouts DeVier Posey (43 receptions, 595 yards, six TDs) and
Dane Sanzenbacher (23 receptions, 460 yards, six TDs).
One area of concern for OSU will be the change in placekicking duties, as the
team lost Aaron Pettrey last week to a knee injury. He will be replaced by
junior Devin Barclay or perhaps freshman Ben Buchanan.
The Ohio State defense has had its ups and downs this season, but the numbers
are still impressive, limiting foes to just 260.0 yards of total offense,
including just 86.4 on the ground. Big plays are the name of the game in
Columbus, with OSU registering 24 takeaways and 25 sacks thus far.
Middle linebacker Brian Rolle currently leads the team in tackles (68), with
4.0 TFLs and one fumble recovery. He is being pressed hard by fellow LB Ross
Homan (66 tackles), who has two sacks, two interceptions and two fumble
recoveries to his credit. Rush ends Thaddeus Gibson (9.5 TFLs, 4.0 sacks) and
Nathan Williams (8.0 TFLs, 3.5 sacs) are the players to keep an eye on up
front, while strong safety Kurt Coleman (53 tackles, three INTs) commands the
same attention in the secondary.
The Nittany Lions have really elevated their game during their current win
streak and a lot of it has to do with the play of quarterback Darryl Clark.
The senior signal-caller has nine TD passes and five rushing scores, with only
one interception over that span. One of the top rated passers in the nation,
Clark has an efficiency rating of 149.3, good for 14th nationally and first in
the Big Ten. He has completed 63.1 percent of his passes, for 2,158 yards,
with 18 TDs, adding another five on the ground.
Jim Tressel is fully aware that Clark is peaking at the right time.
"Offensively they have the blessing of having a very veteran quarterback who
you've seen grow as each year's gone on, I think this might be Daryll's sixth
year because I think he spent a year at prep school and then redshirted and so
forth. He's a good player. He's a physical player. Hasn't run as much this
year. I would expect him to run a little bit more in this game because they're
going to do whatever it takes to do in this battle, but he's making great
decisions. He leads our conference in passing efficiency and he's very much in
command."
Despite new faces on the outside, Clark has confidence in his receivers, as
Derek Moye (39 receptions, for 648 yards and five TDs), Graham Zug (29
receptions, for 344 yards, five TDs) and Chaz Powell (25 receptions, for 352
yards, three TDs) have all been reliable.
Balance is the key however and Penn State still relies heavily on its ground
assault (182.0 ypg). Talented tailback Evan Royster (859 yards, five TDs)
leads the way in that area, averaging nearly six yards per carry (5.9).
Consistency is the key year-in and year-out on the defensive side of the
football for Penn State and 2009 is no different. One of the better stop units
in the country this season, PSU ranks first in the nation in scoring defense
(9.3 ppg) and fifth in total defense (254.8 ypg). Once again, the defense is
led by the play of its linebackers and few units are getting it done like LBs
Josh Hull (82 tackles, two sacks, two INTs), Navorro Bowman (53 tackles, 9.0
TFLs, one INT, two fumble recoveries) and Sean Lee (49 tackles, 8.0 TFLs, 2.0
sacks).
The Nittany Lions have feasted on opposing QBs this year with 32 sacks in the
first nine games. Leading the charge in that regard are tackle Jared Odrick
(33 tackles, 10.0 TFLs, 6.0 sacks) and end Jack Crawford (28 tackles, team-
high 13.0 TFLs, 5.5 sacks).
©2009 Sports Network. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
