Penn State, Ohio State get ESPN College GameDay treatment
The college football landscape will turn its eyes to Penn State’s clash with Ohio State next weekend. And, ESPN’s decision to bring College GameDay to Columbus only further cemented that reality.
Announced on ABC during the Nittany Lions’ dominant win over UMass on Saturday afternoon at Beaver Stadium, the longrunning ESPN show will be on hand for the showdown. The show will air concurrent to Fox Sports’ Big Noon Kickoff, which will also originate from Columbus.
At present, both Penn State and Ohio State are undefeated heading into the matchup. For the Nittany Lions, ranked sixth nationally, they’re coming off a bye weekend and a breezy win over the Minutemen. The Buckeyes, meanwhile, are ranked third while having secured a 41-7 blowout win over Purdue on Saturday afternoon.
Penn State prepares for Ohio State
ESPN’s decision to showcase the Penn State, Ohio State game is the culmination of an offseason in which the date was circled for both programs. While Penn State cruised through wins over West Virginia and Iowa in the first half of the season, Ohio State secured a late-game win against Notre Dame to ensure an unbeaten record heading into the showdown.
And, as evidenced by James Franklin even dating back to last spring, the Nittany Lion program has in fact had the matchup circled.
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“We are getting ready for West Virginia and we have done our first four opponents. We literally just finished those breakdowns. But then we will get a head start on Michigan. And we will get a head start on Ohio State,” Franklin said in May. “Obviously, we understand the importance of those two games.”
That sentiment held true again to close out September as Franklin spoke with reporters following his team’s win at Northwestern. Disclosing that the bye week would be spent self-scouting and getting healthy, he also acknowledged that preparation for future matchups beyond UMass would also take place.
“We got to get better this week, and that’s the fine line, right? What can we do during the week to allow the guys to recover? The weekend will be huge, especially if it’s handled the right way,” Franklin said. “And then obviously being able to dig into our self scout, offense, defense and special teams. And then as I won’t talk about, but we’re also going to get ahead. The coaches will get ahead on the schedule as well during this by week.”
