Penn State-Ohio matchups: Who has the edge in the Lions' home opener?

Penn State faces its second opponent of the season when Ohio visits Beaver Stadium on Saturday. The Nittany Lions have been installed as 24.5-point favorites by Vegas oddsmakers before their latest opportunity to take the field.

“At the end of the day, we’ve got to get better this week,” head coach James Franklin said during his Tuesday news conference.

“That’s in every area, offense, defense, special teams, and also individually. If we do that each week as the season progresses, I think we’ll like where we’re at.”

Will Penn State fans like where the Lions are at after Saturday? It’s time to answer that question by breaking down the game’s key matchups.

When Penn State has the ball

Nonconference games can be tough to use as a gauge to determine a team’s progress. As evidenced by the large point spread, Penn State should be able to take care of business in its home opener with relative ease.

That said, appearing likely to do so and actually doing it are two different things.

In their opener, a 41-38 win over Florida Atlantic, the Bobcats were gashed through the air to the tune of 364 yards but only allowed 3.4 yards per carry and 100 rushing yards in the victory. We’d like to see Penn State present a balanced attack that may skew toward the pass but still feature plenty of commitment to the running game. Ohio believes its strength is in the heart of its defense. The Lions should be focused on using their talented backfield early after setting up the run with the pass, which should be there all day long.

This has a chance to be a statement game for offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich and company. There should be no shortage of opportunities for big plays. And, continuing to develop a rather young receivers corp is a must.

All told, Penn State has a chance to put together a feel-good game on offense. It cannot afford to waste the opportunity to do so.

EDGE: Penn State

When Ohio has the ball

As far as Group of Five quarterbacks go, Ohio passer Kurtis Rourke is a good one. He connected with seven different receivers, led by James Bostic, in Week 1. The Bobcats dialed up 39 pass plays and 27 rushes. That ratio seems to be what they will plan to do moving forward. That’s good news for Penn State. Ohio is more balanced than Purdue was. But, the Bobcats are still going to put the ball in the air more often than not, and that means they will be playing into the strength of the Lions’ defense: the secondary.

We’ll be curious to see how the pass rush improves from Week 1 to Week 2. Rourke is not going to get the ball out super quickly, which should allow for the defensive line to have a better statistical performance than it did last week. The secondary, however, will be the group to watch; an interception or two could go a long way toward setting the Lions up with a big enough lead to play some younger players for much of the fourth quarter, and that would be extremely beneficial.

We see every reason for coordinator Manny Diaz’s unit to flex its muscles in this game and combine solid play with big moments. Rourke and his receivers are talented, but they should struggle against the Lions’ defense in this matchup.

EDGE: Penn State

Odds and ends

— The Ohio special teams have plenty of experience. But, the kicker is a freshman. Nathaniel Vakos was 2 for 2 in the opener.

— Speaking of special teams, we’re hopeful to see Jake Pinegar kick his first field goal of the year in this contest. He did not have the opportunity to boot one in the opener.

— Penn State traveled 13 freshmen and played seven in the opener. We’re betting that number is bigger at the end of this game.

Final word

Penn State should have an edge at every position on Saturday. There is no reason on paper for this contest to be close. The Lions have superior talent, and to be the team they want to be, they must showcase that from start to finish.