Penn State football: Getting over the Ohio State hump in 2020

Penn State football fans know that beating Ohio State needs to happen in 2020.

For Penn State football, the Big Ten Championship and College Football Playoff are within reach once again, and once again it looks like the path to getting there will heavily depend on beating the Ohio State Buckeyes.

For three straight seasons, the Buckeyes have thwarted any hopes at a conference title or playoff spot for the Nittany Lions, and five of the six seasons James Franklin has been at Penn State he’s lost to the Eastern Division rivals.

With Penn State entering the 2020 season with such high hopes, including a Top 5 preseason ranking from 247 Sports, the game against the Buckeyes will become a focal point of the schedule once again.

While a victory over Ohio State is no guarantee of a playoff spot (as demonstrated so cruelly by the playoff committee in 2016), the Nittany Lions can’t afford to let that game slip away again.

Penn State football finding a way to win

It’s not like Penn State hasn’t fielded competitive teams or was blown out by Ohio State in the last three years. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.

Both teams were ranked in the top ten when they met from 2017-2019, and the Lions lost those three games by a combined point total of 13, with two of the games being decided by just a point.

Some bad luck, and perhaps some bad decisions, played into this three-game win streak by the Buckeyes.

So how does James Franklin get his team over the hump and find a way to win (without the benefit of a Kick-Six).

Most importantly, Franklin shouldn’t try to out-coach himself or overthink the game. It seems at times he wants to go against his basic instincts and call plays or make decisions he normally wouldn’t make in an attempt to out-fox his opponent when coming up against Ohio State.

Stay within your game. Do what you do best. Dance with the one who brought you…or any other number of clichés come to mind.

Take the 2019 game, for instance. Ohio State was leading 21-0 and had the Nittany Lions in a position they had not been all season long to that point. Trailing, and desperate. Penn State panicked right from the start. As soon as Justin Fields started weaving his way around the field, the PSU defense — usually solid — looked out of sync and unsure of themselves.

The defense regained its poise, Penn State punched back and closed the gap to 21-17.

After starting quarterback Sean Clifford left the game with an injury, the game was in the hands of freshman Will Levis, who played well overall, but threw a late interception and was sacked twice in crucial moments nearing the end of the game.

Franklin told the media that Clifford had been available to come back in but that he wasn’t 100 percent, so he kept Levis on the field. Would a slightly less-than Clifford been able to avoid some of those late mistakes? Some have questioned the wisdom of leaving the freshman on the field in such a crucial game.

Another uncharacteristic mistake last season was not making the Buckeyes pay when they turned the ball over.

Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields fumbled the ball three times (losing two of them) and running back J.K. Dobbins fumbled once, with the Lions only getting 10 points from those turnovers. Even converting one more touchdown from a turnover would have changed the face of the game.

Limit the mistakes, contain their big-play guys, and make the Buckeyes play a Penn State brand of football, not the other way around. Ohio State thrives on shootouts and doesn’t fare well when the tempo is slow and the scoring opportunities are limited.

Most importantly, Penn State — and its fans — need to do what Ohio State fans did at the Horseshoe last year. Make Beaver Stadium deafening loud when it matters and take the Buckeyes out of their comfort zone.