David Pollack explains who can challenge Ohio State in Big Ten East

The Big Ten East is wide open with Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Penn State all sitting with one loss or less. Given Ohio State’s offensive fiewporer and their recent dominance in the division, the Buckeyes remain the team to beat, even with an early loss to Oregon.

Though Michigan and Michigan State’s remain unbeaten, ESPN’s David Pollack believes another team will be the Buckeyes’ biggest challenge.

“If Sean Clifford’s playing, I say Penn State,” Pollack said on College Football Live. “Because the weapons, the firepower on offense, his ability to run as well. Without that, I don’t think that’s the case. Sean Clifford, when you got those dudes to throw to out wide I think it makes a difference. … And I also think Penn State’s defense is athletic enough to give Ohio State some problems, not stop them, because I don’t think anyone’s going to stop them consistently but they would have to have their trigger man because you saw when their trigger man went out, it went bad, it was not pretty at all.”

 Clifford was pictured throwing at practice on Wednesday, a positive development as the starter has been dealing with an undisclosed injury that he suffered against Iowa on Oct. 9.

Though his status remains unknown Clifford is splitting reps at quarterback with Ta’Quan Roberson and Christian Veilleux in practice. If Clifford can’t go, there is a competition between Roberson and Veilleux as to who will start against Illinois

Roberson, a redshirt sophomore, stepped in for Clifford against Iowa when Clifford became injured. It was Roberson’s first serious action at quarterback for Penn State and he struggled against Iowa’s defense. Roberson finished the game completing 7 of 21 passes for only 34 yards and two interceptions.

Penn State hosts Illinois on Saturday before closing with Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State over the course of five weeks, split by games against Maryland and Rutgers.

The Nittany Lions will rock “Generations of Greatness” uniforms against the Fighting Illini. The jerseys will have block uniform numbers from the mid 20th century, white sleeve stripes from multiple decades over the last 75 years and an image of a lion in honor of the Lion Shrine, a famous campus landmark and gift from the class of 1940. Their white pants will have the blue stripe the team wore from 1952-1968, and the helmets will feature each player’s number, a tribute to the helmets worn several times in the late 1950s through the mid 1970s.

The facemasks, socks and cleats the team will wear channel previous uniforms as well, including cleats worn in the 1979 Sugar Bowl. Joe Paterno-led No. 1 Penn State lost to No. 2 Alabama 14-7 as legendary Crimson Tide head coach Bear Bryant claimed his fifth national title.

No. 7 Penn State is a 23.5-point favorite. They hope to get a win before heading to Columbus next weekend to take on No. 5 Ohio State.