The states of Ohio and Pennsylvania have garnered much attention this November. I, of course am referring to the great game that was played in State College on the 2nd! How could one focus on anything but football? The Buckeyes and Nittany Lions finished the weekend with an identical record of 7-1 after Ohio State beat Penn State 20-13. The game looks close! It was and it wasn't.

Penn State got off to a hot start putting up 10 points in the first 10 minutes. The touchdown came off a Will Howard pick-six. Howard then turned around and led a quick drive to make it 10-7. Not long after it was 14-10 and then 17-10. 17-13 was the closest it got with 5 minutes to go in the 3rd. Ohio State scored the only points of the 4th to make it 20-13 where it would finish. A narrow game that Ohio State just slightly had the edge, right? Not really.

Penn State simply cannot get over the Buckeye hump. James Franklin and the Nittany Lions are 1-10 in their meetings under the head coach. Their only win came in 2016, Franklin's best year, and they now have lost 8 straight. Fans show up every year and every year the media convinces people that Penn State is an elite team. While they may break that barrier here and there, they just can't get past the Buckeyes. The fans in Happy Valley even set a school record with an attendance of 111,030 to watch yet another loss by the Franklin led team. No matter the talent, no matter the coaches, no matter the environment, Penn State cannot play up with Ohio State. It simply wasn't as close as it looks on paper.

Will Howard's miscues kept the score looking narrow. He threw an early pick-six and was rushing to the endzone to make the game 21-10 when he fumbled into the endzone where it rolled out of bounds- Penn State ball. Howard also threw 21- and 25-yard TD passes. He is and has been incredibly volatile for OSU this year. The fact of the matter is he played like a double agent, keeping both teams in the game on Saturday. The separation between the teams was the Ohio State defense. They stood strong all afternoon, only giving up six points, one fewer than their offense gave up on the pick-six turn seven. The Buckeye defense had an incredible goal line stand and the best interception I've seen all year by Davison Igbinosun in the endzone. The bent but never broke.

Howard is going to have to improve significantly if Ohio State wants a real shot at a title this year. They were my preseason pick, and, in all honesty, I have never felt worse about the pick than after this game. Will Howard is not leading the team the way he should be. He honestly did not need to do much this year to put the Buckeyes on top. The ground game and defense for OSU is good enough to carry them far. Howard needed to make a couple of plays every now and again on throws to elite receivers and allow everyone around him to do the rest. That is exactly why they brought him to Columbus from Manhattan, Kansas. He could sit back and manage the game. Instead, he has become an issue. He lost the Oregon game on a wildly unaware play. Mistakes were forced by the Duck's defense and the Nittany Lion defense, but there is a common denominator in the entire season. Howard is having to win games because he is putting them in position to lose them in the first place. It is downright unacceptable for a storied program to be having this issue so late in the year. If he can clean it up, the Buckeyes will go title hunting in January. If not, they could get bounced in the first round of the playoffs.

Penn State on the other hand has a boogeyman issue. They have been a solid program under Franklin, only falling short to Ohio State and often Michigan. They shouldn't win those games in theory. But as ugly as his record against them is, Franklin will be hearing about it for a long time. Fans will call for his job, which is ridiculous. Franklin has beaten essentially everyone except for OSU and UM. He cannot seem to out-coach Ryan Day. Day is a top coach, and I will stand behind that. He is unable to prepare his talent to play with Ohio State's talent. But that is the case for most teams in the country. The stadium is always an incredible sight, but there is plenty of scarlet in the crowd. So did Autzen in Eugene. The fans in navy and white leave every year disappointed. Most of OSU's opponents do. Penn State is a good team. They just aren't a top tier team. Those who have told you they are lied to you. They would beat most teams in the US. They won't beat the top. They are a solid second tier program in the country and in the Big 10. Oregon and Ohio State are on top as of now and Penn State has not proven that they should be anywhere but tier two. They wont do much more than that.