The Ohio State defense faces a large challenge on Saturday night in contending with Penn State offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead’s scheme – and perhaps the best player in college football in Nittany Lion running back Saquon Barkley.

Moorhead and Penn State operate a run-pass option heavy spread to run offense. Operating out of 11 personnel, Moorhead’s base play is split zone. The offensive line blocks tight zone, while the Y-off tight end blocks back on the end man on the line of scrimmage, resulting in a natural cutback lane.

But the Nittany Lions also use other inside zone variants, including base tight zone and zone-iso.

And Penn State likewise uses standard spread gap schemes like dart and power read.

In addition, Moorhead builds run-pass options into most run plays, allowing quarterback Trace McSorley to read a play side linebacker to determine whether to throw a hitch or slant.

This season, however, Moorhead’s main task is getting the football to Barkley in whatever manner possible. Against Michigan, Moorhead took advantage of the Wolverines’ desire to play man cover-1, placing Barkley on several vertical routes against a linebacker.