STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — After weeks of waiting, Penn State will finally get another crack at tackling its biggest regular-season nemesis when the third-ranked Nittany Lions host No. 4 Ohio State Saturday in Happy Valley.
Penn State is off to a 7-0 start, but the Buckeyes have scuttled many promising seasons for the Lions and coach James Franklin, who is 1-9 against Ohio State during his tenure. The Buckeyes have lost the last seven meetings, four by single-digit margins.
Saturday at noon, Penn State will have another chance to gain some measure of revenge.
Here's a look at the matchup.
No. 4 Ohio State (6-1) at No. 3 Penn State (7-0)
Kickoff: 12 p.m. on FOX43
SERIES HISTORY: Ohio State has a 24-14 overall advantage in all-time series with Penn State, including seven straight victories and nine of the last 10 overall. The two teams clashed for the first time all the way back in 1912. They have been Big Ten foes since 1993.
ESPN GAMEDAY: ESPN’s College GameDay Built by The Home Depot will be live from Happy Valley on Saturday for the first time since 2021 and the 11th time overall.
Penn State-Ohio State will be the featured game on College GameDay for the 13th time, breaking a tie with Alabama-LSU as GameDay's most frequent matchup.
BIG NOON KICKOFF: Saturday's game is the third time Penn State will be featured on FOX's Big Noon Kickoff. The Lions defeated West Virginia (34-12) and UCLA (27-11) in its other two appearances this season.
TOP-FIVE MATCHUP: Penn State is 4-7 all-time in regular season matchups where both teams are ranked in the Top 5 of the AP Poll. The Lions are 17-60-1 all-time against Top 5 teams, including a 15-55 record in regular season matchups.
When ranked among the Top 5, Penn State has an all-time record of 102-23-1.
ABOUT PENN STATE: The Lions survived at test at Wisconsin last week, rallying behind backup quarterback and former Central York star Beau Pribula, who replaced banged-up starter Drew Allar under center in the second half, to earn a 28-13 victory.
Penn State trailed 10-7 at the break, but the defense clamped down, holding the Badgers to just 81 rushing yards in the second half. Safety Jaylen Reed started the comeback by intercepting Wisconsin quarterback Braedyn Locke and returning it 19 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter to give the Lions a 14-10 lead.
Pribula later threw a touchdown pass to Khalil Dinkins in the fourth quarter to push Penn State's lead to 21-13, and Kaytron Allen slammed the door with a 24-yard TD run that put the game away.
Pribula completed 11 of 13 passes for 98 yards and added 28 yards on the ground in relief of Allar, who appeared to tweak his left knee last in the first half. After going to the locker room early, Allar warmed up for the second half but was unable to go. Franklin said his status for Saturday will be a game-time decision.
Before his injury, Allar completed 14 of 18 passes for 148 yards and a touchdown to Nicholas Singleton.
Penn State's offense ranks seventh in the conference in passing (266.6 yards per game), sixth in rushing (197.1 yards per game), and fourth in scoring (33.3 points per game).
Allar has thrown for 1,640 yards and 12 touchdowns. Allen (509 yards, 4 TDs) and Singleton (483 yards, 3 TDs) rank 12th and 13th in the Big Ten in rushing, respectively.
Tight end Tyler Warren (47-559, 4 TDs) is the Big Ten's seventh-ranked receiver.
Defensively, Penn State ranks second behind Ohio State in total yards allowed per game (267.6) and third in scoring (14.3 points per game). The Lions are sixth against the pass (267.6 yards per game) and third against the rush (93 yards per game).
ABOUT OHIO STATE: Coached by Ryan Day, who guided them to Big Ten championships in 2019 and 2020, the Buckeyes are coming off a 21-17 victory at Nebraska last week. Ohio State's only loss is a 32-31 setback at No. 1 Oregon on Oct. 12. The Buckeyes' other conference victories have come against Iowa (35-7) and Michigan State (38-7).
Against Nebraska last week, QB Will Howard threw for 221 yards and three touchdowns, connecting on touchdown passes with Carnell Tate (40 yards), Jeremiah Smith (60 yards) and Quinshon Judkins (9 yards).
Howard is second in the conference in passing touchdowns (17) and third in completion percentage (74.0), while Smith is second in receiving yards per game (89.0) and receiving touchdowns (8) and third in receiving yards (623).
Ohio State has the Big Ten's second-ranked offense (40.3 points and 471.9 yards per game). They rank fourth in the conference in rushing (188 yards per game) and fifth in passing (283.9 yards per game).
RBs Quinshon Judkins (520 yards, 6 TD) and TreVeyon Henderson (449 yards, 4 TD) lead the rushing attack, which struggled a bit against Nebraska last week.
On defense, the Buckeyes rank first in the Big Ten in scoring defense (11.9 ppg; 4th nationally) and total defense (254.4 ypg; 2nd), second in rushing defense (91.3; 6th) and third in passing defense (163.1; 8th). OSU also paces the Big Ten averaging 7.6 tackles for loss per game (13th).
Day is in his fifth full season at Ohio State, with a career record of 62-9, a 42-4 mark in Big Ten Conference games and two College Football Playoff appearances.