It's Penn State-Ohio State week: Game time, spread, channel, streaming info, storylines, more

Ohio State week is here, Penn State fans. Both teams were victorious this past Saturday, but each had to grind out their win, the No. 4 Buckeyes more so than the No. 3 Lions, and they both suffered injuries, as well.

“I had a ton of confidence,” Lions coach James Franklin said about Beau Pribula, who came in for Drew Allar and led Penn State to a victory. “He’s a character kid with a character family, very talented. Some of his talents are different than what Drew’s are. So I think that’s one of the things. I think it’s really important as a staff and as an offensive coordinator, you got to be committed to calling the game differently. That’s easier said than done, right?

“And within our offensive scheme, play the strengths. And the stuff that I try to do is as a reminder, you know, Andy, obviously, is an experienced coordinator, but remind him, we’ve got to call the game now based on Beau’s strength And I thought we did that. Bo is a character, character, kid, character family. Comes from a great high school program. He’s universally respected in our locker room, from his teammates and coaches. Not surprised one bit that he was able to manufacture yards and points for us when we needed them most.”

Get ready for Lions-Buckeyes with our early game preview.

Time and TV info

Kickoff is set for Noon ET on FOX. The network’s top crew of Gus Johnson (play-by-play), Joel Klatt, (color commentator), and Jenny Taft (sideline reporter) will call the game.

What is the Penn State-Ohio State spread?

FanDuel called Ohio State a 3.5-point favorite on the look-ahead line. The odds reopened on Sunday. OSU was a 4.5-point favorite initially but it dropped back to 3.5 throughout the day. The betting over/under total is 47.5 points.

Game week schedule for the Lions, Buckeyes?

Penn State is on its regular game week schedule. Head coach James Franklin will meet with reporters Monday at Beaver Stadium and Wednesday post-practice inside of Holuba Hall. He will also be on the second half hour of the Penn State Coaches Show, which airs from 6-7 p.m. ET on Thursday night. An assistant coach will speak with reporters earlier that day. A media practice viewing window is set for Wednesday night. Players will hold ZOOM call with reporters Tuesday and Wednesday.

As for Ohio State, Day speaks Tuesday and players speak with the media on Wednesday.

What’s up with Ohio State?

The Buckeyes had issues putting Nebraska away. The Huskers had the ball with a chance to take the lead but quarterback Dylan Raiola threw a game-ending interception.

Ohio State struggled on offense with left tackle Josh Simmons now out for the year. Quarterback Will Howard threw three touchdowns, but it was not a clean game for the Buckeyes ahead of the team’s trip to State College. Howard lost a fumble, and the ground game never got going for Ryan Day’s side, who also suffered a missed field goal and lost another offensive lineman, as new starting tackle Zen Michalski, who replaced Simmons, struggled and suffered his own injury.

“We need to run the football,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. “I think we ran the ball for 64 yards, and 24 was from Will. So that’s not even close to good enough. So we’re averaging under 3 yards per carry with Quinshon and TreVeyon. That’s not getting it done. We have to do better than that.”

On the season, OSU is 6-1. Bill Connelly’s SP+ metrics say the Buckeyes are just 1.5 points better than the Nittany Lions.

Weather report

A sunny day with a high of 56 and low of 39 is in the forecast. Wind nor rain will be a factor. It looks like a perfect November day is on tap.

Early Penn State-Ohio State storylines

–Linebacker Arvell Reese was ejected for targeting in the fourth quarter. Unless it is overturned by the Big Ten upon review (there is precedent for this, as it already happened once this year), he will miss the first half of the game, and that might change how the Buckeyes line up defensively.

–Howard will come to Beaver Stadium with extra motivation. The Downingtown native had this to say to OSU reporters back on Saturday:

“Stoked. Stoked. I cannot wait. 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.”

–Who will OSU start along the offensive line? It’s a question the Buckeyes will spend all week figuring out.

–Will Penn State have Drew Allar, Dani Dennis-Sutton, and/or Anthony Donkoh available? Suddenly, big injury concerns on both sides are now defining a game with big Big Ten and College Football Playoff implications.

–Can the Lions finally get the best of Ohio State? This is maybe the most gettable Buckeyes team in a few years. Shorthanded or not, this will be one of Penn State’s best chances of late to finally put themselves atop the Big Ten and a step ahead of the Buckeyes.