Ryan Day: Penn State will be 'biggest challenge of the year'

The Ohio State Buckeyes are on a roll of late, but coach Ryan Day knows there are many challenges left on the schedule, including Penn State. The Nittany Lions are coming off of back-to-back losses after at one point being considered a contender in the Big Ten.

Day and the Buckeyes are still treating them as such ahead of a matchup at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday in Columbus.

“We’ve got to get back and get our rest for Penn State,” the coach said. “We know they have a very, very good defense. This is gonna be the biggest challenge of the year coming up. It’s good. We do have some confidence and we are playing at a high level, but that’s not gonna mean anything if we don’t do it again next week.”

Ohio State has been one of the most dominant teams in the country since a Week 2 loss to Oregon. They beat Indiana 54-7 on Saturday, moving their average margin of victory to 41.6 points since that game against the Ducks. The Buckeyes are making a compelling case to fight their way back into the College Football Playoff conversation. They find themselves at No. 5 in the latest version of the AP poll.

Penn State had a wild time in Week 8, falling to Illinois in a game that went nine overtimes — the most in FBS history. Prior to that the Nittany Lions fell just short against then-No. 2 Iowa, 23-20. The Hawkeyes dropped a game against Purdue the following week.

Part of Penn State’s recent struggles can be attributed to an injury to quarterback Sean Clifford. He left the game against Iowa with his team up 17-3, but did not return as they went on to lose. After a bye week, he was healthy enough to start against Illinois, but did not look his typical self. He finished 19-of-34 for just 165 yards and a touchdown.

Meanwhile, Buckeyes quarterback CJ Stroud was 21-of-28 for 266 yards and four touchdowns against the Hoosiers. Although Penn State appears to be trending in the opposite direction of the Buckeyes, Ryan Day knows every game is a must-win at this point.