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Penn State Football: 3 key Matchups vs. Ohio State

By Lawrence Santa Maria

COLUMBUS, OH - NOVEMBER 23: Lamont Wade #38 of the Penn State Nittany Lions celebrates after John Reid #29 of the Penn State Nittany Lions broke up a pass intended for Chris Olave #17 of the Ohio State Buckeyes in the first quarter at Ohio Stadium on November 23, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH - NOVEMBER 23: Lamont Wade #38 of the Penn State Nittany Lions celebrates after John Reid #29 of the Penn State Nittany Lions broke up a pass intended for Chris Olave #17 of the Ohio State Buckeyes in the first quarter at Ohio Stadium on November 23, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images) /
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Oct 24, 2020; Bloomington, Indiana, USA; Indiana Hoosiers wide receiver Ty Fryfogle (3) is tackled by Penn State Nittany Lions cornerback Joey Porter Jr. (9) the first quarter of the game at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 24, 2020; Bloomington, Indiana, USA; Indiana Hoosiers wide receiver Ty Fryfogle (3) is tackled by Penn State Nittany Lions cornerback Joey Porter Jr. (9) the first quarter of the game at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports /

Penn State’s secondary vs OSU wide receivers

Penn State’s secondary was a major question mark going into week 1, and all in all held up fairly well against Indiana’s passing attack.

Indiana QB Michael Penix only threw for 171 yards and 1 touchdown. He was also intercepted once by senior safety Lamont Wade in the 3rd quarter. This week the test gets much tougher facing Justin Fields, who was a surreal 20/21 for 276 yards and 2 scores vs Nebraska saturday.

There is growing skepticism that Buckeyes star wide out Chris Olave may be out Saturday, which would put  a lot of pressure on sophomore wide receiver Garrett Wilson.  Outside of Wilson and Olave, only two other OSU wide receivers caught passes, freshman Julian Fleming and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, with one reception each.

The standout for the Nittany Lions week 1 was undoubtedly freshman corner Joey Porter Jr. Porter recorded a sack and a pass breakup, and was far away there best cover corner vs the Hoosiers. The key will be for  Penn State’s secondary is whether they can avoid any mental breakdowns and blown coverages, and make Ohio State earn there yards with contested catches.

The Buckeyes are to talented to give them anything easy in the passing game.

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