Losing Nick for 4-6 weeks is a bummer. He should be back for the stretch run so that is positive. The DL is pretty much the strength of the defense so the loss shouldn't be HUGE. If anything, Chase Young needs to step up and take his game to the next level. The nice thing is, with the way Jones is playing, if you line both guys up on the same side, its tough to double each one.
I think PSU is good, probably a little over-rated. I do think the equalizer in this game is the "White Out." I think last year was their year, and while their QB is back, they lost a lot from last years team. OSU's last two games there really shouldn't have become games, they went into a shell in 2014 and allowed PSU to come back and then in 2016 they had a blocked FG and blocked punt. Weird things happen there, but most of OSU's issues have been self inflicted in Happy Valley.