UW hasn't played any team ranked in the top 80 in the computer power rankings. Their SOS is somewhere south of 130-140.
Having watched them, I don't know how they will handle Ohio State's defense. I suspect that the bye week will have allowed Ohio State to get Sayin's confidence moving the right direction. I am not a genius and many here know more than I about football by a long shot, but I saw a team that Ohio might beat and that Ohio State could beat by 24 points.
A caveat. Ohio State sports admin must learn from last year and get the team out there in time to allow more than a day to adjust to jet lag. A 9:30 night game means a start after midnight Columbus time. If they give these kids a day, like the Oregon game, and they come out flat, blame sports administration, not the kids.
I might be misunderstanding you post but it's a 3:30 EST kickoff which is a 12:30 local time game.
Last year's first Oregon game was a 7:30 EST ( Columbus time) kickoff.
Apparently we’ve learned our lesson because the guys are going out there Thursday to give them an extra day. Also, Matt Patricia did not go out recruiting this weekend because he wanted to dial in the game plan. All this according to Birm and Austin. That’s great news obviously.
I hear the argument that they haven’t played anyone but to have no punts? I think we punted vs Grambling at least once so that’s just impossible to do. What I will say is oddly they left their starters in all game vs Wazzu and most of the others game too.
No doubt this buckeye defense is an enormous step up for them. The goal has got to be to stop the run and play more zone than man. We can’t afford to have our defenders with the back to the QB. I expect us to do just that though do we’ll see.
If you really analyze the schedule this has to be the biggest defensive challenge we’ll have all year. Penn State doesn’t have this and I’ve seen Oregon and they don’t concern me like last year either. The only question I have is how good is this UW OL?
All this to say the offense has to do their part. We have to start fast, we have to put them behind on the scoreboard, and we have to let them know they’ll need touchdowns all day to win.
