These come from the Ohio State, Penn State and Big Ten sports information departments:
OHIO STATE
- For the second week in a row, Ohio State faces one of the top eight winningest programs in NCAA history. READ MORE: Buckeyes throttle Nebraska to open season
- Penn State sits No. 8 in all-time victories (898) and No. 10 in winning percentage (.689).
- Ohio State is No. 2 with 925 all-time victories and No. 2 with an all-time winning percentage of .730.
- Ohio State has won six straight Big Ten road games and since the start of the 2012 season has a 34-3 record in “true” road games (excluding neutral site contests). Its .918 road winning percentage is second only to Oklahoma.
- Three of the last five meetings have been one possession games with two of them being decided by one point (both Ohio State wins after training by 10 or more points in the fourth quarter).
- Ohio State is 29-5 since 2012 against Associated Press Top 25 teams and has won 16 consecutive games over ranked Big Ten opponents (including conference championship games). That’s the longest streak in the AP poll era (1936). In that span, the Buckeyes are 9-0 on the road with wins over Michigan State (2012, 2014), Michigan (2015, 2019), Penn State (2018), Oklahoma (2016), Minnesota (2014), Wisconsin (2016) and Northwestern (2013).
- ESPN’s College Gameday will be on site in State College this Saturday. Ohio State will tie Alabama for the most Gameday appearances with 48 (it is 33-14 in those games).
- The two Pennsylvania natives on Ohio State’s roster are SAF Marcus Hooker, from New Castle, Pa., and WR Julian Fleming, who hails from Catawissa, Pa.
- Ohio State has won five of its last six games at Penn State’s Beaver Stadium.
- In Saturday’s season-opening win over Nebraska, QB Justin Fields set an Ohio State record for completion percentage (.952) for a quarterback with 11 or more pass attempts. He finished 20 of 21 vs. the Cornhuskers for 276 yards and three total TDs (two passing, one rushing).
- Six Buckeyes made their first career starts last week vs. Nebraska: OG Harry Miller, WR Garrett Wilson, DT Tommy Togiai, DT Antuwan Jackson, SAF Marcus Hooker and CB Marcus Williamson.
- Champions vs. Nebraska: DL Tommy Togiai, DE Jonathon Cooper, CB Shaun Wade, SAF Marcus Hooker, CB Marcus Williamson, LB Baron Browning, LB Tuf Borland, TE Luke Farrell, TE Jeremey Ruckert, WR Garrett Wilson, OC Josh Myers, RG Wyatt Davis, RT Nicholas Petit-Frere, LT Thayer Munford. Player of the Game: Justin Fields; Defensive Player of the Game: DL Haskell Garrett; Special Teams Player of the Game: Chris Booker Scout Team Players of the Week: Robert Cope, Jack Jamieson, Mitchell Melton and Cade Kacherski
Ohio State Buckeyes: Josh Myers confident in offensive line moving forward https://t.co/5Uds60U5va
— Dayton Daily News (@daytondailynews) October 28, 2020
PENN STATE
- Last week at Indiana, Penn State QB Sean Clifford completed 24 passes for 238 yards and three touchdowns, while also running for a career-best 119 yards on 17 carries and a 35-yard score. The 357 yards of total offense totaled by Clifford were the third-most in his career.
- With his touchdown catch in the first quarter at Indiana, Pat Freiermuth owns the Penn State career record for receiving touchdowns by a tight end with 16 career scores. He broke a tie with Mike Gesicki (2014-17).
- Penn State begins its 61st season in Beaver Stadium with a seven game-winning streak in home openers and faces its highest-ranked home-opening opponent since hosting No. 2 Miami (Fla.) in 2001. The Halloween night home opener is Penn State’s second (Dickinson, 1888) and latest since 1918 (Wissahickon Barracks, Nov. 2). Both of those games finished in 6-6 ties. It is also Penn State’s second home opener against a Big Ten opponent, as Penn State’s very first Big Ten game took place in Beaver Stadium to open the 1993 season (Minnesota; W, 38-20).
- Penn State’s all-time record in home openers is 119-13-1 and 51-9 in Beaver Stadium.
- Penn State has won 17 out of its last 18 home openers and its last seven consecutively, defeating Idaho (2019; 79-7), Appalachian State (2018; 45-38, OT), Akron in 2014 (21-3) and 2017 (52-0), Kent State (2016; 33-13), Buffalo (2015; 27-14), and Eastern Michigan (2013; 45-7).
- Penn State’s 79-7 win over Idaho in the 2019 opener marked its biggest opening season win since defeating Susquehanna, 82-0, in 1926.
- Penn State is playing just its second Halloween home opener. In 1888, Penn State’s second season of football, the Nittany Lions battled to a 6-6 tie with Dickinson.
- The home opener is Penn State’s latest in the year since World War I and an influenza pandemic delayed the start of the 1918 season until Nov. 2 against the Wissahickon Barracks, which was also a 6-6 tie.
- Sixteen points have decided the last four meetings between these schools. The last three games in Beaver Stadium, dating back to 2014, have been nail-biters with the 2014 game going to double overtime, an unranked Penn State team defeating No. 2 Ohio State in 2016 and a one-point game in 2018. The last four Ohio State games in Beaver Stadium have been primetime games.
BIG TEN
- Wisconsin’s Graham Mertz became the first Badger freshman to start a season opener at quarterback since 1978, going 20-for-21 for 248 yards and five touchdowns. In his first career start, the newcomer broke the school record for single-game completion percentage (.952), while tying school marks with five touchdown passes and 17 consecutive completions. He also recorded the third-highest single-game passing yards by a Wisconsin freshman, trailing Darrell Bevell (274 vs. Northwestern in 1992) and Joel Stave (254 vs. Illinois in 2012).
- In his first game as Rutgers head coach since 2011, Greg Schiano led the Scarlet Knights to a 38-27 victory against Michigan State and snapped a 21-game Big Ten losing streak. Rutgers won its Big Ten opener for the first time and claimed a Big Ten road victory for the first time since 2017.
- Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald earned his 100th career win on Saturday, becoming the 16th Big Ten head coach to reach that milestone all-time. Northwestern had its largest margin of victory in a Big Ten game since beating Illinois 48-0 in 1970. The Wildcats also recorded their largest halftime lead in a conference game in the Fitzgerald era and their largest margin of victory in a season opener since 1965.
- Saturday’s meeting between Michigan and Minnesota featured the first all African American football officiating crew in the history of the Big Ten and any Autonomy Five conference. Comprised of 11 men and one woman, the historic crew included on-field officials, replay official, communicator and timer. Twenty-two percent of the 2020 Big Ten football officiating staff is comprised of minorities and/or women.
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