Ad Disclosure
ESPN’s FPI predicts the outcome of Ohio State-Penn State top-5 showdown
Published:
ESPN’s Football Power Index released its weekly predictions Sunday, and it provided its take on the marquee showdown between Ohio State and Penn State this Saturday. The FPI gives the Buckeyes a 61% chance to leave Happy Valley with what would be their 8th-straight victory in the series.
That favoring is interesting to note considering Ohio State is the team that enters this game with a loss. Ryan Day’s club started out Big Ten play strong following a weak nonconference schedule, as they beat Michigan State and Iowa by a combined total of 73-14.
But, Will Howard & Co. fell in a back-and-forth affair against Oregon in Eugene, a game that came down to the closing seconds where the Buckeyes’ QB slid with no time remaining in the game. OSU was able to sit on its loss through a bye week before it narrowly escaped Nebraska in Columbus last week. A fourth-quarter touchdown catch from Quinshon Judkins propelled the Buckeyes to a 21-17 win.
Penn State enters this one with a flawless record, but it has already had two bye weeks and has yet to face an opponent that is ranked inside of the current AP Top 20. The Nittany Lions did pick up a tough road win over West Virginia to start the season and handled a strong Illinois team at home, but it took some late-game heroics from Drew Allar to beat USC on the road, and the 27-11 home win over UCLA was less than convincing.
Last week, James Franklin’s squad had to withstand losing Allar in the second half against Wisconsin to pull out a 28-13 win in front of an electric Camp Randall Stadium crowd.
The Buckeyes and Nittany Lions kick off at noon EST on FOX.