This week our Buckeyes travel to East Lansing to take on the Michigan State Spartans. This is going to be a tough game fellow Buckeye fans. Don’t let anyone talk you into “they have one playmaker” (Javon Ringer,) their defense is suspect (gave up 38 to Cal and 29 to Indiana,) they don’t have any athletes. Well, I seem to recall a 24-17 OSU win last year that was closer than it should have been.

And more to the point, the Buckeye attack has been, well, somewhat offensive putting up 9 points against the defensive juggernaut known as Purdue in the cozy confines of the Horseshoe last week. What I’d hope to see happen is that the Buckeyes find their way on offense and that the defense keeps up their intensity level leading to something like a 31-10 win. What I think will happen is that MSU pulls the upset at home winning something like 21-19 because the offense settles for field goals after killing drives in the red zone with false start penalties and ill-advised sacks.

Road games are tough in DI college football. Don’t believe me? MSU traveled to California to get outscored by the Bears. California traveled to Maryland to take on a team that was thumped by Virginia and got blown out. Yes, OSU won on the road at night against Wisconsin. But this is a different week with a different team (particularly offensive line.) I hope to see a great OSU win, I think we’ll see a close loss. Please, prove me wrong!

Go Bucks!

Ohio State smothered the Purdue Boilermakers 16-3 today with aggressive defense and special teams. The offenses were, shall we say, not so good. Beanie is obviously very hurt, he’s not the same back we’re used to seeing. Pryor played like a freshman. The receivers were pretty lame other than blocking. Speaking of blocking, Pryor would have had a better game if the offensive line would have shown up.

It’s a win, so congratulations to the special teams get buckeye leaves as do the secondary in keeping Purdue out of the endzone. Any win is a good win, love that the Bucks are bowl eligible now.

In related news, what’s the story with Michigan? They lost 13-10 to Toledo! Holy Toledo!

Time is short this week, so I’ll sum it up quickly: Purdue is going to get a beat down today at Ohio Stadium, look for the Bucks to cover at -19 favorites.

Go Bucks!

It wasn’t pretty, there’s plenty to improve upon, but it was a win over a quality opponent in a very, very tough environment. The most encouraging aspect of this 20-17 win? The appearance of heart. This has been missing in the first few games and tonight, we saw it. After Wisconsin pulled ahead 10-7 in the second quarter, they could have packed it in, but they didn’t.

In the third quarter the defense held the Badgers to 27 yards on three possessions. That’s huge. Meanwhile, the offense put up 125 yards and 6 points, including the winning margin. In the 4th quarter the Badgers wouldn’t fold, they embarked upon a powerful 63 yard drive for a touchdown to pull ahead. Again, the Buckeyes could have collapsed and I’m sure many thought they would given the history this season.

How did they respond? They put an 80 yard touchdown drive together to pull ahead for good. Special teams kept the field position reasonable when Wisconsin got a final chance and the defense put it away with an interception. It was a team win and it showed progress - I couldn’t be happier for the team and indeed, I’m very proud of the way they pulled together and stepped up when faced with adversity.

That being said, there are some things to work on including penalties, limiting turnovers, line play on both sides, and the phenomenal Mr. Pryor learning to throw the ball away and not take expensive sacks. These issues are fixable and I believe the coaches will get on them. Heart I didn’t know about, now having seen it, I believe we could see some great things from this group.

GO BUCKS!

Well, it’s Wednesday so that must mean we need to post a game preview. This week, our intrepid Buckeyes travel to Madison, Wisconsin to take on the scrappy Badgers under the lights at Camp Randall stadium. This has not been a kind trip to OSU in the past with a tough 17-10 loss in similar circumstances back in 2003. Well, Barry Alvarez no longer roams the sidelines and the Badgers suffered a stunning defeat after a second-half collapse to the skunkbears last week.

So, will Wisconsin’s mental state be good? I don’t know, I tend to think they’ll come out with something to prove. Couple that with OSU’s questionable defensive tackle play, Wisconsin’s power running game and massive, “experts at holding” offensive line, and I think the Buckeyes come up short. On the other hand, Michigan managed to hang 27 points on them in two quarters last week - that’s not a great reflection on Wisconsin’s defense.

What will happen? I don’t know and unfortunately, I won’t be able to see as the greedy bastards at ABC/ESPN won’t televise the game on the west coast unless one chooses to pony up $150 for ESPN Game Plan (not gonna do it.) I think OSU tastes defeat for the second time this season at the hands of the Badgers in a shootout something like 35-30. Hope I’m wrong. Go Bucks!

Real game data can be found as always at Bucknuts.