Trent Reinsmith
- What: Ohio State Buckeyes (No. 2) vs. Penn State Nittany Lions (No. 13)
- Date: Saturday, October 29, 2022
- Location: Beaver Stadium in University Park, PA
- Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
- How to Watch: FOX
The Big Ten Conference is well represented in the latest AP Top 25 College Football Poll. Four teams from the conference are ranked among the top 17 teams in NCAA Football play in that conference. Those teams are the Ohio State Buckeyes (2), Michigan Wolverines (4), Penn State Nittany Lions (13) and Illinois Fighting Illini (17). Two of those teams, Ohio State and Penn State face off during Week 9 of the 2022 NCAAF season.
Ohio State enters the Big Ten matchup with a perfect 7-0 record. The Buckeyes entered Week 8 of the 2022 NCAA Football season as the No. 2 team in the AP Poll. The club held onto that spot with a 54-10 win over the Iowa Hawkeyes in that contest. Ohio State is 4-0 in the Big Ten.
Penn State was the No. 16 team in the AP Poll heading into Week 8 of the NCAAF season. The team was coming off a Week 7 defeat to the Michigan Wolverines. However, the Nittany Lions bounced back from that drubbing and topped Minnesota by a score of 45-17 to move up three spots to No. 13 in the NCAA Football rankings. Penn State has an overall record of 6-1. They are 3-1 in the Big Ten.
Before we look at the Week 9 NCAAF matchup between the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Ohio State Buckeyes, check out the current NCAAF betting opportunities and our guide to betting on the 2022 NCAAF National Championship.
Penn State Nittany Lions (No. 13) vs. Ohio State Buckeyes (No. 2) picks
| Teams |  |  |  |  |
| Ohio State (No. 2) | -700 | -700 | -700 | -675 |
| Penn State (No. 13) | +475 | +500 | +500 | +460 |
Penn State breakdown
Senior quarterback Sean Clifford leads the Nittany Lions. Clifford is having his best season as far as completion percentage goes, connecting on 61.5 percent of his passes. He has thrown for a total of 1,445 yards and he has 13 passing touchdowns to go with three interceptions and five sacks on the year.
Penn State is in the middle of the Big Ten as far as overall offense. The team averages 423.6 yards per game. The Nittany Lions’ pass offense contributes an average of 245.1 yards per game, which is in the middle of the conference. However, the Penn State rushing game is above average with 178.4 yards per outing. That puts them as the fifth most productive rushing club in the conference.
Like the team’s offense, the Penn State defense is mediocre. The Nittany Lions give up an average of 373.1 yards per game with 232.9 yards surrendered in the air and 140.3 yards on the ground.
Ohio State breakdown
The Ohio State Buckeyes are led by the player who is the current favorite to win the 2022 Heisman Trophy. That player is junior quarterback C.J. Stroud. Stroud has a completion percentage of 70 percent. He has thrown for 2,023 yards on the year, connecting for a Big Ten-leading 28 passing touchdowns, 11 more than Wisconsin’s Graham Mertz, who is second in that category in the conference. Stroud has been intercepted four times and sacked five times.
With Stroud’s play, it’s no surprise that Ohio State has the most productive offense in the Big Ten. The team averages 517.4 yards per game with 312.6 yards coming through the air. While the passing offense is strong for the club, the Buckeyes also have a productive running game, ranking third in the conference with an average of 204.9 yards per game in rushing. Marvin Harrison leads the Big Ten with 10 receiving touchdowns. Harrison is fourth in receiving yards with 598. However, he trails his teammate Emeka Egbuka in that category. Egbuka is No. 3 in receiving yards with 735. He has seven touchdowns. As for rushing, Ohio State has the No. 10 and No. 11 players in that category with Miyan Williams picking up 516 yards and Treveyon Henderson contributing 474 yards for the 2022 NCAAF season.
Ohio State has the second-toughest defense in the Big Ten, giving up an average of 239.9 yards per game. The Buckeyes’ passing defense is the second-best in the conference with an average of 149 yards surrendered per game. Although the team’s rushing defense is a little weaker than the passing D, Ohio State gives up 90.9 yards per game, which is fourth in the Big Ten.
Our pick
On paper, this game looks like a tough one for the Nittany Lions. Ohio State is better than Penn State in every aspect of the game. Unless the home crowd can play an enormous role on Saturday, October 29, the best bet in this Week 9 NCAAF game is that the Ohio State Buckeyes will beat the Penn State Nittany Lions handily.
Pick: Ohio State Buckeyes to beat the Penn State Nittany Lions in Week 9 of the 2022 NCAA Football Season.
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