The Ohio State Buckeyes are playing with something to prove on Saturday in The 'Shoe against Penn State and their former coach Jim Knowles.
It's defense day on the Buckeye Breakdown Podcast, and this week has a little bit of extra juice to it.
While the 2024 Ohio State Buckeyes brought back the National Championship trophy into the Horseshoe, defensive coordinator Jim Knowles was on a plane to State College to accept a massive pay day to become the DC for Penn State.
Over the last 10 years, Ohio State is 9-1 against the Nittany Lions. While the results are lopsided, there have been multiple "instant classic" games during the stretch.
Whether it was JT Barrett's perfection in the fourth quarter, JT Tuimoloau's super-human game, Dwayne Haskins' comeback, or last year's goal-line stand, the performances prove that the games are great, but the Buckeyes are winning all of the matchups.
The added benefit for the Buckeyes this week is the Knowles angle. When Ohio State has the football, they are going to try to put it on the Nittany Lions all afternoon. Head coach Ryan Day mentioned earlier this week that the relationship between him and Jim Knowles has certainly soured since his departure last year.
Ohio State Buckeyes Defense Looks to Prove Old Coach Wrong Against Penn State
The Ohio State Buckeyes have a lot on the line on Saturday, including their perfect record and a chance to prove that their old coach, Jim Knowles, made a ca...
Ohio State immediately proved that Knowles made a critical career error by leaving Ohio State, as the addition of Matt Patricia has upgraded the Buckeyes' defense in a major way. And Saturday will be an another opportunity to show him his mistake in person.
Day has flexed his muscles in many ways as one of the best head coaches in modern college football history. One area where he is the best is after the bye week. The Buckeyes are a perfect 8-0 after the bye during his time as the head coach, outscoring their opponents 46-11 on average.
The well-established coach makes adjustments, gets his players healthy, and has them ready to go when they get back on the field after a week off.
Ohio State's defense is playing better than any other unit in the entire country. They are by far and away the best defense in all of football and have yet to be challenged by an opponent. Luckily for the defense, Saturday will be no different.
The Nittany Lions are limping into the week 10 contest, as the program has seen its fair share of injuries this year. The big injury was the season-ending ankle injury suffered by quarterback Drew Allar. This paved the way for freshman Ethan Grunkemeyer to become the starter, an Ohio kid who went to Olentagy High School, just north of Columbus.
While he may be excited to play in Ohio Stadium for the first time, he has his work cut out for him.
The Nittany Lions offense hasn't done enough the last four weeks and they will be fighting an uphill battle on Saturday. Ohio State and Penn State square off on Saturday afternoon inside Ohio Stadium.