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Greg McElroy predicts winner of Penn State-Ohio State clash, explains reasoning
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Greg McElroy has made his prediction for the biggest game of the week and one of the biggest games of the year.
The ESPN analyst gave his thoughts on the matchup on Always College Football on Friday.
McElroy is giving the edge to Penn State, but he knows the game could go either way. Regardless, he knows it will be a defensive battle.
“I think Penn State, when you look at the roster — I have a tremendous amount of respect for Ohio State,” McElroy said. “When you look at the roster and how they’re playing on the defensive side, I know it hasn’t been against anybody, I think they are tenacious on defense. I think Ohio State is too. I think it’s going to be a low scoring affair.”
McElroy picks Penn State with a great deal of hesitancy, pointing to James Franklin’s struggles in big games, especially ones on the road like Saturdays.
“I am leaning towards the Nittany Lions,” McElroy said. “I don’t love it by any stretch, picking against Ohio State on the home field with James Franklin, who’s never had success in games like this outside an example or 2 back in the day.”
Ultimately, McElroy believes this is the Penn State team that can finally get a win for the first time since 2016.
“I feel like I’m rolling the dice, but Penn State’s played them really close, and I do believe this is the Penn State team that can get them over the hump,” McElroy said. “They just need to make a couple big plays in the passing game, which is a big question mark, to be able to create some big issues for Ohio State and to put the pressure on the Buckeyes up to this point.”
The game between the Nittany Lions and Buckeyes kicks off at noon ET Saturday.