ESPN previews Saturday night’s Ohio State-Penn State matchup:
The Team That Won’t Go Away has come back. With five straight victories, topped off by a — go ahead and say it — BCS-worthy, 45-7 rout on the road of Michigan State, Ohio State has played well enough to return to the top 10. That leaves it in the championship waiting room, poised to pounce the minute Texas, Alabama and, yes, Penn State should fall from the ranks of the unbeaten.
That is the beauty of Ohio State’s game on Saturday night (ABC, 8 ET). The No. 9 Buckeyes (7-1, 4-0 in Big Ten) will play the No. 3 Nittany Lions (8-0, 4-0). With an upset victory at Ohio Stadium, Ohio State may no longer be met with universal eye-rolling.
Anyone who has heard the disciplined messages of Tressel will understand that this is not a subject he has broached with his team.
“We never mention it,” Tressel said. “In August, we talk about an ultimate goal: See if we can earn our way into the top two teams in the country, play for that championship, see if we can become champions. After that, it’s never mentioned again.”
It usually isn’t difficult for Ohio State to knock off Penn State. The Nittany Lions are 0-7 in The Horseshoe since they joined the Big Ten Conference. Penn State last won at Ohio State in 1978, when the Buckeyes started a freshman quarterback who played beyond his years. Terrelle Pryor, based on early returns, is expected to have a more productive career than Art Schlichter.
This Penn State team has been one of the bigger surprises of the 2008 season, at least to those outside of the Nittany Lions’ football building. Quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno said Thursday that, by the end of spring practice, this team gave off a vibe that felt a lot like the 2005 team that went 11-1.
You remember that season. Veteran coach Joe Paterno, hounded by critics who believed he had passed retirement age long ago, came within a last-play loss to Michigan of his fifth undefeated record.
Three years later, Paterno, 81, is in the last year of his contract. He began the season again confronted by questions of how long he would coach; that’s what happens after consecutive records of 9-4, with a cumulative record of 9-7 in the Big Ten.
It really is the biggest game of the season for both teams. If the Buckeyes win, the memories of September’s loss to USC will fade and they’ll likely have a relatively easy trip to another Big Ten Championship and the Rose Bowl. If the Nittany Lions win, then we’re talking BCS Championship contender which wouldn’t be all that bad a way for one of college football’s greatest coaches to end his career when you think about it.
I have plenty of relatives from Pennsylvania and almost went to PSU myself, so I wouldn’t be entirely disappointed to see them do well. But I’ll be rooting for the Buckeyes tomorrow night.
