For better or for worse, Ohio State has been the benchmark for Penn State football since it joined the Big Ten Conference.
And more often than not, for the Nittany Lions it’s been for worse.
Improving Penn State’s 7-14 record vs. Ohio State since 1993 has to be high on James Franklin’s lengthy to-do list.
Recruiting the players who can make it happen is even higher.
For Penn State, the series was at its nadir on Oct. 26, 2013, in The Horseshoe. When the smoke cleared precisely at 11:32 p.m., the scoreboard read Ohio State 63, Penn State 14. It was one of Penn State’s worst defeats ever, ranking just below the 106-0 loss at Lehigh in 1889 and the 64-5 drubbing by the Duquesne Athletic Club in 1899.
And it was living proof of what the NCAA sanctions had wrought, especially when Penn State’s fortunes were in the hands of a masterful and relentless opposing coach like Urban Meyer.
That was the worst of times. Coincidentally, the best of Penn State’s times against Ohio State in the Big Ten came by the identical score. That was in 1994, when the Nittany Lions’ turbo-charged offense pounded the Buckeyes 63-14 in Beaver Stadium.
So, while the high points and low points in the rivalry over the past 22 years may be symmetrical, in between Ohio State has continually held the upper hand. Ohio State (6-12) and Michigan’s Lloyd Carr (2-9) were Joe Paterno’s Achilles heels.
If Franklin is going to be a true success at Penn State, Ohio State will be the benchmark by which he is measured. If Penn State can beat the Buckeyes consistently – the last time PSU defeated Ohio State in consecutive games was in 1963-64 – then they’re very likely doing very OK. With the Buckeyes in the same division, the road to the Big Ten Championship and the College Football Playoff will always run through Columbus. Especially while Urban Meyer is there.
Meyer already has a huge head start – his first day at Ohio State was 775 days before Franklin started at Penn State. Ohio State is past its far-less-onerous NCAA sanctions. Meyer had program continuity with the hiring of interim head coach Luke Fickell and Ohio State’s past four recruiting classes have been ranked 3, 2, 4 and 11 by Rivals. Penn State, in turn, has had classes ranked 10, 24, 43 and 51.
AN OHIO STATE(MENT)
Ohio State is on a roll once again. The Buckeyes have averaged 56 points in a four-game winning streak since losing at home to Virginia Tech. Penn State’s last victory came 31 days ago; since then it’s had two losses (29-6, 18-13) and two off-weeks (0-0, 0-0).
This Saturday’s game at Beaver Stadium is one day short of a year since Ohio State’s 2013 spanking, which included a 42-7 lead at halftime. The blowout was punctuated by Meyer’s challenge of a call on the field when the Buckeyes were up by 49 points in the third quarter.
“We’ll remember some things,” Bill O’Brien, Penn State’s coach at the time, said after the game. A year later, O’Brien is now coaching the NFL’s Texans, who will be in Pittsburgh this weekend for Monday night’s game. Urban is still around, and he’s the guy who says he sees Saturday’s game against Penn State as a true benchmark for his 5-1 squad.
Here’s a measuring stick already on hand: Ohio State beat Rutgers, 56-17, on Saturday in Columbus, with 14 points in the first 10 minutes. Penn State beat Rutgers, 13-10, with the final seven points coming in the last 73 seconds.
“I think we need to come out like we did (against Rutgers) on a nationally televised game,” Meyer said after defeating the Scarlet Knights. “Next week we all know what’s coming down the barrel — prime time game, in a stadium with 110,000 people. That’s going to be a great evaluator.”
TRYING TO BUCK(EYE) THE TREND
In some seasons – 1994, 1999, 2005 and 2008 – Meyer would be dead-on, if not dead to rights. Those were years when some great or near-great Penn State teams beat Ohio State. But even at that, other than 1994 the wins were hard to come by, with the Nittany Lions winning by 13, 7 and 7 points. Two of Penn State’s three other wins (2001, 2011) came when both programs were under the gun.
But, otherwise, Ohio State has made beating Penn State run-of-the-mill since its neighbor to east joined the league. Not counting the two 63-14 contests, Ohio State has won by an average of 13.6 points, while Penn State’s margin of victory has been 7 points.
There’s more. (Sorry, but to overcome a problem, you first have to recognize its existence.) Since Penn State joined the Big Ten Conference in 1993:
— Ohio State has had at least a share of eight Big Ten titles, while Penn State has had three (I’m ignoring NCAA sanctions on both squads).
— Ohio State has appeared in the final Associated Press poll 17 times and 11 times in the Top 10 (eight Top 10 finishes since 2000). That includes, of course, Ohio State’s national championship in 2002. Penn State has appeared in the final poll 12 times and five times in the Top 10 (two Top 10 finishes since 2000).
— Ohio State has had the best conference (133-36-1) and overall (216-54-1) records. Penn State ranks No. 4 for both conference (106-64) and overall (181-83) records.
— Ohio State has had 123 players selected in the NFL Draft; Penn State has had 83.
— Ohio State has had 39 All-Americans; Penn State has had 23.
IT’S ALL ABOUT RIVALS
Now for some numbers that really count: In Rivals’ recruiting class rankings since 2005, Penn State’s average ranking is 29th, once in the Top 10. Ohio State’s average ranking is 9th, five times in the Top 10.
In his two-and-a-half seasons at Ohio State, Meyer is 29-3. In that time, Penn State has been 19-11. Franklin certainly knows this: to be the top team in the Big Ten’s East Division, to say nothing of the overall conference, he has to top Meyer. On the football field. And especially on the recruiting trail. Like right now.
The latter is a game Franklin can win — and is winning. Right now, Ohio State’s Class of 2015 is ranked No. 17 by Rivals. Penn State is higher, though, at No. 10.
See. Already, Penn State is getting better at not being worse.
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