UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Two of the nation's best defenses will be center stage Saturday at noon in Columbus, Ohio, as No. 7 Penn State and No. 3 Ohio State will clash for the 22nd time with both teams ranked in the AP Top 25.
The Nittany Lions will battle the Buckeyes for one of the marquee matchups in college football this season. Penn State and Ohio State rank second and third in the country in scoring defense with the former allowing eight points per game and the latter allowing 9.7 points per game.
Head coach James Franklin referred to Saturday's showdown between the two historical programs as a "tremendous opportunity." Franklin took questions from the media just days away from the 39th all-time matchup between Penn State and Ohio State.
Drew Allar Staying Steady
Sophomore quarterback Drew Allar has started all six games and has a clean sheet of no interceptions. Allar has played with poise and elite pocket awareness that's allowed him to process his progressions and find open receivers all over the field.
Allar is a product of Medina, Ohio, and will return to his home state Saturday afternoon. Allar is unfazed by the outside distractions and as Franklin outlined, "he's doing a really good job of keeping the main thing the main thing, which is protecting the football, trying to create explosive plays when they're there, but not forcing them."
Allar has been disciplined in his approach by watching film and studying game plans to ultimately grow "more comfortable" in the offense as the season rages on. Allar has taken what the defense has given him and been able to "refine the process" as Franklin put it.
"I think he has just been steady," Franklin said. "To me, when you're steady and you're making small gains daily with your mental approach and emotional approach and physical approach to the game, you get better and you'll like where you'll be at the end of the season. That's what he's doing and not listening to all the other stuff."
Staying True To The Identity
Big games and top-10 matchups bring heightened intensity and energy. Saturday's road contest will be no different as a difficult environment awaits a battle-tested Nittany Lions squad.
Penn State's bread-and-butter has been its electrifying and high-flying defense that ranks first in the country in fewest yards per game at 193.7, passing yards allowed at 121.2 per game and completion percentage.
Playing strong complementary football constructs Penn State's identity as Saturday's challenging matchup will test that identity. Franklin stressed how when "you try to be something that you haven't been in the previous six weeks," that identity falls apart and players do too much.
"I think what you have to be careful of is you have to understand and figure out what the identity of your team is and embrace that identity no matter what the outside world is saying," Franklin said. "You have to be comfortable in your own skin and own who you are and how you have to play."
Run Game Coming 'Organically'
Part of Penn State's identity is its brotherhood in the backfield of sophomores Nicholas Singleton, Kaytron Allen and redshirt senior Trey Potts. The trio of running backs have 11 rushing touchdowns combined and are key red zone pieces.
Franklin said how opposing teams have formulated their defenses differently to attack the Nittany Lions run attack by stacking more players in the box to prevent the potent big plays. "I also know when the opportunities present themselves, there is evidence that these guys will make the big plays because there is enough evidence that they will."
Singleton and Allen both have over 375 rushing yards and are averaging over four yards per carry. The T-formation has been a consistent force for Penn State and as Franklin said, his running backs are running "really hard and really physical."
"Is there sometimes where they're one-on-one with the safety and they try to go destroy the safety? Yeah," Franklin said. "Would you like them sometimes to make them miss? I would say there are examples of them doing the same thing last year and when they lowered the shoulder they punished the guy, bounced off it, and went 60. I just think those things are going to come and happen organically as long as we allow them to come and don't create something that hasn't been detrimental to us to this point."
