Tomorrow, Ohio State’s season boils down to one game. Fittingly, the Michigan Wolverines stand between the Buckeyes and a perfect season.
This scenario has played out before. Michigan has ruined the season for many otherwise perfect Ohio State squads, and Ohio State has wrecked Michigan dreams of unbeaten seasons. Going into tomorrow’s game, every Ohio State fan knows that Michigan will do whatever it takes to beat the Buckeyes, smash the Buckeyes’ hope for perfection, and start Urban Meyer’s OSU coaching career off with a losing record against Michigan. Every Michigan fan knows, too, that the Buckeyes want to crush Michigan, get revenge for last year’s loss, and return to the glory days when Jim Tressel led Ohio State to a 9-1 record against the hated Team Up North.
This will be a great matchup between two pretty good teams in the greatest rivalry game in college football. In Ohio State-Michigan games, the great players have a way of stepping up — Denard Robinson, for example, probably played the best game of his collegiate career when the Wolverines beat the Buckeyes last year — and otherwise obscure players can achieve lasting gridiron glory by making the hard hit and recovering the crucial turnover. We can expect a tough, hard-hitting game tomorrow, because that’s just the way The Game is always played.
I think the key to the game is the Ohio State defense. The Buckeye D played its best game of the year last week against Wisconsin, but Wisconsin played a traditional Big Ten offensive game. Michigan, on the other hand, has a bit more of a spread mentality, and Ohio State has struggled to defend against the spread. If Ohio State can contain Robinson, in his new role as multi-purpose offensive sparkplug, and pressure Devin Gardner, that will take them a long way toward winning. Consistent with my view that The Game sees big players rising to the occasion, I’ll be looking for John Simon, Ryan Shazier, and Bradley Roby to make some big plays if the Buckeyes are going to win.
Offensively, the Braxton Miller Show ground to a halt last week. Wisconsin had a great plan, executed it to perfection, and kept Miller bottled up and off balance. Michigan will try to do the same — but it remains to be seen if they can bring the same defensive assets to bear that Wisconsin deployed. I think the answer for the Buckeyes may be Carlos Hyde, who has run with punch in recent weeks. If the forecast for tomorrow is accurate — and they are expecting temperatures in the 30s, with some wind — being able to run the ball effectively may be the key. Beanie Wells killed Michigan during his career; Carlos Hyde would like to do the same.
Columbus is stoked for The Game. Let’s go, Buckeyes!
This week comes but once a year
These teams have a very good rivalry going, in both football and basketball. In football, the teams have taken turns knocking each other off in recent years, often in dramatic fashion. Last year, Ohio State’s nail-biting win over the highly ranked Badgers was the lone bright spot in an otherwise dismal season, and the year before Wisconsin handed Ohio State its only loss. In basketball, Bo Ryan and Thad Matta have established a tremendous rivalry; each program has had excellent teams in recent years and the season series has been split in each of the last three seasons. Next to traditional rival Michigan, Wisconsin is Ohio State’s top adversary in the Big Ten and, I think, the team Buckeye Nation most wants to beat in the big-money sports.
Today’s game should be a classic. Wisconsin is a tough team that has lost three close games. It features the perennial punishing ground game that you expect from a Wisconsin football team; top running back Montee Ball has already rushed for more than 1200 yards and is mentioned as a Heisman Trophy candidate. The Badgers strap it up and run right at you, which means the Ohio State defensive line will need to come to play. The Wisconsin defense, on the other hand, has been terrific in keeping opponents off the scoreboard and is one of the best defenses in the country in that category. Add in the din that always is found in Camp Randall Stadium, and you have all the makings of a barnburner.
Ohio State is undefeated, but I doubt if any Ohio State fan feels real good about that. Last week the Buckeyes gave up 49 points, and almost 500 yards of offense, to Indiana. The defense fell apart at the end of the game, giving up 21 fourth-quarter points and two late touchdowns that turns a comfortable win into a 52-49, recover-the-onside-kick-or-die nailbiter. The indiana debacle is just the worst performance of an Ohio State defense that has given up a lot of points and a lot of big plays. Is it the defensive scheme? Injuries? Poor tackling techniques? Players who aren’t playing up to their capabilities? Bad angles and coverage breakdowns? This defense is so bad right now that it is undoubtedly all of those things — and probably a few more besides.
Today’s opponent, Purdue, is a bit of a cipher. The Boilermakers looked good in their early games and lost a tight one to Notre Dame, but have been blown out in their last two games, against Michigan and Wisconsin. In those games the Boilermakers have struggled to run the ball and put up points and have been gashed on defense — particularly on the ground. When the Boilermakers have the ball, will the Buckeyes defense look better against what appears to be a weak offense, or will the Boilermaker offense feast on the offerings of a feeble Ohio State unit that will feature the team’s fullback playing middle linebacker?
Last weekend it rained touchdowns for the Buckeyes, who hung an amazing 63 points on Nebraska. After a poor first quarter the Buckeyes suddenly turned into an awesome offensive juggernaut as they gashed the Cornhuskers through the air and on the ground. Braxton Miller had a career-best day for rushing the ball, Carlos Hyde scored multiple touchdowns, and Nebraska had no answer. How do you follow up a performance like that? More importantly, how do you keep the Buckeye offense from getting swelled heads and thinking they are the Greatest Show on Turf?
After a lackluster first quarter, the Buckeyes roared back and blew out the Cornhuskers, 63-38. Sometimes one play can turn a game around, and in this case it was a long run by Braxton Miller that set up the score that allowed Ohio State to close to 17-14. After that, it was off to the races. Ohio State scored 28 points in the second quarter to go into halftime with a 35-24 lead, and then kept their foot on the accelerator in the second half to score another 28 points and pull away. The Buckeyes are now 6-0 and are likely to move into the top ten.
What will make the game extra special is that it is under the lights at the Old Horseshoe. Ohio Stadium is a classic, storied college football venue — you can’t walk into the Stadium without feeling the history sunk deep into the turf, the concrete rows and ramps up to B and C decks, and the pillars with their Block O capstones — but it becomes an especially spectacular place for a football game under the lights. The Stadium itself is brightly lit, and the crowd is lit, too.
The results of pre-conference play were not kind to the teams in the Old Conference. Michigan got pulverized by Alabama and then played badly in a loss to Notre Dame. Wisconsin lost to Oregon State and has struggled mightily against mediocre teams like Utah State and UNLV. Pre-season favorites Michigan State and Nebraska have fallen from the ranks of the unbeaten, with the Spartans getting pounded by Notre Dame and the Cornhuskers dropping a winnable game to UCLA. Iowa, Penn State, and Illinois already have two defeats. Minnesota is undefeated, but hasn’t played anybody. The best team in the conference could be Northwestern, which has knocked off Syracuse, Vanderbilt, and Boston College.
The good? No Buckeye seemed to sustain a serious injury. Ohio State finally got a runner other than Braxton Miller — in the case, Jordan Hall — more than 100 yards on the ground in a game. The defense forced two turnovers, and John Simon and Johnathan Hankins are terrors on the defensive line. And that’s about it.
The Buckeyes scored 35 points in a row to put the game away. They got a special teams touchdown, a good thing for a team looking to significantly improve its special teams play. Ohio State racked up 244 yards through the air and ran a lot of passing plays involving a lot of players. Braxton Miller had some great runs, and Devin Smith made one of the most unbelievable catches I’ve ever seen from a Buckeye receiver. The defense had two picks and held Miami — admittedly a pure passing team — to -1 yard on the ground. The back-up quarterback, Kenny Guiton, played significant minutes and looked comfortable running the offense. And no one got hurt, aside from Miller’s cramps.
