Joel Klatt believes pressure is on Ohio State vs. Penn State

There’s always pressure when you play a Top-10 matchup, especially against conference competition. However, considering some of the narratives out of Columbus and about Ryan Day and the Buckeyes, FOX Sports’ Joel Klatt thinks there’s a ton of pressure on Ohio State this weekend.

Klatt examined the Buckeye’s point of view on his show this week ahead of their contest with No. 7 Penn State. In his opinion, there’s no denying what’s at stake for Day and the Buckeyes on Saturday.

“I believe that there’s a lot of pressure on Ohio State in this game,” said Klatt. “A lot of pressure on this team, this program, and their coach, Ryan Day.”

The first part of his reasoning has to do with the Big Ten race. The fact of the matter is that Ohio State fans won’t be pleased if they finish behind both Michigan and Penn State because of a loss like this.

“They are expecting, always, to play at the top end of the sport. There’s this notion – and I believe it’s true by the way – there’s this belief that Michigan, who has won the conference back-to-back years, might be a little better than, maybe, both of these teams,” explained Klatt. “All of the sudden, that puts a lot of pressure on Ohio State because it’s like you can’t be third in the Big Ten East”

“That’s just from an overarching standpoint. In their mind, that cannot happen,” Klatt said. “If you lose this game at home? That’s essentially where you’re at.”

The second part of Klatt’s point is the ‘big game narrative’ around Ohio State. No matter what Day’s record is overall, many have taken note of what he has or hasn’t done under the brightest of lights.

“In every single big game, the Ohio State expectation presents a lot of pressure on the program. We’ve seen that now over the last couple of years. It doesn’t matter how good Ryan Day has been. It doesn’t matter that he’s 51-6 as a head coach,” said Klatt. “Again, like, this guy has won at such an incredible clip. But the problem is, in that area, he didn’t beat Michigan the last two years. They didn’t win the Big Ten, they lost to Georgia. So, now, all of a sudden, there’s this narrative, like, ‘They can’t win the big one’. Well, here’s another big one. So that presents a lot of pressure on this organization and this program.”

With all things considered, Klatt thinks Ohio State has many aspects in their favor to win this game. They better do so, though, as he knows what might be said about Day and the Buckeyes if they fall short

“You’re the most veteran team, you’re at home, and you cannot finish third in this division,” Klatt said. “There’s a lot of pressure on Ohio State. That’s just a 30,000-foot view of what’s going on from the Ohio State perspective.”