By: Bill Blanton (Special to BuckeyeCountry.net via Examiner.com) –

The great coaches always say November is for contenders. Ohio State will play two of their final three games on the road. The matchup against Penn State may very well determine the conference champion and the automatic BCS bid.
Week 10: November 7, 2009; Penn State Nittany Lions

If not for a last second field goal against Iowa, Joe Paterno and the Penn State Nittany Lions may have very well played for the national championship in 2008. Though Penn State did lose some key players from last year’s Rose Bowl team (Co-Big Ten-champions), the Nittany Lions return some outstanding players.

The Nittany Lions will return five starters on offense. Perhaps no two players in combination will be more important to their team’s success than quarterback Daryll Clark and running back Evan Royster.
Clark should be in the running for player of the year in the Big Ten. He set a Penn State record last year with 29 total touchdowns on his way to be selected first team All-Big Ten.

Royster will be a strong candidate as well for conference player of the year. He led the Big Ten in rushing in 2008 with 1,236 yards. He was named as a preseason Maxwell and Doak Walker Award candidate. The Penn State coaching staff hopes its young offensive line can be effective enough to get Royster 250 carries.

If the offense has a potential concern, it would be wide receiver. The three top receivers for 2008 are departed from Penn State. Penn State has even flirted with Royster as a wide-out in some formations due to the concern of productivity in that area.

Defensively, Penn State should offer the same stout defensive that always comes to play at Linebacker U. Linebacker Sean Lee continues to recover from an ACL injury suffered last year and looks to be back at full strength and the man in the middle for the Lions’ defense, OLB Navorro Bowman, returns to join Lee. Bowman led Penn State in tackles last year.

Lombardi Award candidate medicine without prescription Jared Odrick will anchor the Penn State defensive line.

Prediction

If the season progresses the way Jim Tressel has planned, this one game could become “The Season on the Brink.” A win for Ohio State and a potential undefeated season would almost guarantee them a spot in the national championship.

Look for both defenses to be stout in this game. As we saw last year in Columbus, yards will be tough to come by. The game will definitely come down to turnovers and which quarterback can make plays in the fourth quarter.

Ohio State will have more weapons for Terrelle Pryor at the wide-out then Penn State will have for Daryll Clark.

Pryor gets it done in his home state of PA.

Ohio State 17 Penn State 13

Week 11: November 14, 2009; Iowa Hawkeyes

The Iowa Hawkeyes look to build on the success of 2008 that saw them finish 9-4. After a slow start at 3-3, the Hawkeyes rolled to six out of seven wins behind Doak Walker Award winner Shonn Greene.

With Greene gone, Iowa will look to plug in another back behind an outstanding offensive line. If there is one thing Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz knows, it’s offensive lineman. The Hawkeyes should be…..

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