Lions, Buckeyes play on Saturday
Before the college football season, many national pundits looked at this Saturday’s huge showdown between Penn State and Ohio State as one that would decide an undefeated Big Ten champion and a playoff berth.
Penn State (7-0) is ranked second while Ohio State (6-1) has worked its way back up to sixth after losing to Oklahoma in Week 2.
Both teams enter the game with a sense of revenge, and the hype surrounding the game will only grow as kickoff nears.
The Buckeyes seek revenge because Penn State ended its undefeated season and chance at a Big Ten title a year ago, while Penn State wants retribution for Ohio State being chosen for the playoff last year despite Penn State winning the head-to-head, as well as the Big Ten title.
Ohio State has the obvious home field advantage, but will weather play a factor in the outcome?
As of the deadline for this column, www.weather.com reported a 90 percent chance of rain in Columbus, Saturday.
The difference in the game could very well be in the trenches.
Ohio State may have the best defensive line in the country, while Penn State’s offensive line has not developed as well as expected.
Penn State offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead has done a marvelous job working around the limitations of the offensive line, and Saturday will offer the stiffest challenge yet to the Penn State line.
Ohio State quarterback J. T. Barrett has put up huge numbers over the team’s last five games, but then again, Ohio State has played Army, UNLV, at Rutgers, Maryland and at Nebraska.
What kind of numbers will he put up against Penn State’s top-ranked scoring defense in the country?
The Buckeyes are the favorites in the game, but if Penn State’s offensive production even remotely resembles its success against Michigan, the Nittany Lions have a legit chance to walk out with the win.
This game will impact the first College Football Playoff rankings, which will be released Tuesday night.
An Ohio State win catapults it over Penn State, while a Nittany Lions win would eliminate the Buckeyes.
White Out experience
A Beaver Stadium record 110,823 fans were in attendance for Penn State’s 42-13 win over Michigan, and the atmosphere was amazing.
Tim Bukowski, of Rostraver Township, attended the game with his wife, Laurel, and friends, and he spoke about his first White Out.
“I have been to so many sporting events at all levels,” he said. “That was the most electric atmosphere I have ever witnessed at a sporting event.”
Curtis Chapman, of Farmington, graduated from Penn State, has gone to games there for almost 30 years, and made it to his first White Out.
“You haven’t been to a football game until you have been to a Penn State White Out with over 100,000 people,” he said.
The Ohio State student section is calling for a Black Out Saturday, but this Penn State team may be too experienced to let the crowd affect it.
Pitt’s key win
The Panthers (3-5) picked up an important win at Duke Saturday, and they have two more winnable games that are must-wins this week and next. Pitt hosts Virginia Saturday and North Carolina next Thursday night.
Wins in both games mean that Pitt would be 5-5 heading into the tough backend of the schedule with a game at Virginia Tech and a home date with Miami. Even if Pitt manages to get to 5-7, the team may be picked for a bowl game.
More important than playing in a low-tier bowl for the Panthers though would be to get the extra practices that come with a bowl bid.
The team is very young and the extra work would only help.
Local Pitt fan’s experience at Duke
Dave Bowker, of Carroll Township, was part of the Mon Valley Golden Panthers contingent that went down to Durham, N.C., to watch the Panthers pull out the 24-17 win over Duke at Wallace Wade Stadium.
While on campus, the contingent got a tour of Cameron Indoor Stadium and the Duke Sports Museum, which is connected.
“We had a great time and Duke has a beautiful campus,” Bowker said. “They treated us well there and the tour at Cameron was great.
“The hospitality was great as well.”
Among the other local Pitt fans who went included Bowker’s son Ross, a Pitt grad, John Zunic and Randy Rodriguez.
Another tough WVU test
The 22nd-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers (5-2) host 11th-ranked Oklahoma State (6-1) Saturday.
The game is huge as both teams are tied for second place at 3-1 in the conference, and a second loss means that the loser will need some help to advance to the Big 12 title game.
Local trio running strong
Three area runners on the Point Park cross country team placed in their respective events last Friday and helped both the men’s and women’s teams win the Pre-Conference Championship Meet at Asbury University in Wilmore, Ky.
Albert Gallatin graduate Xavier Stephens, a sophomore, took first place in the men’s 8k with a time of 27:26, while Waynesburg Central’s Sean Hilverding, a junior, placed 10th with a time on 28:32.
Brownsville’s Kara Rohlf, a junior, finished fourth in 20:26 in the women’s 5k.