Lou Holtz expects close game between Ohio State and Penn State
Lou Holtz knows a thing or two about football. It may be easy to forget — especially for those who only know Holtz as a talking head — but he was once a tremendous football coach and motivator.
Holtz coached college football for 33 years before becoming a commentator for ESPN, racking up an extremely impressive 249-132-7 record, with stops at William and Mary, North Carolina State, Arkansas, Minnesota, Notre Dame and South Carolina. His most famous stint was likely his time at Notre Dame, where he went 100-30-2 in 11 seasons with a 5-2 bowl record.
His 1998 Notre Dame team went 12-0 and won the college football national championship.
So yes, the proof is in the pudding. Holtz knows football, and the former coach had plenty to say regarding this weekend’s huge Big Ten matchup between No. 4 Ohio State and No. 9 Penn State.
Here’s what he had to say on Twitter.
You can expect a close game between Penn State and Ohio State in Happy Valley. The home team is hard to beat. To win on the road, you must be the superior team – or lucky. @TheCrowdsLine @mark_may @PennStateFball @OhioStateFB
— Lou Holtz (@CoachLouHoltz88) September 26, 2018
Though Ohio State is the higher-ranked team, Holtz is likely right in predicting a close game. Penn State boasts one of the top home-field advantages in all of sports, let alone in college football, and the Nittany Lions do have the top-ranked scoring offense in the nation.
Not to be outdone, Ohio State’s scoring offense is ranked No. 2 and led by a certain Heisman Trophy candidate in Dwayne Haskins, and of course, the Buckeyes have already beaten a ranked team this year in No. 15 TCU, while this is Penn State’s first ranked matchup of the season.
It’s certainly a big one and it could go either way.
So the question is this: Are the Buckeyes the superior team, or will they just plan on being lucky.