- Saturday, October 5, 2013

- Ryan Field; Evanston, IL

- Ohio State at Northwestern

- 8:00 p.m. ET

- TV: ABC -

The 4th-ranked Buckeyes will play in primetime for a national TV audience for the second straight week as they head to Chicago for a date with No.16 Northwestern Saturday night. Ohio State (5-0) will be trying to extend the nation’s longest winning streak to 18 games, while the unbeaten Wildcats (4-0) have a seven-game streak of their own to protect.

Any road game against a ranked opponent qualifies a big game for Ohio State, especially considering their national title aspirations. But for Pat Fitzgerald’s Wildcats, this is something altogether different. More than just their Big Ten opener, it’s a major statement game for their program. From their perspective, it’s the most important Northwestern game in living memory, as Fitzgerald seeks to complete the evolution of the Wildcat program from conference doormat to Big Ten title contender.

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The combination of tickets for both a night game in Columbus, and then a 1 p.m. Browns game in Cleveland the next day wasn’t conducive to getting an OSU-Wisconsin game story done this weekend, so I hope some random reflections on the game, and on the season to date are a decent alternative.

--- I’ll start by saying I haven’t had a chance to watch the entire game on TV yet, but being 14 rows up on the north end 25-yard line made it look spectacular. Electric is not a strong enough word to describe the atmosphere at the start. I’m a fan of the chrome helmets. Even a traditionalist can go for a look like that once or twice a year. As far as uniforms go, if the players love playing in them, I’m okay with them.

On top of that, the tickets were courtesy of a friend, a former player at OSU, and were in a section populated by many former Buckeyes. Now, I’m not the type to drop names Doss about the players Carpenter who were sitting around me Krenzel. Because I’m above that sort of thing. Let’s just say it added to the overall buzz of the evening.

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- Saturday, September 28, 2013

- Ohio Stadium: Columbus, Ohio

- Wisconsin at Ohio State

- 8:00 p.m. ET

- TV: ABC -

The 23rd-ranked Wisconsin Badgers come to town Saturday night to face the unbeaten and 4th-ranked Buckeyes in the Big Ten opener for Ohio State, a game that could go a long way toward deciding the championship of the Leaders Division of the conference, even before the leaves fall. The Buckeyes have won 16 straight under Urban Meyer including this year’s 4-0 mark, and will contend with the nation’s #1 rusher, and the 3rd-ranked rushing attack in the country in the 3-1 Badgers.

Braxton Miller appears to have the go-ahead to start at quarterback for OSU, sending two-time Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week Kenny Guiton to the bench. Miller is close to 100%, acc
ording to Meyer, as he shakes off the effects of a knee sprain suffered three weeks ago in the San Diego State game. Guiton will also play in the game, as Meyer insists he will “do right” by his super-sub after three games worth of heroics by the senior backup.

This series has been characterized by close games in recent years...the last-minute victory two years ago in Columbus on Miller’s game-winning TD pass to Devin Smith...and last year’s overtime thriller in Madison, also won by the Buckeyes. In 2010, the Badgers knocked off top-ranked Ohio State 31-18 in Madison, the lone blemish on Jim Tressel’s final season, and the only win by Wisconsin in the last six meetings between the schools.

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Kenny Guiton broke the OSU single game record with six touchdown passes, and the Buckeyes covered the 50-point spread against the Florida A&M Rattlers Saturday at Ohio Stadium. Then they took a break for halftime.

The final score of this total mismatch was 76-0, as Urban Meyer completed his 16th straight victory as OSU head coach with third-stringers and walk-ons on the field, and without attempting a pass in the second half. The Rattlers found themselves down 48-0 before they recorded their first 1st down of the game with six minutes to play in the second quarter. Only a 7-yard run on the game’s final play allowed A&M to finish the game with more total yards (80) than the Buckeyes had points.

FAMU made it ridiculously easy for the Buckeyes to score early and often, as a combination of fumbles, bad punts, blocked punts, penalties and interceptions set OSU up for 1st quarter possessions starting at the FAMU 3, 5, 11 and 25 yard lines, all resulting in Ohio State touchdowns before the first period ended at 34-0. The only thing the Buckeyes did wrong all day was try a 2-point conversion after their second score, and fail to convert.

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