Ohio State’s offense is averaging 49.3 points per game this season. (Photo: Greg Bartram, USA TODAY Sports)Not two weeks ago, a major college football program settled in for its annual bye week with aims to rest and prepare for a primetime home showdown against No. 2 Ohio State. That team’s preparation involved practicing a handful of new concepts, four by Urban Meyer’s count, which it later introduced against the Buckeyes on gameday. While these new schemes resulted in a strong first half showing and halftime lead, Ohio State nonetheless staked a comeback capped by its dramatic fourth-down stand and overtime triumph. This team, of course, was Wisconsin. And the parallels between the Badgers’ most recent kickoff and the process Penn State has undertaken leading up to Saturday is strikingly similar. How the game unfolds, well, that obviously remains to be seen. Now the Nittany Lions are a younger team built far differently than Wisconsin. But before we dive into any details, the big-picture understanding about Penn State’s preparation must be this: the idea that an entirely new game plan or set of schemes could ambush Ohio State into defeat is fool’s gold. The Buckeyes are not the second-ranked team in the nation because they…
Continue Reading: Film room: How to beat Ohio State
