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Reading the Buckeye Leaves: Penn State Week

Kyle Morgan
Ohio State Football Penn State

This game has the feel of a Bowl game, even a CFB Playoff game, and quite frankly could probably be analyzed for a few more weeks.

This is a matchup of strength-on-strength no matter what phase you study, but let’s take a closer look at some of the key factors heading into the game versus Penn State.

When Ohio State Has the Ball

Penn State will likely play Cover 3 zone where they can float strong safety Marcus Allen down into the box to show an 8-man box to stop the run. Allen is not a major factor in pass defense, but excels in attacking the line of scrimmage.

The lack of consistent split safeties leaves Penn State open to deep throws that attack the seams.

The beauty is that PSU has also shown difficulty against tempo thus far.

The combination of tempo versus a loaded box will surely allow Barrett to take shots downfield.

Even with the middle of the field closed (MOFC) with a free safety, the Buckeyes have shown the ability to adapt the mesh routes and take advantage of the space between the linebackers and deep safety.

Penn State defensive end Shareef Miller is a one-trick pony when it comes to rushing the passer. He will try to win with speed off the edge, primarily against Isaiah Prince. While this will be no easy task for Prince, the Buckeyes can use this to their advantage by running to the vacated lane with delayed runs when showing pass protection.

Pitt was able to break some long runs with this method, so don’t be surprised if the Buckeyes run on third down-and-longer situations, likely with Barrett and especially with the wide alignment the Nittany Lions use on obvious passing downs. Pitt gashed Penn State with the shovel pass repeatedly, so let’s not forget this is Shelley Meyer’s favorite play, a play we have not seen in quite some time from the Buckeyes.

Penn State has shown a susceptibility to bunch formations or plays involving switching routes and has had a fair amount of miscommunication against these formations. Perhaps we see more corner routes from the Buckeyes, primarily Marcus Baugh, similar to that in the Spring Game.

When Penn State Has the Ball

Saquon Barkley is the cog that makes this offense churn and they utilize inside zone to play into Barkley’s vision and ability to read blocks. The Buckeyes will need to avoid the second level blocks to limit the production of Barkley. Iowa had success with stunting defensive linemen and linebackers to muddy-up the targets of the offensive linemen.

This offense focuses on getting Saquon Barkley involved, but not only from the traditional usage of a running back. Penn State does a nice job of working Barkley into the passing game, as well as using him as a decoy to manipulate defenses to open up other targets. Barkley will be moved all over the formation on Saturday, but he is perhaps most deadly as a receiver out of the backfield.

Frequently, he runs a “Choice” route versus a linebacker, but in the clip below, he broke the tendency and burned Pitt for a long touchdown.

Once the threat of Barkley is established, Penn State utilizes RPO’s to work the quick slants to DaeSean Hamilton, Mike Gesicki and Juwan Johnson. The Buckeyes have seen this in practice against their own offense, and were torched with it versus Oklahoma.

Tyquan Lewis mentioned the key to defending the Nittany Lions is by remaining disciplined, but the Buckeye linebackers will need to get hands on Gesicki at the line of scrimmage to disrupt the timing of the play. Gesicki is not a physical guy — you can tell based on his inability to engage in blocking, so the Buckeyes will need to make him uncomfortable any chance they get. This version of the “Pop Pass” is a red zone favorite of the Penn State offense.

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