Jim Knowles describes differences he sees in Penn State’s offense this season

When Ohio State takes on Penn State this weekend in Happy Valley, the Buckeyes will be facing a far different Nittany Lions offense than in years past.

After struggling on that side of the ball for the past few years, coach James Franklin pulled the trigger on a change in offensive coordinator. He tapped Andy Kotelnicki to take over and revitalize the unit.

And it has worked.

Penn State will enter Saturday’s game with the nation’s No. 13 ranked total offense, averaging 463.7 yards per game. The team ranks fifth nationally in passing efficiency.

It’s the ways that Penn State stresses defenses that has caused opposing defensive coordinators to stay up a little later at night.

“Oh yeah, it’s a lot different. It’s a lot different,” Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said. “There are multiple formations and shifts, I mean like all the time. So all of that window dressing to create stress on the defense, that’s really a lot different. Then you add in the quarterback run game, that’s a lot different.”

Penn State has shown remarkable balance, averaging 197.1 rushing yards per game and 266.6 passing yards per contest. That balance will test the Ohio State defense, which hopes to have a key member back on Saturday.

Ohio State updates status of Lathan Ransom

Ahead of a highly-anticipated road game at No. 3 Penn State, No. 4 Ohio State is optimistic about the status of safety Lathan Ransom, who was sidelined for this past weekend’s game against Nebraska.

“We’re excited to get a full week of practice out of Lathan,” Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day said Tuesday. “So we’ll kind of see, again, how the week goes with him. But good to know that we’ve built some depth back there.”

Knowles also commented on Ransom’s potential availability against Penn State.

“Having Lathan back, the experience, the run-stopping capability, I think that helps us for sure,” Knowles said. “And then Jordan (Hancock) can go back to nickel, based on how Lathan really holds up this week.”

Although Ransom missed three tackles at Oregon, per Pro Football Focus, he had missed only three others all season.

He’s allowed just 7.5 yards reception and just one touchdown this year, according to PFF. Before he went down, his 4.5 tackles for loss were tied with Caleb Downs for the second most on the team. Ransom’s forced a pair of fumbles, one against Marshall and another at Michigan State, and he notched a scoop-and-score touchdown in the opener versus Akron.

On3’s Andy Backstrom also contributed to this report.