Victory Bell Rings
Fansided

Penn State Football vs Ohio State: 3 players who need career nights for the Nittany Lions to pull off upset

By Nick Kreiser

STATE COLLEGE, PA - NOVEMBER 30: Mike Miranda #73 of the Penn State Nittany Lions prepares to snap the ball during the second half of the game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Beaver Stadium on November 30, 2019 in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
STATE COLLEGE, PA - NOVEMBER 30: Mike Miranda #73 of the Penn State Nittany Lions prepares to snap the ball during the second half of the game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Beaver Stadium on November 30, 2019 in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 3
Next

Penn State Football will need to play its best game of the season if they hope to play spoiler to Ohio State’s conference championship and Playoff hopes on Saturday night.

While it certainly needs to be a collective effort, and every player and coach will have to bring their ‘A’ game against the Buckeyes, some specific players need to step up in a big way for Penn State Football.

The Nittany Lions‘ best players can match up with any team in the country, including Ohio State. Guys like Jahan Dotson, Arnold Ebiketie, Brandon Smith, and Jaquan Brisker are some of those players.

However as the saying goes, “you’re only as strong as your weakest link.”

For that reason, some of the Nittany Lions who haven’t been playing as well this season need to have big games.

It is unrealistic to expect these 3 players to play like first-rounders against Ohio State, but they need to play their absolute best and have career nights if Penn State hopes to knock off the Buckeyes.

Penn State Football C/G – Mike Miranda

Yes, we all know it by now … Penn State Football just simply cannot run the football in 2021.

The offensive line has struggled in run blocking all across the board, though some have struggled more than others. Mike Miranda may just be the weakest link up front for the Nittany Lions.

If the experienced Miranda can play the best game of his career, it could be enough for this offense to have some success running the football. They probably won’t be able to consistently win up front and pick up positive yardage (I hope they prove me wrong), but maybe a handful of plays that are blocked well and the back can pick up 10+ yards could go a long way.

Maybe even just one play that is blocked well where Penn State can rip off a long touchdown run to steal some momentum could do the trick as well, but there needs to be some type of a spark with the ground game.

The offensive line is an x-factor (as it always is), and it starts with Mike Miranda.

Home/Penn State Football