Why risk it? For the sake of giving the fans a more exciting game?Īs for Ohio State, do you really think coach Ryan Day wants to prepare every season for a Penn State team that plays the Buckeyes tougher than most, losing by an average margin of eight points since Day joined the Ohio State staff in 2017? And coming within one point twice during that stretch.

My take? Smith’s reasons for not pressing for Penn State as a protected game, and PSU’s reasons for not tagging the Buckeyes as the same, have a lot to do with both programs catching a breather.įrom Penn State’s standpoint, what advantage is there in every year being guaranteed of playing a team you have defeated only once since James Franklin arrived in 2014? Franklin doesn’t need another “L” on the schedule, especially with a 12-team playoff coming in 2024.

Missing out on having an OSU-PSU game every season is a shame for fans on both sides, but not so much for coaches on both sidelines. (Under the new scheduling model, each team will play every Big Ten opponent at least once every other year.) But now those slugfests, including 'White Out' games at Beaver Stadium, will be fewer and farther between. Love Jonesy.įrom Buckeye Nation’s perspective, Penn State is the second biggest rival behind Michigan. Just give them a hamburger and Coke and they’d tell you,” he said. I asked longtime columnist David Jones whether, after being given truth serum, PSU fans would admit to OSU being public enemy No. Penn State’s most natural rival is Pittsburgh, but the Buckeyes would be the closest to a rivalry game the Nittany Lions have inside the conference.

Iowa went all-in, protecting Nebraska, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Michigan protected Ohio State and Michigan State. Ohio State chose to protect only the Michigan game, while Penn State is the only conference team to not protect any opponent. Instead, as Smith explained it, “We talked about it, but I decided that the criteria on long-term historical rivalries were more important and that it would give much more flexibility for the conference office and our scheduler to create the matchups that needed to be created.”

Psu white out 2017 we are penn state