It’s Ohio State week.

A week that when the Penn State schedule came out earlier this year, a lot of people had this game circled on their calendars.

This was supposed to be a marquee matchup that was going to have huge implications on the Big Ten and College Football Playoff landscape.

However, that’s why they play the games. Gone is head coach James Franklin after he was fired after the team dropped three games in a row, and the Nittany Lions have now upped that total to four losses in a row after a tough defeat to Iowa two weekends ago.

And now PSU has to go to the Horseshoe to take on the No. 1 team in the country in the Buckeyes (Noon ET, Fox) and it hosts No. 2 ranked Indiana next week.

It’s really all a mystery at this point that won’t be solved for at least a few months. Nobody knows who the next head coach at Penn State is going to be, and nobody knows what kind of team is going to show up week in and week out.

I guess we will start with the obvious and that is that Penn State is going to need to depend heavily on its run game for the rest of the season.

The Nittany Lions (3-4) are going to need to take as much time off the clock as they can, because their vertical passing game has become non existent yet again, and the play of the defense has been one of the major disappointments in all of college football this season.

PSU running back Kaytron Allen has been a bright spot, though, as Allen has rushed for 612 yards at 6.2 yards per carry and nine touchdowns on the season. He’s scored in all of Penn State’s games and he is only one of two players in the country to rush for a touchdown in every one of his team’s games this season.

Allen had an exceptional game against Iowa, rushing for 145 yards and two touchdowns. Allen will need to put together a similar effort against the Buckeyes if PSU wants to be competitive in the game.

The Ohio State defense has been very good against the run this season. The Buckeyes rank eighth in the country in run defense, giving up just 85.6 rushing yards per game.

In fact, the Buckeyes definitively have the best defense in the country, as they rank No. 1 in scoring defense (5.9 points per game) and No. 1 in total defense (216.9 yards per game).

Penn State redshirt freshman signal caller Ethan Grunkemeyer has to be better in the passing game this week for Penn State to have a semblance of a chance against Ohio State. Grunkemeyer threw for just 93 yards and two interceptions against the Hawkeyes.

Head coach Terry Smith and offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki must find a way to move the ball down the field. The Nittany Lions need explosive plays in the passing game to be effective, as no offense is going to get away with being one dimensional against the Buckeyes defense.

As I mentioned earlier, I think the play of the Penn State defense has been the biggest disappointment of all. You can always count on a PSU defense to play with an aggressive edge and a fast and physical nature.

That has not been the case this season under defensive coordinator Jim Knowles who came over to PSU from OSU on a huge deal.

Some of the experts say that Knowles’ system is complex and requires players to read and react. Penn State has been playing good defense for a long time and historically it’s been a defense that attacks, plays downhill and gets after the quarterback. That certainly has not been the case this season.

Whatever Knowles is doing has sort of stripped away some of the best parts of the Nittany Lions’ defense and it’s showed in the win and loss column.

Two weeks ago, the Hawkeyes rushed for 245 yards and three touchdowns at over seven yards per carry. The Nittany Lions have been getting owned along the line of scrimmage and that is not good news as they face off against an explosive Ohio State passing attack.

PSU has not been able to get to the quarterback this season, as it’s averaging just two sacks per game which ranks 68th in the country. And the rushing defense has been porous as well, ranking 90th in the nation.

Simply put, the Penn State defense is going to need to come to play against OSU quarterback Julian Sayin and his talented group of wide receivers. Sayin has thrown for 1,872 yards with 19 touchdowns and three interceptions.

Sayin also has two of the best wideouts in the country to work with in Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate. Smith leads the team with 602 receiving yards and seven touchdowns and Tate is not far behind with 587 receiving yards and six touchdowns.

The Nittany Lions absolutely must get some sort of pass rush on Sayin throughout the day to get him off schedule, because if he’s able to just sit back in the pocket with no pressure, it’s going to be a long day for Penn State.

Las Vegas has Penn State as a 20.5-point underdog against Ohio State.

Nothing I saw a few weeks ago against Iowa makes me believe that Penn State can hang with the Buckeyes. The Nittany Lions just aren’t effective enough in their passing attack and their defense hasn’t played fast or decisive.

Maybe they can take some steps toward improving in those areas this week, but Ohio State, unless they’re playing against Michigan, usually takes care of business against an inferior opponent or lesser talented opponent.

My pick is: Ohio State 28, Penn State 10.