5 juiciest storylines in the Big Ten for Week 5

Sept. 29 has been circled on a lot of calendars for the past several months, and the day is finally here.

It’s White-Out Night. Get the popcorn ready.

No. 4 Ohio State travels to No. 9 Penn State for a Saturday night showdown that should be sensational. It’s two great teams playing at a high level in what should be a high-pitched, awesome environment in Happy Valley.

So who wakes up happy on Sunday morning?

There are a ton of juicy storylines surrounding this game, and because it’s such a light schedule around the league, it dominates our weekly “juicy”  feature. So, here we go with Week 5 and its five juiciest storylines:

1. Can Dwayne Haskins be great on a big stage?

The Ohio State quarterback has been something really special these first four weeks. He’s thrown 16 touchdown passes to just one interceptions during the Buckeyes’ first four victories, and has 1,194 yards through the air already.

He’s eliminated all doubts about his potential greatness, but let’s be honest, this is his first big stage in a hostile environment this year. TCU at Jerry’s World doesn’t really count. I have back-tracked on my offseason comments about his inexperience potentially being an issue, but  we’ll find out for sure Saturday night. He’s more ready than I thought he’d be.

2. Can Penn State’s defense hold up against this vaunted Ohio State attack?

The Nittany Lions are 4-0, too, and it’s easy to forget that in all the lead-up to this game. The fact that they struggled in their season opener to Appalachian State has been all but forgotten after very impressive wins over also-rans Pitt, Kent State and Illinois. They’ve scored 177 points in three weeks and only gave up 40.

Still, there are are questions about this defense and they can’t really be answered until they have to face a quality opponent. They are certainly getting that tonight with Ohio State. The worst-case scenario is that Ohio  State scores on every trip early and Penn State’s offense can’t match them. Penn State needs stops early, and a turnover or two would really help.

3. Can Trace McSorley have his Heisman Light moment?

McSorley came back for his senior year with this game specifically in mind. It is the biggest regular season stage imaginable and much of the nation will be watching this primetime showdown. McSorley was an early Heisman Trophy mention, but he’s an afterthought four weeks later.

Saturday night, that could change. If he has a big game against the Buckeyes and pulls out a win, the Lions will be a top-five team again and all the talk about division and conference titles and a potential playoff spot will resume hot and heavy. So will the Heisman talk with big numbers from McSorley. The stage is set, Trace. Can you steal the spotlight?

4. Is Michigan set to become a dominant team again?

There are other games in the Big Ten Saturday, just not that many of them with five  teams on a bye. Michigan has been on a nice roll lately, and the Wolverines travel to Northwestern, a team that’s been struggling out of the game with surprising home losses to Duke and Akron.

Michigan beat Nebraska 56-10 last week and it wasn’t even that close. For a while there, it looked like Michigan was playing with 15 guys on defense. It’s very possible we will see that again today, with a defense that’s just stifling. Toss is the fact that Michigan’s offense is finally starting to click, and this team could be scary good again. Saturday is another step in that direction.

5. Will Scott Frost ever win a game at Nebraska

Of course he will, at some point. It’s just not today. Purdue seems like a team that’s ready to get on a roll, despite those three early narrow losses. David Blough has been great at quarterback and they seem to be finding a nice rhythm now.

Nebraska didn’t look capable of beating a high school team last week in Ann Arbor. Things can change often week to week, and Scott Frost has proven that he can coach. It will happen at Nebraska, but it’s a program that’s a mess right now, and it’s going to take time — and a recruiting class or two — for it to get fixed. Nebraska fans aren’t known for their patience though, so this drama is going to be interesting to watch play off the rest of the season. Can this be a 2-10 team?