By the Numbers: PSU vs. OSU

When I get home today, I have a nice spreadsheet worked out detailing Joe Paterno's career against #1 ranked teams that I'll post for your viewing pleasure. It has some slightly surprising and not-so-surprising numbers on there, so we'll break that down when we get to it.

But anyway, let's take a look at the series that is Penn State vs. Ohio State. According to a nice e-mail I got this week from the Blue and White Society, the PSU-OSU series is tied at 11-11, but what's more, the total points scored by each team in those 22 games differs only by 11 points. Crazy!

Ohio State has not enjoyed much success in Happy Valley under Jim Tressel. The Buckeyes are 1-2 at Beaver Stadium since Tressel's arrival, losing in 2001 (29-27) and 2005 (17-10), and winning in 2003 (21-20). Even their win in 2003 wasn't all that impressive, as they were ranked #6 coming into State College (sound familiar?), only to fall behind 17-7 and squeak out a 1-point victory over a Nittany Lions squad that finished the season 3-9. So even when Penn State wasn't that great, they still gave Tressel a serious run for their money.

Meanwhile, Tressel is 3-0 against the Lions at The Horseshoe, with wins in 2002 (13-7), 2004 (21-10) and 2006 (28-6). Keep in mind that OSU was #1 in 2006, and that score really underscores how close that game was. The Lions led at the half, 3-0, trailing deep into the fourth only 14-6, only to have two consecutive picks of Anthony Morelli taken back for six points.

So, JoePa's really given Jim Tressel some headaches during his time with the Buckeyes.

Tressel holds a 4-2 edge over JoePa, and Joe has an all-time record of 7-11 against the Buckeyes, with a 5-9 record since joining the Big Ten. However, JoePa is 5-3 against Ohio State at Beaver Stadium, which improves to 5-2 since 1993.

Basically, JoePa and the Lions should feel lucky this game's at home.

This clearly doesn't take into account the fan base at Beaver Stadium, which has clearly becoming exponentially more raucous in recent years. The energy on this campus is palpable.

Obviously, this is no forecast for a Penn State win on Saturday. No amount of history can influence the play of current teams on the field.