Penn State Football: keys to success against the Ohio Bobcats

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Penn State Football opens their home schedule against the Ohio Bobcats at noon on Saturday, and the Nittany Lions are comfortable favorites after their nail-biting week one win.

However, as we all know, no team can be taken lightly in this sport.

The Bobcats are a veteran team looking for a bounce back season, and they got off to a good start in week one.

The boys in blue and white can’t take their foot off the gas in this one, nor can they look ahead to next week’s showdown.

These are the keys to success for Penn State Football to defend home turf for the first time in the 2022 season.

Key to success on offense – establish the ground game

WEST LAFAYETTE, IN – SEPTEMBER 01: Nicholas Singleton #10 of the Penn State Nittany Lions runs the ball during the game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Ross-Ade Stadium on September 1, 2022 in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /

This will continue to be a key to success for the foreseeable future, or at least until the Nittany Lions finally do establish the run.

If I’m Tim Albin and the Ohio Bobcats looking to pull off a major upset, I’m going to sell out to defend the pass.

Really, it’s been since the 2019 Cotton Bowl since this Penn State Football program has dominated someone with their rushing attack, so if I’m Ohio, I’ll take my chances and focus on slowing down the Big Ten co-offensive player of the week in week one, as well as Mitchell Tinsley and Parker Washington.

Don’t let those guys beat you if you’re coach Albin. If the running game finally finds its stride and that’s what beats you, so be it. Tip your cap and move on.

So, Penn State needs to get the running game going against the Bobcats tomorrow afternoon. Not just for this game, but for future matchups as well. If future opponents watch film of this one and see that the Nittany Lions couldn’t even run the ball against Ohio, they too won’t worry very much about defending the run and will focus on shutting down the pass.

Ohio allowed an average of 3.5 yards per carry last week against FAU, and Penn State’s backs averaged 3.4 yards per carry against Purdue. The Nittany Lions need to get that number up around at least 5 yards per carry, and hopefully the combined total rushing yards of all the running backs is at least sniffing 200 yards.

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