The New/Old Bullpen Arm in Cleveland
September 11, 2017Hey—not too bad, kid: Cleveland Browns Week 1 Winners and Losers
September 11, 2017Prior to the season, some called the Ohio State Buckeyes overrated because of their No. 2 ranking. But, with how Urban Meyer has been able to reload and the scarlet and gray haven’t missed a beat. Given that, no one really blinked an eye when they were ranked as the second-best team in the country.
Those questions surfaced once against after the Buckeyes were upset by Oklahoma in the Shoe Saturday night. Due to their loss, Ohio State fell to No. 8 in the Associated Press Top 25 and to No. 8 and No. 9 in the Coaches poll.
There are four Big Ten teams in the top 10 of both polls, including Ohio State: (AP poll, Coaches poll)
- Penn State: No. 5, No. 5
- Michigan: No. 7, No. 7
- Wisconsin: No. 10, No. 12
After upsetting the Buckeyes in Columbus, Oklahoma jumped to No. 2 and No. 3 in the polls. Baker Mayfield not only may have secured his spot as a Heisman finalist this early in the season, but if the Sooners win out, they’ll easily be in the Playoff.
With Ohio State’s loss, there was plenty of movement in the top of both polls. Luckily for the Buckeyes, if they improve their offense and defensive secondary and go undefeated the rest of the year, they will still make the Playoff. The scarlet and gray still have to take on two teams who are ranked better than them (Penn State and Michigan) and we already know that other upsets and movement will take place in the top 10.
Their loss to the Sooners hurts, but it’s not the worst thing that could have happened to them. Maybe it’s just the wake up call Meyer and the Buckeyes needed this early in the season. Don’t forget, the last time Ohio State lost their second game of the season at home was in 2014, when they were upset by Virginia Tech in shocking fashion. The Buckeyes went on to win the inaugural College Football Playoff championship with a third-string quarterback that season.
While that may seem like a far cry due to Barrett’s inability to pass the ball downfield and the struggles that are currently in the secondary, there’s still a chance. That’s all that matters for Meyer.
4 Comments
They should have fallen further.
Polls are stupid. The Buckeyes are not a great team; they never should have been “ranked” anywhere, and I don’t care where they’re “ranked” now. Beat Michigan. Win the Big Ten. That is all.
They were exposed. Still too young and look like the same one dimensional offense that Clemson (and the rest of the league figured out). The big difference this year is that the DBs suck. But JT still sucks. And they still don’t have WRs who can stretch the field. All that said, Urban is overly loyal and stubborn–he won’t move on from JT to Haskins.
Well, and as a UM fan, I don’t look at the two teams and think Michigan is “better”. Yes, they dominated Florida (missing two important skill position players), but they looked pretty god awful on offense against Cincinnati, and are going to have lingering right-side-of-OL issues all season long, not to mention that their QB is good… until he makes his two or three boneheaded plays per game.
Polls shouldn’t come out until at least two weeks of conference play. Five games is just beginning to be enough of a sample size.