Penn State Football: 5 key ingredients to upsetting Ohio State at the horseshoe

“One game…if we played them 10 times, they might win 9…but not this game…not tonight” – Herb Brooks, United States hockey coach prior to the Miracle on Ice in 1980, could hold true for Penn State Football vs. Ohio State.

Ohio State is heavily favored over Penn State Football this weekend, and for good reason.

But, there’s a reason they play the games, because you just never know.

Now, obviously, if the Nittany Lions play like they did last weekend, it will get ugly very quickly.

Don’t expect a total repeat of that, as Penn State Football is a better team than it showed against Illinois.

Penn State’s best players, such as Jahan Dotson and Jaquan Brisker, can match up with anyone in the country, including Ohio State. But, you’re only as strong as your weakest link.

So, obviously, the players/positions that have struggled this season will need to have their best games of the year, namely the offensive and defensive lines.

This has been a series that has consisted of close matchups lately.

In 2019, many Penn State fans said that Ohio State would win by 30 or more, that wasn’t the case. Similar story last season, as Penn State Football only lost by two possessions to the National runner-up, despite being in the middle of the worst start to a season in program history.

If the Nittany Lions can find a way to keep it close until the fourth quarter, anything can happen on a Saturday night in college football, that’s the beauty of the sport.

There are many things that have to go right for the Nittany Lions on Saturday night to derail Ohio State’s season and crush their playoff hopes, and here are some of the major ones.

Best Game vs Worst Game

One thing about any sport, not just college football, is that the same team can look completely different from week to week, or game to game.

Sometimes, a team plays way better than they probably actually are, and some teams play worse than they are. That will need to be the case on Saturday for Penn State Football.

Last week was obviously the Nittany Lions’ worst game of the year, and they are certainly better than they showed against Illinois. If they weren’t, they would probably be 1-6 right now.

Ohio State will need to play their worst (or one of their worst) games of the season against Penn State to give the Nittany Lions a chance at an upset.

Things such as penalties, mental mistakes, unforced turnovers, and even underrating the Nittany Lions and assuming they will have an easy win based on what they saw last week.

Maybe even some coaching errors, such as a few bad play calls or some type of mismanagement of the game. Ohio State has an excellent coaching staff, but even great coaches make mistakes from time to time, and this week would be a good time for that to happen.

If the Buckeyes can shoot themselves in the foot a few times this weekend, it might be enough to swing the momentum, and if Penn State Football can capitalize on those mistakes, things could get interesting.