Kyle McCord Kyle Robertson/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

CFB analyst Joel Klatt is all-in on Ohio State: 'They’ve got what now is the best resume in the country'

The 7-0 Ohio State Buckeyes are riding high after a massive win over No. 7 Penn State.

No, it wasn't the offensive explosion we've come to expect out of OSU in recent years, but head coach Ryan Day's team beat a very good Nittany Lions squad, 20-12. Ohio State's defense gave up only 240 total yards to PSU and quarterback Kyle McCord kept the offense moving.

Undefeated and boasting wins over No. 9 Notre Dame and No. 7 Penn State, this Buckeyes squad is starting to get its flowers from the national media.

Among that group is Fox Sports' talking head and color commentator Joel Klatt.

“Obviously they’ve got to feel great about this,” Klatt said on his podcast regarding OSU's win (h/t On3). “They’ve got what now is the best resume in the country. A couple of top 10 wins, one on the road over Notre Dame, now against Penn State. Those are two really good football teams.

“Penn State is still a really good football team, folks. There’s no doubt about this in my mind. And the thing that I think that they feel so good about the Buckeyes is that they won both of those games in a manner in which people were questioning whether they could do it or not, which are two slugfest low scoring, defensive oriented, run game oriented, toughness oriented.”

It's clear that this defense-first approach is a bit of a different vibe than what we've grown used to in Columbus, but the mindset is working. Ohio State has allowed less than 17 points in every game this season, and against Penn State, the Buckeyes forced the Nittany Lions into just 1-of-16 on third down.

That's elite defense.

"They now have confidence that they can win the game on defense," defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said of his squad after the game, per ESPN. "I don't look at stats but I guess Penn State had a pretty good defense, so we talked to them before the game: 'Hey, you're not just playing Penn State's offense. You're playing Penn State's defense. If they make one play, we've got to make two. If they made two, we got to make three.' So it's a sense of maturity, leadership, maybe a little chip on the shoulder."

Back to resumes, the Buckeyes still find themselves ranked No. 3 in the nation behind No. 1 Georgia and No. 2 Michigan.

To Klatt's point, though, Ohio State's resume is arguably the best amongst that group. Georgia has only played one ranked opponent so far this season in No. 20 Kentucky. Michigan, on the other hand, has not yet played a ranked opponent and the Wolverines started the season with the "gauntlet" of East Carolina, UNLV and Bowling Green.

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