Sometimes, the only plausible explanation to prepare a team to face an upset is to say that the underdog is desperate or playing with nothing to lose.

That narrative is finding its way through the Woody Hayes Athletic Center as the Ohio State Buckeyes prepare for the Penn State Nittany Lions on Saturday.

The week 10 matchup had all the ingredients to be one of the best games of the 2025 regular season before Penn State crashed and burned after a hard-fought loss to the Oregon Ducks. The Ducks needed two overtimes against the Nittany Lions to come out on top in late September, and it's been downhill since then.

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In the following week, Penn State traveled to California and suffered their second lose of the season to the UCLA Bruins in a major way. The losing streak would continue for the fellow Big Ten Conference member, dropping their last two games to Northwestern and Iowa. During the midst of their four-game skid, they also lost future NFL prospect in quarterback Drew Allar to a season-ending ankle injury.

Now, Penn State comes into Saturday's game with "nothing to lose" mentality, while playing with "the house's money" and are desperate to get a win.

There are probably 100 more cliches that would fit the description of how Penn State is going to approach Saturday's game. However, none of it means anything to Ohio State. 

On Thursday after practice, star Caleb Downs was asked by reporters about how Ohio State is dealing with preparing for Penn State to come in with that mindset. 

"I would say that Wisconsin was desperate, too. That is not a huge thing; you have to go into every game knowing that the other team wants what you have. We are just focused on doing our job. If we have all 11 do their job every play, I can't really say a team is going to have much to do."

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Every single week that the Buckeyes take the field, they are playing in their opponents' Super Bowl. Whether it is Ohio University trying to prove why they should have been recruited to play at Ohio State, or Washington and Illinois trying to get their "signature win," every opponent dreams of beating the Buckeyes. 

Ohio State is no stranger to that feeling on the field, and are also fully-equipped for any battle to come their way. A lot of the credit goes to head coach Ryan Day, who always has this team prepared to win football games, which is a perfect blend with maturity level of these players. 

Ohio State is a college team with a professional mindset. 

Nothing will catch them by surprise, especially the Nittany Lions this weekend.