Five things to watch for in Penn State vs. Ohio: BWI Daily

Penn State football takes on Ohio Saturday at noon for the home opener at Beaver Stadium. To get fans ready for the game, the host of the BWI Daily Edition, Thomas Frank Carr, breaks down the five things to watch for in Saturday’s non-conference game. T-Frank has studied the Bobcats and describes their interesting wrinkles and matchups that Penn State can exploit.

Penn State vs Ohio: Five things to watch for

First, T-Frank looks at the Ohio running game, where he noticed some interesting wrinkles that the Penn State defense hasn’t seen recently. He asked head coach James Franklin about that earlier this week and replays that answer on the show. Next, he deconstructs what Franklin said in more detail to explain the advantages of Ohio’s pistol formation to the audience.

He brings that up because Penn State struggled last week in run defense at critical times, according to Franklin. With a new wrinkle and a new defensive scheme, the Nittany Lions need to take that step in improvement so they don’t get caught flat-footed against Ohio.

Next, T-Frank points out what he saw on the other side of the ball from Ohio in run defense. Then, he explains how he’d attack the linebackers and where he’d “avoid”, understanding that Penn State should be dominant in every area of the game.

Five Things: Attack #30

Third, T-Frank points to the players he’d attack in coverage for Ohio. He has two players in particular that he’d exploit, describing what routes and players he’d use to do it.

The second thing you should watch for comes in the scheme that Ohio runs on offense. Aside from the run game wrinkles, T-Frank identifies the other types of plays Ohio deploys and why.

Finally, he gets to the number one thing that fans should watch on Saturday. Check out the video to see what that is.

T-Frank will also take questions live from the YouTube audience as he gives his five things, giving fans a chance to interact with the show. Subscribe to Blue White Illustrated on YouTube, so you don’t miss any edition of the BWI Daily!

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Penn State vs. Ohio depth chart: Offense

On Saturday, Penn State football opens up Beaver Stadium for the first time in the 2022 season. The team will not release a depth chart this season, consistent with the last several years under head coach James Franklin. So, Blue White Illustrated has prepared one to get fans ready for the game.

The depth chart will be a handy tool this weekend because Franklin mentioned during his Tuesday press conference that the team plans on playing a healthy portion of the roster this weekend,

“In theory, what we’ve tried to do is hopefully play in a way in some games that allows you to get guys on the field. But it doesn’t always play out that way. So being strategic the best we can to put all of our players at every position in position to gain that valuable game experience.”

Does that mean rotating quarterbacks early in the game? Franklin didn’t answer that questions directly but finished his statement in a way that seemed to address that specific position.

“It’s something we’re looking at. We’ll see how it plays out.”

Here’s our look at the offense for tomorrow.

Quarterback

14 Sean Clifford (Sr.+)
15 Drew Allar (Fr.)
11 Christian Veilleux (R-Fr.) OR 9 Beau Pirbula (Fr.)

The lowdown: Allar was the backup last week; nothing has indicated that the situation has changed since week one. The five-star freshman acquitted himself well during his one drive against Purdue in the third quarter, and there’s been a palpable interest to see more. Though, it’s likely that he won’t be the only quarterback to see the field Saturday.

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