UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Alright, it's officially Ohio State week now. Is Penn State ready?
Watching the Nittany Lions' phenomenal defense through six games, you'd have to think the team is as ready as it can possibly get on that side of the ball.
Penn State's No. 1 nationally ranked defense suffocated UMass in Saturday's 63-0 win on homecoming at Beaver Stadium. The No. 6 Lions allowed only 37 yards through the first three quarters and gave up just 109 in the game, once again looking like a national championship caliber defense.
Here are two key phrases James Franklin used when asked what's so special about his defense.
"There's not a lot of gimme yards."
Also ...
"The defense has been able to control the game with the three-and-outs and the field positioning."
Now, will the defense be able to do that stuff next week against Ohio State, which has a vastly superior offense to anything the Lions have faced so far? We'll get to that gigantic question in a second.
First, the comment about the gimme yards.
When you watch Penn State's defense, the first thing you notice is that nothing -- absolutely nothing -- comes easy for the opposing offense. The Lions have so many guys flying to and around the ball that every single yard is difficult to come by.
Sure, that's the way defense is supposed to be played -- in theory -- but you've gotta have the personnel to pull it off. The Lions have the personnel on their talented and deep defense, plus they've got mastermind Manny Diaz coming up with fantastic and aggressive schemes.
"There's not a lot of times when you cut the film on it, (opponents can) say (the defense is) giving us field access, they're giving us the hitch or the field out. Because most college quarterbacks can't make that throw," Franklin said. "There's not a whole lot of that on tape. So, it can be challenging to get 3 or 4 yards.
"It's their ability to control the game and really put our team in position to be successful," the coach added.
Penn State entered the day leading the nation in total defense, allowing just 210.6 yards per game. That number will drop this week to 193.7 after giving up just 109 Saturday.
"I think we're pretty good," end Chop Robinson said of the defense. "We're only chasing greatness, so we want to get better. We're not satisfied with our performances. We've been playing pretty good, and we're just building on every week."
OK, so what does "chasing greatness" mean to the defenders?
"To live up to that, have a shutout every game," Robinson. "That's the standard for us, and that's what we want to chase."
This was the Lions' second shutout of the season, the other coming in a 31-0 win over Iowa.
"Everyone's doing their job and playing violent, playing physical like Coach Diaz always preaches to us," linebacker Dom DeLuca said.
What does the violent and physical part include?
"He doesn't care who we're playing. It doesn't matter if we're playing UMass, if we're playing the No. 1 team in the nation, we're going to come out and play our game and play physical and violent," DeLuca replied.
This is where the rubber meets the road for the Penn State defense, and the team in general. The opponents they've played so far have been pretty lousy offensively. And that's going to change in a big, big way next week going to No. 3 Ohio State.
The question of the season, therefore, comes down to this: Is Penn State's defense really this good, or has it just feasted against bad offenses?
We won't know the answer to that question until the game against the Buckeyes.
For their part, no one in the Penn State camp had much to say Saturday night about next week's game. They were all just trying to enjoy this victory.
"We're gonna celebrate the UMass win tonight and get to that (Sunday)," DeLuca said.
"I'm looking forward to it, but right now I'm enjoying this win over UMass with my teammates," Robinson said. "Once that time comes, then I'll be ready."
End Adisa Isaac, who had 2 1/2 sacks, gave a slightly more insightful answer when he said, "It is another top 10 opponent. Obviously we've been battling these guys for years and years, so this is a great test for us and I'm looking forward to it."
Not to repeat what was previously written, but these are the important numbers that must be considered. This is where Penn State's first six opponents ranked in the nation in total offense coming into this week:
• West Virginia -- 99th
• Delaware -- not ranked because it's FCS
• Illinois -- 80th
• Northwestern -- 121st
• Iowa -- Dead last, among 130 FBS teams
• UMass -- 64th
Check that out closely above, and shockingly, you'll see that UMass' total offense number was actually better than the first five opponents. The Minutemen (1-7) had averaged 396.4 yards per game coming in -- albeit against weaker competition -- and they had a total of 37 yards entering the fourth quarter, when the Lions went to backup defenders.
Penn State finished with seven sacks, gave up just 45 yards passing and only 64 rushing. That's a defense that held Iowa to four first downs and 76 total yards a few weeks back.
Cornerback Cam Miller had two of those seven sacks. What's remarkable about that is Miller said he had never recorded a sack -- not even in high school -- until this game.
"I love that feeling," Miller said.
All these wonderful feelings about Penn State's defense will be put to a much bigger test against Ohio State. The Buckeyes rank 37th in the nation in total offense -- a lower number for them than usual -- but they've seemed to find their stride the past couple of weeks.
Ohio State won at Purdue on Saturday, 41-7, with first-year starting quarterback Kyle McCord completing 16 of 28 passes for 276 yards and three TDs. McCord has a pair of potential first-round draft picks to throw to in Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka, two guys who will give the Penn State defensive backs by far the biggest test they've faced all year.
Will the Lions be up for the challenge?
Will Ohio State's offense be able to find a way to expose Penn State's defense in some form or fashion?
That, more than anything else, will decide next week's massive game.
The countdown is on.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Box score
• Live file
• Team feed
• Scoreboard
• Schedule
• Standings
• Statistics
THE INJURIES
• LG JB Nelson did not play after getting injured a couple of weeks ago at Northwestern. Vega Ioane started in his spot.
• WR Harrison Wallace III played for the first time since week two.
THE SCHEDULE
Next week is the big one, a noon kickoff at Ohio State on FOX.
THE CONTENT
Visit the Penn State team page for all of our coverage.
