James Franklin breaks down Ohio State's challenging offense

Penn State faces their tallest task of the season this week as they take on No. 2 Ohio State at home on Saturday. The Buckeye’s offense has been notoriously dominant in recent history and this year is no different as they boast the second most points per game in the country with 49.6.

Their passing attack has been a staple of their scheme, but within the Big Ten Purdue has actually averaged more yards in the air per game. The Nittany Lions faced Purdue in week one, securing a 35-31 win, and head coach James Franklin was asked about the similarities and challenges of facing the two offenses.

“Purdue’s been doing it all year as well, coach Brohm’s done a great job. I do think that is a test that I think we did a pretty good job with, but obviously we’re talking about another scheme with talented coaches but also really really talented players. And there were some guys at Purdue we were concerned about, I think everybody would agree there’s probably more guys at Ohio State that people are aware of and concerned of before coming into this game,” Franklin said.

CLICK HERE to subscribe for FREE to the On3 YouTube channel

Two of those guys are Ohio State wide receivers Emeka Egbuka and Marvin Harrison Jr., who both rank in the top five of the conference in receiving and have combined for 79 catches and 17 touchdowns so far this season as a duo.

“I think that’s the challenge right, is when you’ve got somebody on the right side of the field that’s a problem, and somebody’s on the left side of the field that’s a problem, and somebody that’s in the slot that’s a problem, and then somebody in the backfield that’s a problem,” Franklin said.

The Buckeyes have been missing their top receiver from last season in Jaxon Smith-Njigba who’s been in and out of the lineup battling injury, but they still have no shortage of weapons. Receiver Julian Flemming has also stepped up for the Buckeyes, and the running back duo of Miyan Williams and TreVeyon Henderson have also been very effective for them.

“It makes it difficult because it’s not like you can say okay we’re gonna take away the slot, or we’re gonna take away the tight end, or we’re gonna load the box because we like the matchup outside with the receivers, kind of like last week like we talked about,” Franklin said. “So thats when people are really difficult to defend, when they got multiple guys in multiple spots that are proven and can hurt you.”

Thankfully for the Nittany Lions, their defense has been relatively strong all season, holding opponents to just 18.9 yards per game this season, and Franklin knows what they must do from the line of scrimmage to the back end in order to slow down the Buckeyes.

“Luckily, we feel good about our back end and have worked very hard at developing that group and recruiting that group and those guys have been tested, but they’re gonna tested again on Saturday. And obviously if we can make the quarterback hold the ball and get off his first progression and get some pressure on him that would be helpful too, it just hasn’t been a whole lot of people that’ve been able to do that up to this point,” Franklin said.