AP Poll: Buckeyes stay put ahead of top-five showdown at Penn State
COLUMBUS — Ohio State just turned in its worst performance of the year; the Buckeyes, coming off an idle week barely beat Nebraska. That wasn’t good enough.
Even after the scare that shouldn’t have been a scare, the Buckeyes stayed put in the latest AP Poll. The team that beat Ohio State a couple of weeks ago, Oregon, remained the No. 1 team in the country. Penn State stayed put at No. 3 ahead of the showdown against the Buckeyes, while Georgia is in the second spot of the AP Poll. Ohio State stayed at fourth, while Miami leaped Texas for the fifth spot.
The only team in the AP Top 10 poll from last week to lose was LSU, which fell on the road to Texas A&M. Other ranked teams to lose this weekend all lost to other ranked teams; the losers were former No. 20 Illinois (lost to Oregon), former No. 21 Missouri (lost to Alabama) and former No. 24 Navy (lost to Notre Dame).
Ohio State is one of five Big Ten teams in this week’s AP Top 25. The league has Oregon, Penn State and the Buckeyes in the top 10. The other ranked teams from the conference are No. 13 Indiana, which remained unbeaten on the season by taking down Washington, and No. 24 Illinois. The Illini were blown out on the road by No. 1 Oregon.
AP Poll (Oct. 27)
1. Oregon (61)
2. Georgia (1)
3. Penn State
4. Ohio State
5. Miami
6. Texas
7. Tennessee
8. Notre Dame
9. BYU
10. Texas A&M
11. Clemson
12. Iowa State
13. Indiana
14. Alabama
15. Boise State
16. LSU
17. Kansas State
18. Pittsburgh
19. Ole Miss
20. SMU
21. Army
22. Washington State
23. Colorado
24. Illinois
25. Vanderbilt
Spread revealed for Ohio State at Penn State
The Buckeyes opened Sunday morning as a 4.5-point favorite for the upcoming road trip to Penn State, according to Fanduel Sportsbook. The total has been set at 47.5.
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Penn State has Drew Allar, an Ohioan and former five-star prospect, starting at quarterback. He was courted by the Buckeyes but chose the Nittany Lions. Ohio State, on the other side of this matchup, has Pennsylvania native Will Howard as its starting quarterback.
Howard, the former three-star prospect who was not recruited by Penn State, enters this week with a personal chip on his shoulder. He wants this game.
“Stoked. Stoked. I cannot wait,” Howard said. “It’s going to be a homecoming for me. I grew up a Penn State fan. I wanted to go there my whole life. They didn’t think I was good enough — but I guess we’ll see next week if I was.”
Howard has been a star for the Buckeyes this season. He has 1,795 passing yards and 17 touchdown passes compared to just four interceptions. He also has 41 carries for 91 yards and five rushing scores for the offense this fall.
