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Jim Knowles was the crown jewel of Ohio State’s defense, holding the no. 1 spot in scoring defense, total defense, and yards allowed per play last season. But coming into Penn State, those numbers quickly faded as inconsistencies started showing up. Their biggest issue? Failing to stop the ground game, ranking 103 in EPA per rush. That sluggish game cost them big time against Northwestern, and something of the same sort might happen against Ryan Day’s team too. Penn State’s rushing defense is their biggest threat against Ohio State right now. Even The Ruffino & Joe Show’s Blake Ruffino warns them about the same: “Well, the biggest weakness defensively for Penn State is the biggest weakness for Ohio State. They can’t really stop the run right now. It’s not really all on them. So Penn State is 90th in the country in rush yards allowed and rushing defense as a whole. They’re 90th in both. They’re giving up 159 yards on the ground per game.” Last week against Iowa, this was the major reason behind their loss. Iowa totalled 245 rushing yards and three touchdowns with an average of 7.4 yards per carry against Penn State, which is ranked 71 in rushing defense. This was the second time Penn State allowed more than 240 rushing yards and the third in the last five when it allowed 175 yards. Let’s not forget against UCLA it turned worse. As their QB, Nico Iamaleava ran for his career high of 128 yards against the Nittany Lions. ADVERTISEMENT Article continues below this ad Last week Iowa’s quarterback Mark Gronowski ran for a season-high 130 yards with 67 carries and 38 yards. His highest rushing yards came against Rutgers when he went 55 yards on 13 carries, but Penn State’s weak defense changed it. Things went so out of hand that even players are urging for a better change. “We’ve got to improve,” LB Dom DeLuca said. “We’ve got to be able to make the stop at the end of the game and get the offense the ball back.” ADVERTISEMENT Article continues below this ad Talking of Jim Knowles’s defense situation, Ryan Day backs him up, saying, “Everybody has their own style, and I think when he got in here, he had a certain list of things that he wanted to get done early on, and I think he’s done that. He’s let his personality go, which has been great. Each year, you have a different set of dynamics at play, coaches and players, and that journey has its own story.” But one thing that can still push Penn State’s fate is Ohio State’s run game, which has been a problem for them. As they rank very low at 108th in how effective their runs are, rarely making big plays, and they are also 134th in the country for explosive runs. They were just 3.5 yards per carry against Rutgers. And the list doesn’t stop there. Read Top Stories First From EssentiallySports Click here and check box next to EssentiallySports One factor that still worries Ryan Day Penn State is entering their game against Ohio State with a “nothing to lose” mentality. After starting off as the no. 2 ranked team, Penn State fell off the charts, losing against teams like UCLA and Northwestern. Then after parting ways with James Franklin, the championship hopes are already dead. But for Ohio State, this game is the push to their playoff hopes after going undefeated for 8 weeks. That’s exactly why Ryan Day is not ready to take any chances. ADVERTISEMENT Article continues below this ad Knowing the fact that Penn State still has a strong set of players, underestimating them is not an option for them. “It hasn’t gone the way they wanted to,” Day said, “but it doesn’t change that they have very good players. When you looked at this game a few months ago, it was an absolute matchup game. That has not changed. It’s still the same players other than the quarterback. Our guys know that, and they understand that.” No other opponents that the Bucks faced have better talent on paper than the Nittany Lions. As per CBS Sports reports, Penn State started off the season with the 10th highest ratio of blue-chip prospects among all 136 teams in FBS, as 68% of their players were four- or five-star prospects. Even if Drew Allar is out for the season because of his broken left ankle, the rest of the squad boosts talent. Now, it will be interesting to see how Jim Knowles’s defense shapes up against Ohio State this week at Ohio Stadium.
