Indians as Blob, Relentless Aggression, Rogue One and Heroes: While We’re Waiting
October 14, 2016Losing another generation of Cleveland Browns fans
October 14, 2016Road games in the Big Ten come in all shapes and sizes. On the low intensity end you have trips to Rutgers or Purdue: half full buildings where the visiting team can easily be the majority. On the high intensity end, there is Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin. The No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes (5-0, 2-0 B1G) will get a firsthand look at one of the most fearsome stadiums in the country when they drive northwest to see the No. 8 Wisconsin Badgers (4-1, 1-1) in a primetime tilt on Saturday.
Ohio State and Wisconsin have a long and storied history. The Bucks and Badgers first clashed in 1913; Ohio State leads the all-time series 57-18-5. The two most recently faced off in the 2014 Big Ten Championship Game. Led by Cardale Jones, the Scarlet and Gray dismantled the Badgers 59-0 to win the school’s 35th Big Ten Title. Overall, OSU has a four game win streak in the series and have won seven of the last eight contests. That lone loss came in 2010 when a newly minted No. 1 Ohio State club got railroaded in Madison, 31-18. Memories of that night still haunt Buckeye Nation, and the parallels between then and now are hard to ignore.
Having lived in Madison for a few years, I was front and center for the mania of Wisconsin’s rabid fanhood. Home games in Camp Randall are an absolute treat, the students are a raucous (and well hydrated) bunch, and they Jump Around like you wouldn’t believe. Still, the most remarkable aspect of Wisconsin football is how deeply they despise Ohip State, to the point that when the schools play, UW students sing a song to the tune of “When the Saints Go Marching In”:
Oh how I hate
Oh how I hate
Oh how I hate Ohio State.
What the f*** is a Buckeye?
Your mascot is a nut
It’s debatable where Wisconsin sits on the hierarchy of Buckeye rivals, though for my money I would rank them fourth behind Penn State (3), Michigan State (2), and Michigan (1, duh). Still, I’ve never heard Block O chant an anti-Wisconsin ditty, so the fire seems to burn a little bright in America’s Dairyland.
Wisconsin started their season with a statement-making win over then-No. 5 LSU in Lambeau Field. The Badgers catapulted up the rankings from unranked to No. 10 in the AP Poll. They finished the non-conference slate with wins over Akron and Georgia State. Wisconsin then raised the stakes by taking to the road and besting then-No. 8 Michigan State in East Lansing. The next week Michigan dropped UW 14-7 in Ann Arbor. A bye week followed which takes us to today.
The Badgers historically make their bones through the ground game. James White, John Clay, Montee Ball, Melvin Gordon, and now Corey Clement have all terrorized opposing defenses with speed and brutal strength. That unstoppable force will collide with Ohio State’s immovable object of rush dedge as, a unit that has not allowed a rushing touchdown in 2016. More importantly, the Silver Bullets have a plus-8 turnover margin and will need to expand that gap against an inexperienced quarterback in redshirt freshman Alex Hornibrook. Wisconsin’s best bet on Saturday is to reproduce their playbook against Michigan (with fewer turnovers).
Based on pure numbers, Ohio State’s offense is jaw dropping. The Bucks average 53.2 points per game (the Badgers average 26). Over their first five games, OSU has scored 266 points, which are the most in program history over the first five contests (and that’s going back to 1890).
If you’re a fan of statistics, here are a few data points that bode well for the Buckeyes:
• Urban Meyer is 16-0 at Ohio State in October
• The Buckeyes are 51-23 all-time at night, and have won 12 straight night games
• Ohio State is 4-2 versus Wisconsin at night, with both of those losses coming at Camp Randall Stadium.
• OSU has won three straight games against ranked teams going back to 2015.
• Coach Meyer is 13-3 versus ranked opponents while at Ohio State.
All things considered, Wisconsin is dangerous. Wisconsin at home is intimidating. Wisconsin at home in prime time can be lethal. The key for Ohio State will be maintaining its cool in a hostile environment and having the patience to play a slow moving, low scoring game. On paper, Ohio State has more talent and Urban Meyer has the ability to bring their focus to bear on the road as we saw in Norman. It will be close, perhaps even requiring overtime, but the Buckeyes should leave Wisconsin with a perfect season intact. Just don’t let Wisconsin take the opening kickoff back for a touchdown.
4 Comments
SUoO:
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Bucky: 9
As a UM fan, I’m really looking forward to this game if for no other reason than a calibration tool for my team. Wiscy really didn’t move the ball on Michigan at all (under 3.5 ypc on non-sack runs, 3.5 ypa and 3 INTs passing; only TD came on a very-short-field drive set up by an INT return), and Michigan had *some* success moving it on Wiscy’s defense (4.1 ypc on non-sack runs, 219 yards passing) and was let down by their FG kicking (in terms of the final score and breathing room in the fourth quarter).
I want to know what a top-flight offense looks like against Wiscy, and I want to see how good Michigan’s defense really is by comparison.
I know there are some apples-and-oranges comparisons (Wiscy has had a bye week, they’re at home, etc.), but this is a good measuring stick game for my team.
The score would have been much more indicative of how things actually went, if they hadn’t missed all three chip shot FGs.
This rivalry could have been way bigger since Bilemma never shut up when he was there. Still a top rival to me.