Ohio State moved to 6-1 on Saturday–barely. The fourth-ranked Buckeyes survived a scare from Nebraska and held on to win 21-17.
This was Ohio State’s first close win of the season, as they started 5-0, all blowouts, before a 32-31 loss to Oregon. Ryan Day can breathe a sigh of relief after his team pulled it out against the Cornhuskers, but has no time to relax. This week, the Buckeyes are on the road against No. 3 Penn State.
During Sunday’s edition of “The Matt Barrie Show,” Paul Finebaum said Day is “counting his lucky stars” after the win and expressed some concern about Ohio State moving forward.
“He’s counting his lucky stars because had they lost that game, and they weren’t far from it, I mean, he could have possibly been out of the playoffs by next Saturday night,’ Finebaum told Barrie, via On3. “I’m giving you the worst case scenario at Penn State, but this is a team that, I mean, I was convinced they had more talent than anybody, and were probably the best team before the season. And then I’m getting really squeamish about that.”
With one loss already on the ledger, Ohio State can’t afford to drop another game if it wants to have a shot to win the Big Ten. A second L would also put the Buckeyes’ College Football Playoff hopes in some peril.
Ohio State-Penn State is the game of the week in Week 10, and the television coverage indicates the magnitude of the matchup. Not only is ESPN’s College GameDay heading to Happy Valley, but so is FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff.
Kickoff is set for noon ET on FOX.
Related: The Week 10 AP Poll Top 25 Rankings Are Out On Sunday