Ohio State Buckeyes

Photo Gallery: The Penn State vs Ohio State Gameday Experience

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Ohio State versus Penn State didn’t disappoint. The battle between two top ten teams, and Big Ten rivals, ended with a single point deciding the outcome. It was close enough that a Penn State two point conversion in the fourth quarter could have changed the result entirely, sending it to overtime instead of forcing the Nittany Lions to drive down the field and score on their last possession… Something that they fell short in doing.

The game was, of course, the yearly White Out for Penn State. College Gameday was there, too. As a result, the mood around Happy Valley was completely focused on the game. It was a sensation that lasted from the early hours of the morning all the way to the game itself.

Want to see what the game day was like from the perspective of your average fan?

Check out this exclusive picture album below.

Ohio State Buckeyes: Penn State Game Is The First Real Test

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Ohio State will have their first real test four weeks into the season, when they travel to play Penn State on the road, at night. Some teams played close games in their openers, others were challenged in weeks two and three as the season continued and more teams played the first games of their conference schedules. Ohio State, though, they’re a bit different.

It’s not that they haven’t played anyone good, but a good team isn’t always a challenging one. TCU was a good team. But they weren’t on the level of the Buckeyes. Sometimes, for a team like Ohio State, the true danger comes from not playing opponents that are the same caliber very often.

We’ve seen it happen before. Iowa going undefeated in the Big Ten West and then losing the conference title game to the winner of the east. Wisconsin losing to Ohio State last year in the conference title game, after running the table in the West. Believe it or not, it is possible to be too good.

That’s the reason why coaches aren’t automatically upset when they play a team close, even if that team is supposed to lose by a larger margin. While winning every game by big margins is nice for the fans, and inspires confidence, that confidence can be a double-edged sword. Play too well every week, and you can find yourself struggling once you go up against another team that’s on the same level.

And while Penn State is slightly below Ohio State in the rankings, they’re certainly on the same level. If Penn State pulled off the win, it wouldn’t be out of the question for them to trade places in the polls with the Buckeyes. They have advantages that other teams don’t, too. Ohio State had to play TCU in Texas, but TCU doesn’t have near the amount of fan support that Penn State does.

Playing at Beaver Stadium at night is something that you would expect from a late season matchup. Not one in week four. If you’re the visiting side, it’s not the game that you want as one of your first real challenges of the year. Because let’s face it. Oregon State, Rutgers, and Tulane were all warm up games. Even counting TCU as a quality opponent, the Buckeyes have at the most only faced a single team that’s anywhere close to their level.

Now, they have to go into an environment that is known as one of the best in college football. It comes only shortly after Urban Meyer returned as the head coach of the team, and while his absence didn’t have much of an impact, that wasn’t against teams like Penn State.

The point here isn’t that Ohio State is going to lose, or that they haven’t played anybody. It’s that they may be unprepared for a true test, while Penn State started the season out by almost being upset. Additionally, they turned relatively close games against Pittsburgh and Illinois into blowout victories. They’re no stranger to playing in close games like these, and they’ve come out on top in each one of these.

If Ohio State enters halftime, or even the fourth quarter, how will they react? That’s a question that’s hard to answer because they have less experience in those close games. But if the game is close, Penn State is closer to a sure thing. As much of a sure thing as you can have in a game like this, which will be decided by a small margin because of the two teams roughly being on the same level.

We don’t know yet if Ohio State will show up when it matters in a game like this. They may, they may not. But if there’s one distinct disadvantage that they have compared to Penn State? It’s that, while we can’t predict accurately how either side will perform, Ohio State has more unknowns.

And that’s why this isn’t just the biggest game of the season for them, it’s the game that will show us just how “for real” the Buckeyes really are.

Three Big Ten Games To Watch On Opening Weekend

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College football has been going since the end of August, but the first Saturday in September marks the start of the real season. It’s the day when most of the country’s teams will begin their seasons, and that includes the majority of the Big Ten. Plenty of teams are playing, with the games starting at noon, but which games are the ones worth watching?

Three Games From The First Saturday Of Football

Northern Illinois @ Iowa, 3:40 PM on the Big Ten Network

This one is on BTN rather than ESPN or FOX, but don’t let that fool you. It should be an interesting matchup between a hopeful Big Ten West contender and an underdog that enters the season renewed after losing ground last year to quarterback injuries.

MAC Defensive Player of the Year Sutton Smith, who had 14 sacks last season, returns for Northern Illinois as a junior, and quarterback Marcus Childers will have more preparation for a starting role as well as more experience. Safety Mykelti Williams is another player to watch on the underdog team. As a sophomore, he had the third-most tackles on the team, with 73.

Northern Illinois only managed an 8-5 record, but they did have some bad luck during the 2017 season and that might cause the Hawkeyes to sleep on them heading into the opening game of the season for both teams.

Oregon State @ Ohio State, 12:00 PM on ABC (Or Texas vs Maryland)

Alright, there’s a decent chance that this one isn’t actually a good game. But it’s one of the first games of the day, and there’s more intrigue around it than, say, Texas versus Maryland. No offense, Maryland.

The reason this game is so interesting is that head coach Urban Meyer is suspended for it. Not that the talent level of Ohio State is any lower because of it, but stranger things have happened in college football than a team losing to a big underdog on opening day because they don’t have their head coach for whatever reason. Coaching is one of the most important aspects of the game, and once you remove a successful head coach for even one game, anything can happen.

Oregon State, though, did not have a good time last year. They only won one game, and head coach Gary Andersen felt bad enough about the situation there to leave 12 million dollars on the table and leaving the program of his own accord. While there is a chance that the off the field drama affects Ohio State, there’s also a chance that the Buckeyes run riot on their opponent and start Dwayne Haskins’ career as a starter off the right way.

In that case, it might be a perfectly good idea to flip the channel to Texas versus Maryland, assuming you aren’t a fan of either team and just want to see action.

Michigan @ Notre Dame, 7:30 PM on NBC

Did you really think this game wouldn’t be on the list? This one isn’t just the best Big Ten game of the week, but one of the best games in the nation, period. For those who have been complaining about neutral site games, and top programs not wanting to play each other home and away anymore, this one is for you.

Jim Harbaugh needs to get results at Michigan, after having a few years to bring in some of his own players, and this game should be a make or break one for him and his staff. Except, it’s not a late season game within the conference. It’s on the first Saturday of the season, and you don’t see too many openers with this much on the line for both teams.

Both of these fanbases are very large and vocal, and you can bet for sure that the loser will have a decent amount of people calling for the head coach to be fired. Also, Shea Patterson will make his Michigan debut. That’s not something that you’ll want to miss, especially if your favorite team plays the Wolverines later in the year.

Harbaugh hasn’t had a star quarterback since coming back to the University of Michigan. Will having that, plus a tough defense, be enough to knock off a top fifteen ranked rival? We’ll all find that out soon, with the top night game of the first weekend.

Ohio State Football: What Are The Buckeyes’ Expectations In 2018?

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Ohio State comes into the season as the betting favorite to win the Big Ten, but things aren’t that simple. The school is stuck in a complex situation, and the fate of head coach Urban Meyer will be determined in the coming days after a meeting of the Ohio State Board of Trustees. Supposedly, suspension is the most likely outcome.

For the team itself, that outcome isn’t as bad as Meyer being fired outright. Still, it would be hard to claim that entering the season with a different head coach in charge isn’t something that will negatively effect the players. Especially when the pressure is already tremendous this year, with the Buckeyes starting out in the top five of the AP Poll.

What is expected of Ohio State entering this season?

Every team that begins the season in the top ten, let alone the top five, believes that they can win the championship. Only four teams will have the chance to play for a title, however, and Ohio State starts off as the last team out. But championships aren’t decided by preseason predictions, and making the playoffs is definitely the expectation for the team that is the favorite to win one of the toughest conferences in college football.

It’s true that Ohio State doesn’t have an experienced quarterback this year. They’ll have to pick between redshirt sophomore Dwayne Haskins Jr. and redshirt freshman Tate Martell, and it looks like Haskins will be the one to come away with the starting job. While neither player has significant playing time, Ohio State doesn’t necessarily need to win with just their quarterback carrying the team.

They have a loaded backfield with J.K. Dobbins and Mike Weber returning, forming one of the best one-two punches in the nation. Dobbins had 1,403 yards as a freshman, and an average of 7.2 yards per rush. Dobbins isn’t the most physically intimidating of football players, but while defenders may assume that he’ll be an easy tackle, his strengths lie in his speed and his movement.

Dobbins’ 2017 highlight reel was filled with outside runs and cuts to the outside, with the freshman displaying how light on his feet he is. He also uses his low center of gravity better than many would expect, meaning it’s not a given that he’ll go down on first contact. He’ll surely have more than seven touchdowns in 2018, and his impact will be combined with that of Mike Weber, who rushed for 10 touchdowns last season.

Their defense returns Jordan Fuller, who had the second most tackles on the team with 62. Junior defensive end Nick Bosa is also being hyped up for good reason. The Buckeyes lost defensive line talent to the NFL, but that means that Bosa will have more time on the field in addition to a larger role.

Bosa has shown himself to have a good sweep move to get outside of the offensive tackle, and that combined with his pure athleticism should help him improve on his 8.5 sacks from last year.

It all doesn’t mean that the team won’t be without its challenges. Ohio State won’t start any senior linebackers this season, and that could negatively impact the organization of their defense. But that’s something that should work itself out over the course of the season, as a leader emerges.

That leader may just be outside linebacker Malik Harrison. “Malik is a playmaker that’s got a lot of people looking at him,” said linebackers coach Bill Davis, back in the spring. He also spoke about some of the other members of that unit. “It’s exciting to watch them take their leadership role. We talk about leadership being more about actions than words, and I think that’s kind of what they’re trying to do.”

Perhaps the biggest question mark is Dwayne Haskins Jr. The redshirt sophomore had some playing time as the backup to J.T. Barrett, but wasn’t a starter last season. He threw for 120 yards and two touchdowns in the spring game earlier this year, but there’s always risk involved with introducing a new quarterback that hasn’t played as a starter in the past. He flashed his deep arm in the spring game and made some precision strikes downfield to decently covered receivers, but it’s hard to judge a player fully from his performance in a scrimmage.

Overall, Ohio State has playmakers on both sides of the ball and whether or not they make the playoffs should be determined by if they slip up in a select group of games against other elite teams. Namely, their games on the road against Penn State and Michigan State and their home game against archrivals Michigan. They also face a top 20 team during nonconference play in TCU, and that presents an interesting challenge.

The Urban Meyer scandal may just be the difference between the Buckeyes coming away with the Big Ten title, and not even playing for it. Looking at this forum surrounding Meyer’s odds on keeping his job, it looks like he won’t be fired. Even if Meyer only receives a suspension, it’s something negative that will hang over the season. And it’s the reason why few will be surprised if the playoffs come around and the Buckeyes are on the outside looking in. The Big Ten will likely have a playoff team, but there’s a reason why Wisconsin is trending up and Ohio State is trending down.

Season Prediction: 11-2, Rose Bowl winners

Ohio State Football: Who Is Acting Head Coach Ryan Day?

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Ohio State’s offseason is going very differently than expected. The Buckeyes have one of the most talented teams in the conference and were picked as the big favorite to come away with the Big Ten title at the end of the year. However, things aren’t so stable on the coaching side of things. Head coach Urban Meyer has been placed on administrative leave, which isn’t the easiest thing for a head coach to come back from.

Why is Ohio State’s Urban Meyer being investigated?

The suspension is because Meyer allegedly knew about domestic violence allegations against former Buckeyes receivers coach Zach Smith and didn’t report them, and while the matter is still under investigation, things don’t exactly look good for Meyer. Which means that Ryan Day could very well spend the 2018 season as the head coach.

Who is Day, who was named the acting head coach on August 1st? Well, Ohio State fans are already familiar with him as the quarterbacks coach and one of the co-offensive coordinators. That was his position since January of last year, and as quarterbacks coach, Day was able to get the most out of J.T. Barrett last year. Additionally, the offense that he contributed to tied Penn State for the highest points per game average in the conference.

Day has never been a head coach in his career, and is only 39, but has considerable experience working on coaching staffs. He was born in Manchester, New Hampshire, and and began his coaching career at UNH before making stops in Boston College and Florida as a graduate assistant. Interestingly, the year that Day was a GA at Florida was the first one that Urban Meyer was the head coach there, 2005.

His stint at Boston College, which lasted from 2007 to 2011, convinced Temple to bring him on as their offensive coordinator in 2012. It was his second stop at Temple, as he had already spent one year with the Owls as a wide receiver coach after moving on from Florida. It only lasted for one year before Day made his third and final stop at Boston College, spending two years as an offensive coordinator before joining Chip Kelly’s staff as the NFL.

Neither Day or Kelly could survive Philadelphia, though, and he followed his head coach to San Francisco in 2016 before joining Ohio State after Kelly was fired from the 49ers. He became co-offensive coordinators with Kevin Wilson and also became the team’s offensive playcaller in January, 2018.

Little did anyone know back when the decision was made, however, that Day could enter the season as the head coach. It’s not the best situation for Ohio State, who is relying on someone who only has very limited experience as a coordinator at a big school. There’s a big difference between Boston College and OSU, but since the season is only a month away, the Buckeyes can’t be choosy and have a head coaching search.

Still, Ohio State fans shouldn’t completely write this season off as being lost just yet. Teams have rallied under new or interim head coaches in the past, with Clay Helton of USC being a notable recent example. We’re only one month out from the season, so either way, we’ll find out soon just how competent Day is.