You’re Nuts: Our best and worst ‘Bold Predictions’ so far this season
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

Your (almost) daily dose of good-natured, Ohio State banter.

On the day of Ohio State football games, Brett and Meredith alternate making Bold Predictions. On weeks that Brett writes the game preview, Meredith does Bold Predictions. When Meredith writes the game preview, Brett writes the Bold Predictions article. So far this season, Meredith has done Bold Predictions five times, while Brett has written Bold Predictions for four games.

When a team plays at a high level like Ohio State does, sometimes it feels like you have to really go outside the box to come up with actual bold predictions. It’s not like we can say “C.J Stroud is going to throw a touchdown today!” and that be considered bold, since Stroud is averaging around three touchdown passes per game.

Some predictions work out and others are way off. Today we are asking Brett and Meredith to look back on their predictions so far this year and find their best and worst ones. In a season that has been filled with players being ruled out a couple hours before games, as well as some other curveballs, it should be interesting to see their best and worst predictions.

Today’s question: What are our best and worst bold predictions of the season?

We’d love to hear your choices. Either respond to us on Twitter at @Landgrant33 or leave your choice in the comments.

Brett’s best bold prediction: Ohio State scores more than 40 points against Wisconsin in Columbus for the first time since 1989


Even as Ohio State’s offense has upped their scoring output over the years, Wisconsin had done a good job at keeping the Buckeyes from scoring more than 40 points in a game. The only time after 1989 that the Buckeyes scored more than 40 points against the Badgers came in the 2014 Big Ten Championship Game when Ohio State won 59-0.

The Buckeyes jumped out to a 21-0 lead by the end of the first quarter, and went into halftime with a 31-7 lead. Ohio State didn’t take their foot off the gas early in the second half, with C.J. Stroud throwing touchdown passes to Julian Fleming and Emeka Egbuka in the third quarter to give the Buckeyes a 45-7 lead. Ohio State cracked 50 points for the second time in the 2022 season when Stroud found Egbuka in the middle of the fourth quarter.

Brett’s worst bold prediction: Every time I predicted a wide receiver or running back would go for more than 100 yards


So far this season there have been three times where I predicted a running back or wide receiver would crack triple digits in a game. I am 0-3 on those predictions.

Before the Arkansas State game I predicted TreVeyon Henderson would rush for more than 100 yards, which would snap a six-game streak where he failed to reach 100 yards rushing in a game. Henderson was close to snapping the streak, finishing with 87 yards rushing on 10 carries. The Buckeye running back would go on to rush for over 100 yards a couple weeks later against Wisconsin.

Prior to the Wisconsin game, I was confident Jaxon Smith-Njigba was going to play and have a big impact on the game against the Badgers. The Ohio State wide receiver didn’t even play in the game after suffering a hamstring injury in the season opener against Notre Dame. Luckily the absence of Smith-Njigba didn’t keep Ohio State’s passing attack from feasting on Wisconsin, as Stroud threw five touchdowns in the game.

The final 100-yard bold prediction that I was off on was the one I’m least broken up about. I thought Penn State running back Nick Singleton would have a bigger impact in the game in State College a couple weeks ago than he ended up having. If anything, I should have gone with Parker Washington over 100 yards, since it seems like every time the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions meet, a new Penn State wide receiver has the best game of his career.

Meredith’s worst bold prediction: Ohio State would drop 80 points against Northwestern


Admittedly, when I wrote this prediction, it was late on a warm Chicago afternoon and, though there was some indication of foul weather in the forecast, I did not anticipate 40 mile-per-hour winds less than 24 hours later.

It felt like Northwestern was poised for a beatdown, but I forgot all the rules of a classic trap game. Ohio State was coming off its toughest win of the season on the road against Penn State. A dozen Buckeyes were out for various reasons, many to rest injuries against, frankly, a team that hasn’t won a game in the continental United States this calendar year.

Northwestern, meanwhile, is a team that can avoid a blowout with good defense, discipline and smart play (no turnovers, few penalties). The Wildcats are also more than competent with their rushing attack, which would play an obvious role on a windy day. In many ways, they are what Iowa could have been versus the Buckeyes if they’d not turned the ball over.

All these things are obvious in hindsight. And alas, the Buckeyes scored just 21 points against the Wildcats Saturday — tied for their lowest total of the season. They had their lowest offensive output overall, falling under 300 yards for the first time this year.

Meredith’s best bold prediction: Pre-Iowa predictions


Perhaps the Northwestern score was so high because my own ego was so inflated after my bold picks from the Iowa game:

1. Not one, not two, but THREE non-offensive scores (well, we got two and were *this* close to a safety)
2. We’ll see Iowa’s backup quarterback (Alex Padilla started the second half)
3. 100-total receiving yards from tight ends (89)
4. Less than 100 net rushing yards (143)
5. No touchbacks (0)
6. One more Bama loss (just a couple weeks early)

It wasn’t perfect, but it was pretty close. Plus, Alabama did end up losing this past weekend, and I’m very proud of myself for also picking Notre Dame over Clemson. But, I’ll take my slice of humble pie on the Northwestern score for what it’s worth.

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Be thankful this season for this limited edition Thanksgiving Parade Brutus bobblehead
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here



Wouldn’t this make a perfect centerpiece this holiday season?

Despite our incessant whining and complaining, we Buckeye fans have a lot to be thankful for and our friends at FOCO — one of the most beloved creators of officially licensed merch in the world — are giving us yet another reason to celebrate this holiday season.

On Tuesday, FOCO released a collection of Thanksgiving Day Parade bobbleheads featuring some of the most beloved mascots across college and professional sports, including the best damn mascot in the land, Brutus Buckeye. The figure, which stands 7-inches tall, features a giant balloon Brutus with scarlet and gray fans holding onto the ropes keeping him from flying off into the Manhattan streets, which you can see on the bobblehead’s background.

Get your Brutus Thanksgiving Day Parade bobbleheads here!



There are only 222 of these figures available, so act now and get yours for $80; I can think of no better Thanksgiving centerpiece than a Brutus Buckeye bobblehead.

This isn’t the first holiday-themed Ohio State bobblehead that FOCO has released. Last month, to celebrate Halloween, the company released a “Phantom of the Opera-themed bobblehead featuring our boy Brutus in a picture-perfect Spooky Season costume. Also, as over the summer, FOCO released very snazzy Brutus Buckeye Bighead.

In addition, FOCO just released a pair of bobbleheads to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Ohio Stadium. One features Brutus, while the other shows Woody Hayes strutting above The Horseshoe. Also, OSU great Chris Olave got his own Gate Series bobblehead joining fellow former Buckeye greats Chase Young, Justin Fields, Cameron Heyward, Carlos Hyde, Joey Bosa, and Michael Thomas who had their boobleheads released in August.

As someone with a borderline unhealthy Ohio State bobblehead/collectible addiction, I can think of no better way to celebrate the holiday season than with one (or all) of these magnificent merchandising masterpieces.

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brodybuck21 said:

JT, Trey , and Tyleik at the game

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Would be interesting to see of TreVeyon Henderson is wearing a protective boot. Hopefully he is "good to go" this Saturday.

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Column: Two offensive improvements we need to see as Ohio State gears up for TTUN
meganhusslein via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports

There have been a couple of concerning elements in Ohio State’s games the past couple of weeks that need to improve as the regular season finale looms.

There are just 18 days until TTUN comes to the Horseshoe. In the meantime, the Buckeyes will play Indiana and Maryland, two games they really shouldn’t have any trouble winning. Therefore, it is crucial in these two weeks that they clean up the problems they’ve been having. There are a couple parts of the offensive game plan in particular that I believe need to be changed.

1. Incorporation of ALL the receivers

Kyle Robertson / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Buckeyes have experienced the most trouble on offense they have had all year the past couple of weeks. Between Penn State keeping them on their toes and Northwestern’s 200 mph winds, Ohio State’s offense has been different than what we usually see. Obviously the passing game wasn’t effective this past Saturday due to weather, but what about against the Nittany Lions?

When in doubt, C.J. Stroud will pass the ball to his go-to-guy, Marvin Harrison Jr., the majority of the time. Is there a problem with this? I mean, Marv will 99.9% of the time make an amazing catch for positive yardage. However, opposing team’s defenses can figure this out. Therefore, I think Emeka Egbuka and Julian Fleming need to have some more targets in the next couple of weeks.

For example, against Michigan State, Marv had 131 yards, Egbuka had 143 and Fleming had 81 — and the Buckeyes put up 49 points (granted, against a bad MSU team). However, against Penn State, Marv had 185 yards, Egbuka had 53 and Fleming had 27. I think everyone knows what a struggle that game was offensively. Yes, it still worked out in the end, but I believe that the Buckeyes are a much bigger threat when they use ALL of their talent on offense.

2. Cade Stover needs to play like Cade Stover

Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports

Everyone’s favorite tight end has been on the struggle bus for the past couple of weeks. He has had an amazing season all year, racking up 321 yards on 26 receptions and scoring three touchdowns. However, over the past few games, he hasn’t looked like himself.

Against Penn State, he had 78 yards on six catches. This is great! However, there were a couple elements of his game that were concerning here. The first being the two crucial penalties he caused. He had two false starts, one coming when the Buckeyes were going for a two-point conversion after they scored a touchdown to put them up 22-21. Albeit, the crowd noise was definitely a factor, but a penalty cannot happen at a time that pivotal.

The other part of his game I noticed was lacking against Penn State was his blocking. There were multiple occasions where he totally missed blocking his defender, so the play didn’t work. This happened often on the bubble screens that everyone was talking about, but if Stover made his blocks, the plays actually might’ve worked. So, if he can get his blocking under control and continue making athletic plays with the ball, the Buckeyes will be in good shape.

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LGHL Uncut Podcast: Chris Holtmann, Justice Sueing, Zed Key discuss Ohio State’s opening-night win
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports

Two-thirds of Ohio State’s captains, plus the head ball coach spoke with the media after win number one.

Throughout the season, Land-Grant Holy Land will be bringing you uncut audio primarily from Ohio State press conferences, but also from individual interview sessions.

Listen to the episode and subscribe:

Subscribe: RSS | Apple | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts | iHeart Radio


Following Ohio State’s 91-53 victory over Robert Morris Monday night, Chris Holtmann, Justice Sueing, and Zed Key spoke to the media about the win and what to expect moving forward.

Sueing and Key started, and mainly kept to the theme of “any guy on any given night.” Key said that Ohio State has several guys who can “drop 20 any night”, giving the example of Tanner Holden scoring 25 in OSU’s exhibition, followed by Sueing’s 20 on Monday night. Sueing said that playing for the first time in nearly one full calendar year was emotional for him, but once he missed two free throws early on, the nerves pretty much rolled off.

Holtmann followed and spent a god chunk of time talking about Sueing and the difference he makes on both ends of the floor. He referred to him as “one of the better rebounding wings in college basketball” and also said that “A lot of people probably forgot how good a player Justice is” after missing so much time.

Holtmann also said that, despite the Buckeyes grabbing 48 rebounds for the first time since November of 2017 (last time they played Robert Morris), his team still is not where they need to be rebounding the basketball.


Connect with Connor:
Twitter: @lemons_connor

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College Football Playoff rankings: How to watch Tuesday night’s announcement
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Ohio State was No. 2 last week and No. 1 lost. So that means Ohio State will be No. 1... right?

Saturday was a crazy day in college football, and not just when it comes to the weather in Evanston. The Tennessee Volunteers — who were the top-ranked team in the initial College Football Playoff rankings of the season — were beaten soundly by the third-ranked Georgia Bulldogs. The No. 4 Clemson Tigers lost to the unranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish (that win is looking better and better for the Buckeyes) and the No. 6 Alabama Crimson Tide were defeated by the No. 10 LSU.

With all of those losses at the top, there will surely be a ton of movement when then second round of rankings are released on Tuesday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Of course, the upset losses weren’t the only weirdness to transpire last weekend. As you well know, the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes played in the equivalent of one of those wind tunnels that they use to test the aerodynamics of of cars and airplanes, escaping the Chicagoland area with a 21-7 win over one-win Northwestern. Then there is the No. 5 Harbaugh Mitten Men, even though they beat the Rutgers Scarlet Knights 52-17, they actually trailed 17-14 at halftime; obviously the final score is what you would expect, but that doesn’t erase the weirdness of the first 30 minutes.

So, when Rece Davis and company gather again tonight for the CFP rankings reveal, undoubtedly there will be a significantly different order of teams at the top of the rankings. The major question — at least for us Buckeyes fans — is likely whether Ryan Day’s squad will hold on to the second slot, or if they will be overtaken by their rivals. Of course, ultimately, it doesn’t much matter since the two teams will meet on Nov. 26 and — assuming they are both still undefeated at the time — the winner will be a Big Ten Championship Game win away from a CFP berth.

When will the CFP rankings be revealed and how can I watch?


Game Date/Time: Tuesday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN

DraftKings Sportsbook national title odds:


Georgia: +100
Ohio State: +200
Michigan: +800
Tennessee: +1600

Matt’s Top 4 Prediction:


No. 1: Georgia
No. 2: Ohio State
No. 3: Michigan
No. 4: TCU

Join the conversation


Below is your Week 2 College Football Rankings thread. Be respectful, be kind and — as always — keep it classy, BuckeyeNation. If you like GIFs, lay ‘em on us. In all, be good fans, cheer for your teams, be cool to each other (even if somebody else isn’t) and everyone wins. Let’s finish the season strong!

Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.

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Game Preview: No. 14 Ohio State women’s basketball vs. No. 5 Tennessee
1ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

The first game of the season doesn’t get much bigger for the Buckeyes than facing the top-5 Volunteers

The talk is almost over. After a Sweet Sixteen exit for the Ohio State women’s basketball team on March 25, the discussion has been around transfers, new names and games of the future and past. Now it’s time for a basketball to be tipped and a 29-game regular season to commence. For Ohio State, they do it in a big way, welcoming the Tennessee Volunteers to Columbus on Tuesday.

The opener is the 12th time these two teams meet in their long basketball histories and the first time since 2016. Ohio State’s lost 10 of the previous 11 editions — all by double-digits — and haven’t beaten Tennessee since a 1981 double overtime victory. However, Tuesday’s season tip is only the second time the Buckeyes faced a Vols team that isn’t coached by legendary former head coach Pat Summitt.

None of the history matters for 2022. Here’s what you need to know.

Preview


Ohio State has a lot they’ll need to do to compete with the Volunteers. Tennessee is strong in the paint and will cause problems for the Buckeyes’ forwards. Last season, the Volunteers were second in the SEC in rebound differential, behind the NCAA national championship-winning South Carolina Gamecocks. The Vols +12.7 on the boards goes up against a Buckeyes team who won the Big Ten regular season co-championship, despite having a -1.3 differential in rebounding.

Leading the opponents in rebounding is Naismith watch list honoree, center Tamari Key. Ohio State doesn’t have anyone who can match up against the 6-foot-6 big who averaged 8.1 rebounds and 3.5 blocks last season.

To make matters even worse for the Scarlet & Gray, Tennessee was active in the transfer portal in the offseason, adding a forward who’s going to make life in the back and frontcourt even more difficult. That’s 6-foot-2 forward Rickea Jackson. The Mississippi State transfer not only averaged 6.8 rebounds per game, but also led the entire SEC in points per game with 20.3.

Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

Head coach Kevin McGuff is likely to go with a full court defense to try and disrupt Tennessee’s offense, and swarm the paint to make rebounds more difficult. Ohio State did the same thing against the LSU Tigers in the second round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament.

In that game, Ohio State out-rebounded a Tigers team 43-36, when LSU had the third best rebound differential in the SEC at +9.0. That means forward Rebeka Mikulášiková and whoever starts alongside her will be busy.

Which brings up the next point, who’s going to start for the Buckeyes?

A full breakdown of the predicted lineups is below, but it seems like a toss-up between forwards Cotie McMahon and Taylor Thierry for the four-spot. McMahon impressed the most in the Buckeyes exhibition versus Ohio’s Notre Dame College last Monday. The freshman was poised offensively, played confidently and had good court vision to find teammates.

Thierry is the other option, a sophomore who started last season quietly but earned a spot as the second player off the bench for McGuff. What Thierry lacks in offense is made up in intensity, athleticism and the ability to cause turnovers. Thierry can make moves and challenge defensively, but gets into foul trouble, which forces her to change her game.

Also like the Tigers, the Volunteers aren’t known for shooting from deep. Tennessee shot the fifth lowest amount of threes a game in the SEC at 14.5 attempts and 4.4 makes per game. With less players stretching the Buckeyes defense, a more compact game might benefit Ohio State.

Projected Starters

Lineup Notes

• Madison Greene returns for her first competitive season game since Feb. 10, 2021
• Taylor Mikesell and Jacy Sheldon were listed to the Naismith watch list on Friday
• Mikulášiková is likely to start her second season carrying the load in the paint

Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

• Jasmine Powell transferred from Minnesota in the offseason and started the Vols exhibition against Carson-Newman
• Jordan Horston returns from an injury she suffered in Feb. 2022
• Horston played in Columbus, at Columbus Africentric Early College, where Horston became the No. 2 ranked player in her graduating class and No. 1 ranked guard

Prediction


This is a tough matchup for Ohio State. As stated earlier, fighting in the paint wasn’t a strength for the Buckeyes last season, suffering big losses to the Michigan Wolverines and forward Naz Hillmon as well as Mackenzie Holmes and the Indiana Hoosiers. Ohio State improved against stronger inside teams last year, but Tennessee is at a different level.

McGuff and the Buckeyes had all preseason to focus on this game and prepare, so it’ll be a competitive game. A lot will come down to the guards. If Greene, Sheldon and Mikesell can frustrate Tennessee’s guard group led by a potential All-American in Horston, there’s a fighting chance. LSU beat the Vols last season, but that was after Horston went down with an injury and without Jackson.

If Ohio State can control the tempo and force turnovers while limiting their own, it’ll be a bright start to the season — whether that’s with an underdog win or a competitive defeat.

How to Watch


Date: Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2022
Time: 8:30 p.m. ET
Where: Schottenstein Center - Columbus, Ohio
TV: Big Ten Network
Stream: Fox Sports app

LGHL Prediction: 75-68 Tennessee

A Little Extra


McGuff and the Buckeyes are pushing the marketing for this game. Across social medias and at other Ohio State events, McGuff has challenged people to come out to the game.

The first 2,000 fans in the doors get a 2021-22 Big Ten Regular Season Champions shirt.

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Silver Bullets Podcast: Northwestern Rewind and Indiana Preview
Michael Citro via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


The subliminal “NO” on the scoreboard behind Brutus is what all of us were saying on Saturday. | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

Let’s just move on from last Saturday and hope for a better one this weekend.


While Ohio State’s 21-7 victory at Northwestern was one of the more aggravating wins by the Buckeyes in recent history, it was still a win. We can’t say we saw the game unfolding as it did, but then again when we recorded last week, we had no idea the game would be played in a hurricane. If we had known, we probably would still have predicted a lopsided win, but perhaps with one or two fewer touchdowns.

Instead, we witnessed a slog that didn’t seem to need to be one. Dropped passes, curious play calling, bad execution along the offensive line, and some uncharacteristic sponginess on third down and against the run by the defense combined to make Saturday a lot less easy on the nerves than what was forecast. We basically threw our predictions from last week in the garbage, and only one of our four picks to click actually clicked, and that was the “Bingo Free Space” that is Tommy Eichenberg, who seemingly always delivers.

We discussed the major talking points from the game and talked through the scoring drives and stats as Ohio State escaped from Evanston (even if it never quite felt to us like the Wildcats were actually going to pull off the upset).

Our weekly walk through the rest of the Big Ten results included a full slate of games and once again the B1G West is baffling. Does anyone truly want to win it? If so, it might be a suddenly resurgent Iowa team after Illinois dropped a home game to Sparty.

Finally, we looked ahead to Saturday’s nooner with the Indiana Hoosiers. Will the Buckeyes struggle again, or will Indiana feel the wrath of a team that has to read bad press about itself all week? We hope lessons have been learned and that health will return to some of Ohio State’s missing pieces, as the showdown with the Wolverines draws closer and chemistry and rhythm are things that should (optimally) start coming together now. At any rate, we took another shot at our final score predictions and made our picks to click on both offense and defense for the Buckeyes.

We’ll be back next week to talk about Ohio State’s matchup with the Indiana Hoosiers in Columbus, and to preview the following week’s return to the road when the Buckeyes travel to Maryland to take on the Terrapins. In the meantime, feel free to reach out with your feedback and questions below in the comments section or send us an email. Be sure to subscribe, rate, review, and share!

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Update on five-star DE Damon Wilson
Dan Hessler via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


2023 five-star DE Damon Wilson via Andrew Ivins of 247Sports

Following a weekend visit to Georgia, the Bulldogs have picked up steam in the five-star defensive end’s recruitment. Where does he stand now?

Ohio State once again displayed signs of struggle on the offensive side of the ball in the game at Northwestern. While the weather certainly played a roll in the low-scoring game, some of the same struggles from previous weeks once again reared their ugly heads. The Buckeyes will be hard at work this week in practice in hopes to clean things up with an upcoming bout against Indiana — one in which the Buckeyes are five-score favorites.

Many of the headlines surrounding Ohio State will focus on this current roster, but don’t expect the Buckeyes to take a break from recruiting either.

Damon Wilson visits with Georgia


Ohio State’s 2023 recruiting class is close to full. With less than a handful of spots remaining, the Buckeyes are focusing on a trio of defensive ends in five-stars Damon Wilson, Keon Keeley, and Matayo Uiagalelei. At times, Ohio State has been viewed as the leader in all three of these recruitments, but the college football recruiting landscape is constantly changing, and such is the case for all three of these elite defensive ends.

Ohio State will continue to heavily recruit all three of the above talents, but one of the recruitments may soon be coming to an end. Damon Wilson has long been a name tied to the Buckeyes. He has seemingly narrowed down his contenders to Ohio State, Georgia and Alabama, with the Tide looking like the underdog. The Bulldogs and Buckeyes have gone back and forth as being viewed as the favorites to land Wilson. Ohio State has the early lead following an official visit with them on Sept. 3.

A month later, Georgia overtook the Buckeyes as favorites following an Oct. 7 official visit. Things continued to trend toward the Bulldogs until the Ohio State bye week. Buckeye head coach Ryan Day and defensive line coach Larry Johnson took the trip to Florida to visit with Wilson, and shortly after Wilson began trending towards the Buckeyes. So much so, both Bill Kurelic and Steve Wiltfong of 247Sports submitted Crystal Ball predictions for him in favor of Ohio State. Those predictions have remained intact, but much like Wilson’s entire recruitment, there was another turn.

Wilson took an unofficial visit with Georgia this past weekend for their win over Tennessee in what was one of the most electric games thus far in the college football season. Georgia’s performance on the field and the atmosphere in Athens has apparently given him much more to consider, as many are pegging Georgia as the new favorites to land him. This includes Chad Simmons of On3sports.com who said Georgia is now “the team to beat” for Wilson.


While the update certainly does not spell good news for the Buckeyes, there may be some hope left. For sometime now, it has been believed that Wilson would commit shortly after his unofficial visit to Georgia, and Wilson could very well commit in the next two weeks or so. If this were to happen, Georgia may have the upper-hand on the Buckeyes.

However, there have also been some rumblings on Wilson making one last visit to Ohio State for the Michigan game. If this comes to fruition, it would mean that despite everything he has seen from Georgia, he isn’t completely sold. A return visit to Columbus would also not guarantee a commitment to Ohio State in the future, but the team would certainly be viewed as the favorites once again.

Wilson’s recruitment will be one to watch for Buckeye Nation, but the Buckeyes again are not putting all of their eggs in one basket. The team is still heavily recruiting the aforementioned Keeley and Uiagalelei, and is still viewed as the favorites for the latter, despite an uptick in focus from USC. The Buckeyes also made the top five for 2023 four-star defensive lineman Jordan Hall this past weekend.

Wilson is the No. 2 DE in the 247Sports Composite Rankings and is the No. 19 overall prospect. He is also the No. 5 recruit from the talent-rich state of Florida.

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Buckeyes clobber the Colonials 91-53 to begin the new season
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports

Justice Sueing led all scorers with 20 points and Isaac Likekele flirted with a triple-double as Ohio State buried the Colonials in the second half.

The transfer portal action is over. The summer international trip is over. Speculating on how the freshmen will look is over. Wondering if Justice Sueing will ever actually play in a basketball game again is over. The off-season is over, and so is the pre-season. We no longer have to use our imaginations to guess how the 124th iteration of Ohio State men’s basketball will look — now we can use our eyes.

College basketball is back. These games count, and the Buckeyes’ first real game was tonight against the Robert Morris Colonials out of the Horizon League.

RMU (0-1) went 8-24, and 5-16 in Horizon League play last year, but returned nearly all of their core from last season. Despite this, they were picked to finish eighth in the league (out of 11) in both the pre-season media poll and The Field of 68’s Basketball Almanac. They were the No. 294 team in the nation leading into tonight’s game, according to KenPom.

After missing all but two games last season with a lower abdominal/groin injury, Justice Sueing returned to the starting lineup for Ohio State (1-0) against the Colonials. Alongside him was Zed Key, Bruce Thornton, Isaac Likekele, and Sean McNeil — with the last three of those making their Ohio State debuts. Robert Morris went with a lineup of Enoch Cheeks, Kahliel Spear, Stephaun Walker, Jackson Last, and Josh Corbin.

The first shot attempt of the season for Ohio State was a jumper from near the free throw line for McNeil that rattled in and out, but Key opened the scoring moments later with a three-pointer from the right wing — his first career make on his first career attempt. Sueing was aggressive early attacking the basket, scoring two points after tipping in his own miss and another two on a pair of free throws — his first points in 360 days, exactly. The Buckeyes held a 9-6 lead at the under-16 media timeout.

Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports

But the Buckeyes couldn’t defend worth a lick over the next few minutes, as Robert Morris strung together some shots and took a 14-13 lead on Spears’ long jumper at the 13:12 mark of the first half. While the Colonials went on a little scoring run, Ohio State went three- straight minutes without scoring and also turned the ball over three times.

The Buckeyes regained a five-point lead by the under-eight timeout, powered by two things they didn’t have last season — Zed Key three-pointers and Justice Sueing (in general). Key had two triples in the first half, while Sueing had nine points on 3-5 shooting over the first 13 minutes. Still, RMU hung around, shooting in the 40-50% range for most of the first half.

Ohio State closed the first half on a 6-0 run, taking a 42-28 lead into the locker room at halftime. Sueing led all Buckeyes with 12 points on 4-8 shooting, but all nine OSU players who saw first-half minutes scored. Cheeks led Robert Morris with a dozen as well, on 5-8 shooting. Ohio State led the first-half rebounding battle 22-15, with Likekele leading the pack with five boards.

The 10-ish point deficit that Robert Morris was clinging to for much of the first half doubled quickly in the second half, as Ohio State went up by 20 points on Key’s layup below the basket with 17:01 remaining. After hanging out on the perimeter for most of the first half and being a little three-happy, he began to take advantage of his size and strength advantages over RMU, scoring six points over the first three minutes of the second half.

The Buckeyes extended their lead to 71-44 by the under-eight media timeout. Ohio State was subbing pretty liberally, rotating nine guys in and out and getting contributions from everyone. They were also dominating on the glass, with a 36-21 rebounding advantage with eight minutes remaining.

Eight more minutes of blowout basketball happened from that point onward, but the important thing is that Ohio State thoroughly disposed of Robert Morris in the second half en route to a 91-53 win Monday night.


Sueing led Ohio State with 20 points on 8-14 shooting, including 2-3 from beyond the arc. Sensabaugh (17), Key (13), and Tanner Holden (12), all scored in double digits as well. Likekele finished just short of a triple double with 9 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists.

Cheeks led Robert Morris with 17 points on 7-15 shooting.

If you didn’t catch Monday night’s season-opener or you refused to purchase BTN+ for one game, here are a few key moments and accomplishments from tonight’s game:

Threes for Key but not for thee

Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports

There was a narrative building over the off-season that Key was going to attempt a few three-pointers this season. Chris Holtmann compared Key’s progress to Kaleb Wesson’s a few years ago, who went from not attempting any triples as a freshman to a 40%+ shooter from long range after his junior season.

However, many people were skeptical since Key is now a junior and — before tonight — had never attempted a shot from beyond the line.

Naturally, he knocked down his first two attempts from three-point land, including the first one to open the scoring. Key was 2-3 from downtown in the first half for six points and did not take a shot below the basket. That’s not at all how Holtmann drew it up, and it’s unlikely that it’ll go like that again this season.

Ice over top of the mop


Two minutes into the game with Ohio State leading 5-2, Cheeks turned the ball over below the basket and it was swiped by Likekele. At the same time, an Ohio State manager was mopping up sweat below the opposite basket, and did not see the fast break coming his way. With two players bearing down on him, the manager dropped the mop below the basket and bailed out. Likekele laid the ball up for two fast break points — mop be damned — to give OSU a 7-2 lead.

Colonials not rolling over early


Despite being huge underdogs in the season opener, Robert Morris didn’t back down for most of the first half, and even took the lead for a few minutes. Trailing 13-10 with just under 14 minutes remaining in the first half, Cheeks hit a three-pointer and Spears hit a long, stepback two to give the Colonials a 15-13 lead. That lead lasted just 32 seconds, but they still went into the halftime break down 14 points — hardly an insurmountable lead.

Sueing making an impact after one year off


Sueing’s last time on a basketball court was November 12, 2021 against Niagara. He went on to miss the final four and a half months of the season last year, finishing with just 31 minutes logged.

After 360 days off, Sueing returned tonight with a bang, scoring 12 points himself in the first half plus assisting on two other baskets. He also went 2-3 from three-point land a blocked a shot. His versatility was sorely missed last season, and he showed no ill-effects from the groin injury that held him out all of last season or the sprained ankle that held him out of the exhibition against Chaminade.

He would go on to finish with 20 points, the second-most he’s ever scored as a Buckeye. His 14 shot attempts were also the most he’s ever taken since transferring to Ohio State in 2019.

Freshman to freshman connection

Joseph Scheller/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

While Thornton was the only freshman to start tonight, Felix Okpara, Roddy Gayle, and Brice Sensabaugh all played a ton off the bench. Gayle showed a ton of patience on a pass to Sensabaugh towards the end of the first half, dishing a line drive over Robert Morris’ zone defense to Sensabaugh on the right block for a layup to give Ohio State a 36-26 lead with 2:17 remaining in the first half.

Sensabaugh would end with 17 points, while Gayle scored seven.

(I don’t know if anyone clipped the highlight or not, but just trust me on this one, it was impressive)

Okay, no more threes, Zed


Key had six points and five rebounds in the first half, but all three of his shots came from beyond the arc. Sure, Zed hit two of those three shots, but we all — Holtmann included — know that’s not his game. After the halftime break, Key came out and scored six points immediately, four points on two layups and two points on free throws that he earned below the basket.

Key’s layup at the 17:01 mark gave Ohio State a 51-31 lead.

20-piece for Sueing


With his fast break dunk at the 8:44 mark of the second half, Sueing reached the 20-point plateau for the first time since March 14, 2021 — the Big Ten Tournament title game against Illinois two seasons ago.

Key’s third career double double


With his offensive rebound at the 6:13 mark, Key registered his third career double-double. He scored 13 points to go along with 10 rebounds over 26 minutes. It is also noteworthy that after picking up two fouls over the first five minutes of the game, he did not commit another foul for the remainder of the game.

Up Next:


Ohio State (1-0) welcomes Charleston Southern to the Schottenstein Center Thursday evening at 6:30 p.m. E.T. The Buccaneers finished in last place in the Big South conference last season with a 1-15 record in conference play. They enter the season as the No. 324 team in the country (out of 364) according to KenPom. That game will be broadcast on Big Ten Network.

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Below is a brief glossary of statistics used at Buckeye Planet followed by a short explanation for why our stats are superior to what we call "raw stats" (Scoring Offense, Total Offense, etc...). Games against FCS opponents are eliminated from consideration.

Differential Scoring Offense (DSO): Points scored divided by the points that opponent gives up to other FBS teams, on average. If your opponent gives up 25 points per game and you scored 50, your DSO is 2 (50 divided by 25). For a season it is the points you scored against your opponents divided by all of the points given up by all of your opponents against other FBS opponents, meaning that your game against each opponent is factored out along with all of the FCS matchups. Numbers above 1 are better than average, below 1 is worse.

Differential Scoring Defense (DSD): Points given up divided by the points that opponent scores against other FBS teams, on average. If your opponent scores 50 points per game and you only gave up 25, your DSD is 0.5 (25 divided by 50). As you can see, lower is better for DSD, so below 1 is better than average and greater than 1 is worse.

Differential Scoring Composite (DSC): Sometimes called "The King of All Stats". Determined by dividing DSO by DSD. It gives a single number that combines scoring offense, scoring defense, and strength of schedule.

Differential Total Offense (DTO): Total Offense divided by the yardage your opponent typically gives up. It works the same way DSO works, only for yards rather than points.

Differential Total Defense (DTD): Total Defense divided by the yardage your opponent typically gains against other FBS teams. Same as DSD, but for yards rather than points.

Differential Yardage Composite (DYC): DTO divided by DTD. Does the same thing for yardage that DSC does for points.

Differential Rushing Offense (DRO): DTO, but for rushing only.

Differential Rushing Defense (DRD): DTD but for rushing only.

Differential Yards Per Carry (DYpC): Diff. Rushing is for Yards per Game, this is for YpC.

Differential Passing Offense (DPO): DTO, but for passing only.

Differential Passing Defense (DPD): DTD, but for passing only.

Differential Passing Efficiency Offense (DPE): Your passing efficiency divided by the passing efficiency given up by your opponent, on average, to all other FBS competition.

Differential Passing Efficiency Defense (DPED): Pass efficiency defense divided by the passing efficiency typically posted by the opponent against everyone else (FBS only).

Rigidity: This is a term used to compare teams based on how well their differential numbers (see above) hold up against better competition. A team that has better performance against better competition will have a rigidity greater than zero, while a team that puffs up their stats against weaklings but fails against stronger opponents will have a rigidity less than zero. Maximum rigidity is 100. Minimum rigidity is -100.

Differential Statistical Analysis (DSA): This is the term for this methodology as a whole.

DSA is superior to normal statistics for two reasons: 1) It builds the context of "Who You Have Played" into the numbers, and 2) It multiplies the number of data points.

Raw stats only compare a team to their opponents. DSA compares a team to everyone their opponents have played. All B1G teams have played 9 games. Raw stats compare each team to their 9 opponents. But each of your opponents have played 8 other teams. So DSA compares each of your performances not against your opponents, but rather against the 72 (9 opponents times 8 other opponents = 72 games) other performances against your opponents.

3-1 loss in Boston. 7 game losing streak. All in regulation...longest streak since January 4-17 2006.

Buckeyes clobber the Colonels 91-53 to begin the new season
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports

Justice Sueing led all scorers with 20 points and Isaac Likekele flirted with a triple-double as Ohio State buried the Colonels in the second half.

The transfer portal action is over. The summer international trip is over. Speculating on how the freshmen will look is over. Wondering if Justice Sueing will ever actually play in a basketball game is over. The off-season is over, and so is the pre-season. We longer longer have to use our imaginations to guess how the 124th iteration of Ohio State men’s basketball will look — now we can use our eyes.

College basketball is back. These games count, and the Buckeyes’ first real game was tonight against the Robert Morris Colonels out of the Horizon League.

RMU (0-1) went 8-24, and 5-16 in Horizon League play, but return nearly all of their core from last season. Despite this, they were picked to finish eighth in the league (out of 11) in both the pre-season media poll and The Field of 68’s Basketball Almanac. They were the No. 294 team in the nation leading into tonight’s game, according to KenPom.

After missing all but two games last season with a lower abdominal/groin injury, Justice Sueing returned to the starting lineup for Ohio State (1-0) against the Colonels. Alongside him was Zed Key, Bruce Thornton, Isaac Likekele, and Sean McNeil — with the last three of those making their Ohio State debuts. Robert Morris went with a lineup of Enoch Cheeks, Kahliel Spear, Stephaun Walker, Jackson Last, and Josh Corbin.

The first shot attempt of the season for Ohio State was a jumper from near the free throw line for McNeil that rattled in and out, but Key opened the scoring moments later with a three-pointer from the right wing — his first career make on his first career attempt. Sueing was aggressive early attacking the basket, scoring two points after tipping in his own miss and another two on a pair of free throws — his first points in 360 days, exactly. The Buckeyes held a 9-6 lead at the under-16 media timeout.

But the Buckeyes couldn’t defend worth a lick over the next few minutes, as Robert Morris strung together some shots and took a 14-13 lead on Spears’ long jumper at the 13:12 mark of the first half. While the Colonels went on a little scoring run, Ohio State went three- straight minutes without scoring and also turned the ball over three times.

The Buckeyes regained a five-point lead by the under-eight timeout, powered by two things they didn’t have last season — Zed Key three-pointers and Justice Sueing (in general). Key had two triples in the first half, while Sueing had nine points on 3-5 shooting over the first 13 minutes. Still, RMU hung around, shooting in the 40-50% range for most of the first half.

Ohio State closed the first half on a 6-0 run, taking a 42-28 lead into the locker room at halftime. Sueing led all Buckeyes with 12 points on 4-8 shooting, but all nine OSU players who saw first-half minutes scored. Cheeks led Robert Morris with a dozen as well, on 5-8 shooting. Ohio State led the first-half rebounding battle 22-15, with Likekele leading the pack with five boards.

The 10-ish point deficit that Robert Morris was clinging to for much of the first half doubled quickly in the second half, as Ohio State went up by 20 points on Key’s layup below the basket with 17:01 remaining. After hanging out on the perimeter for most of the first half and being a little three-happy, he began to take advantage of his size and strength advantages over RMU, scoring six points over the first three minutes of the second half.

The Buckeyes extended their lead to 71-44 by the under-eight media timeout. Ohio State was subbing liberally, rotating nine guys in and out and getting contributions from everyone. They were also dominating on the glass, with a 36-21 rebounding advantage with eight minutes remaining.

Eight more minutes of blowout basketball happened from that point onward, but the important thing is that Ohio State thoroughly disposed of Robert Morris in the second half en route to a 91-53 win Monday night.

Sueing led Ohio State with 20 points on 8-14 shooting, including 2-3 from beyond the arc. Sensabaugh (17), Key (13), and Tanner Holden (12), all scored in double digits as well. Likekele finished just short of a triple double with 9 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists.

Cheeks led Robert Morris with 17 points on 7-15 shooting.

If you didn’t catch Monday night’s season-opener or you refused to purchase BTN+ for one game, here are a few key moments and accomplishments from tonight’s game:

Threes for Key but not for thee


There was a narrative building over the off-season that Key was going to attempt a few three-pointers this season. Chris Holtmann compared Key’s progress to Kaleb Wesson’s a few years ago, who went from not attempting any triples as a freshman to a 40%+ shooter from long range after his junior season.

However, many people were skeptical since Key is now a junior and — before tonight — had never attempted a shot from beyond the line.

Naturally, he knocked down his first two attempts from three-point land, including the first one to open the scoring. Key was 2-3 from downtown in the first half for six points and did not take a shot below the basket. That’s not at all how Holtmann drew it up, and it’s unlikely that it’ll go like that again this season.

Ice over top of the mop


Two minutes into the game with Ohio State leading 5-2, Cheeks turned the ball over below the basket and it was swiped by Likekele. At the same time, an Ohio State manager was mopping up sweat below the opposite basket, and did not see the fast break coming his way. With two players bearing down on him, the manager dropped the mop below the basket and bailed out. Likekele laid the ball up for two fast break points — mop be damned — to give OSU a 7-2 lead.

Colonels not rolling over early


Despite being huge underdogs in the season opener, Robert Morris didn’t back down for most of the first half, and even took the lead for a few minutes. Trailing 13-10 with just under 14 minutes remaining in the first half, Cheeks hit a three-pointer and Spears hit a long, stepback two to give the Colonels a 15-13 lead. That lead lasted just 32 seconds, but they still went into the halftime break down 14 points — hardly an insurmountable lead.

Sueing making an impact after one year off


Sueing’s last time on a basketball court was November 12, 2021 against Niagara. He went on to miss the final four and a half months of the season last year, finishing with just 31 minutes logged.

After 360 days off, Sueing returned tonight with a bang, scoring 12 points himself in the first half plus assisting on two other baskets. He also went 2-3 from three-point land a blocked a shot. His versatility was sorely missed last season, and he showed no ill-effects from the groin injury that held him out all of last season or the sprained ankle that held him out of the exhibition against Chaminade.

Freshman to freshman connection


While Thornton was the only freshman to start tonight, Felix Okpara, Roddy Gayle, and Brice Sensabaugh all played a ton off the bench. Gayle showed a ton of patience on a pass to Sensabaugh towards the end of the first half, dishing a line drive over Robert Morris’ zone defense to Sensabaugh on the right block for a layup to give Ohio State a 36-26 lead with 2:17 remaining in the first half.

(I don’t know if anyone clipped the highlight or not, but just trust me on this one, it was impressive)

Okay, no more threes, Zed


Key had six points and five rebounds in the first half, but all three of his shots came from beyond the arc. Sure, Zed hit two of those three shots, but we all — Holtmann included — know that’s not his game. After the halftime break, Key came out and scored six points immediately, four points on two layups and two points on free throws that he earned below the basket.

Key’s layup at the 17:01 mark gave Ohio State a 51-31 lead.

20-piece for Sueing


With his fast break dunk at the 8:44 mark of the second half, Sueing reached the 20-point plateau for the first time since March 14, 2021 — the Big Ten Tournament title game against Illinois two seasons ago.

Key’s third career double double


With his offensive rebound at the 6:13 mark, Key registered his third career double-double. He scored 13 points to go along with 10 rebounds over 26 minutes. It is also noteworthy that after picking up two fouls over the first five minutes of the game, he did not commit another foul for the remainder of the game.

Up Next:


Ohio State (1-0) welcomes Charleston Southern to the Schottenstein Center Thursday evening at 6:30 p.m. E.T. The Buccaneers finished in last place in the Big South conference last season with a 1-15 record in conference play. They enter the season as the No. 324 team in the country (out of 364) according to KenPom. That game will be broadcast on Big Ten Network.

Continue reading...

CB’d to Texas already by an insider, who may simply trying to be first or knows something

Column: Who should be ranked higher— Ohio State or Michigan?
meganhusslein via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Kyle Robertson/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

Both of these teams have had some struggles against easy opponents, yet both remain undefeated. Who should be the top Big Ten team?

The rivalry has already arrived, yet Ohio State and Michigan don’t even play each other for three more weeks. After this week, Georgia is pretty much the unanimous No. 1 team in the country. As for the second and third best team — well, there’s been much debate to whether TTUN or Ohio State should be ranked higher.

Let’s review both teams’ schedules. The Buckeyes defeated Notre Dame by 11 points, who at the time was ranked the fifth-best team in the nation. While the Fighting Irish lost respect for losing to Marshall and Stanford, they certainly rebounded. They whomped No. 4 Clemson 35-14 Saturday, proving that they are in fact a talented team, which makes Ohio State’s win over them more impressive.

Both teams played Rutgers and ended up winning in dominant fashion. However, Ohio State was up 28-7 at halftime, while Michigan was down 17-14 at the half. The Wolverines have proven they’re a second half team all season long, but the fact that they were losing to Rutgers for two quarters is a little concerning.

Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Next common opponent is Michigan State. The Buckeyes topped Sparty 49-20, but TTUN only won 29-7. Granted, it’s an in-state rivalry, so they are definitely bigger rivals than Ohio State and Michigan State, but that doesn’t change the fact that the Spartans are bad this year. They’re 4-5 overall and 2-4 against conference opponents. So once again, the Buckeyes have the advantage.

As I continue to write this, the more I realize that Ohio State has the upper hand when it comes to dismantling same opponents. Iowa is the next conference foe both teams played, and the Bucks won 54-10, while the Wolverines won 27-14. It is true that Iowa has a great defense, but somehow Ohio State figured out a way to put up 54 points. This is one demonstration of how Ohio State’s offense is better than Michigan’s.

Moving on to the shared opponent that has some people giving the edge to TTUN: Penn State. Michigan won fairly easily, by a score of 41-17. However, Buckeye fans know that the Nittany Lions gave them about as much as they could handle, with Ohio State edging them 44-31. Not to make excuses, but playing in Happy Valley is one of the most difficult environments in college football, and Michigan didn’t have to do that.

Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

Both teams were pretty much in the same boat around halftime. But, following a field goal on the first drive of the second half, Michigan didn't allow any further points. The Buckeyes ended up surrendering two more touchdowns and a field goal in the second half. In the end, Ohio State pulled out the win, which is what really counts. So, it’s hard to say whether Michigan or OSU has the edge on this one, since the Wolverines didn’t have to play in Happy Valley.

As for close games against unranked teams, Michigan was victorious against Maryland, winning by a touchdown. The Buckeyes obviously had their fair share of struggles against Northwestern this past weekend, winning by two touchdowns. The Wildcats are certainly worse than Maryland, which isn’t a great look. However, Michigan also didn’t have to play in 50 mph winds. It may sound like I’m making up excuses, but these are just the facts.

So, what have we learned? Ohio State had better wins over Rutgers, Michigan State and Iowa. The Penn State games are tough to say since the Wolverines didn’t have to deal with the Nittany Lions’ crowd, yet they did win by a larger margin. Finally, both teams had one close game with a conference opponent, yet both came out on top. Who should be ranked higher?

Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

I’m not saying this as an Ohio State fan, but when you look at everything presented here, I feel it is fairly obvious that the Buckeyes are the better team. They have won by larger margins against shared opponents, and haven’t had as many first half scares as Michigan has. Overall, the Buckeyes are more dominant. Therefore, I believe the AP poll got it right— Ohio State ranked No. 2 and Michigan ranked No. 3.

Let’s see if the CFP Playoff rankings feel the same way Tuesday.

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Visiting Locker Room: Previewing Iowa Hawkeyes women’s basketball with Black Heart Gold Pants
1ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK

Everyone knows about Caitlin Clark, but what about the rest of the Hawkeyes? We asked a friend for more information.

Right now, the name most synonymous to Big Ten women's basketball is the Iowa Hawkeyes’ Caitlin Clark, and for good reason. The dynamic guard is outstanding and led the Hawkeyes to a regular season co-championship and conference tournament title. Now they’re ranked in the top-5 to start the 2022-23 season.

To help preview teams across the conference, Land-Grant Holy Land’s talking with folks who cover Ohio State women’s basketball’s biggest opponents to see what this season holds. Bartt Pierce writes for Black Heart Gold Pants on SB Nation. Pierce discusses the aforementioned Clark, if their early NCAA Tournament exit was a fluke and where he sees the team in the standings at the end of the season.

Land-Grant Holy Land: The Hawkeyes had a big 2021-22 season. They won a share of the regular season title and swept Indiana in three games, including in Indianapolis at the Big Ten Tournament. Is the Creighton NCAA Tournament upset a fluke, or is there a way to stop the Hawkeyes from repeating?


LGHL: Iowa added one transfer in Central Michigan’s Molly Davis and three freshmen. Do any of the four have the potential to make an impact this year?


LGHL: The biggest roster transaction of the offseason wasn’t a transfer at all, but center Monika Czinano electing to return for a final season. Caitlin Clark earns the attention nationally, but how important is Czinano to this team? Does Iowa compete at a high level without her?


LGHL: Finally, what are your way-too-early predictions for where the Hawkeyes end on the final conference standings, and how far do they make it in the NCAA Tournament?


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B1G Thoughts: Stroud can run and Michigan State bounces back
JordanW330 via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

In a week where the midwest was pounded by crazy winds and rain, we were treated to a weekend of surprising performances and even more surprising results.

Every week after the Big Ten slate of games, I will bring you some B1G thoughts on everything that happened! This will include analysis, stats, key players, moments, and maybe a joke or two. Be sure to check out the I-70 Football Show in the Land-Grant Holy Land podcast feed for more in-depth analysis and to preview the next week of B1G games.

Run, (Stroud), Run


What would you say if I told you that C.J. Stroud would run for more yards than he threw for? You would probably call me all sorts of names, claim that I know nothing about football, laugh at me, and maybe worse. Yet, that is exactly what happened against Northwestern on Saturday. In a game where winds sustained at 30mph and had gusts of wind over 50mph, the Ohio State passing offense was rendered mute as the winds took passes way off the mark.

Stroud has emphasized all season that he doesn’t care about stats and just wants to win. Well, he backed that up on Saturday by running the ball for a career-high 79 yards on six carries, including a long scamper of 41 yards. Stroud is an exceptional pocket passer, and putting this on tape is a massive win as teams will have to start preparing for Stroud as a runner. Now it’s up to Ryan Day to unleash his quarterback and allow him to use his legs when the situation dictates it.

This was not football weather:

Illinois falls as Michigan State rebounds


The Big Ten East is one of the best divisions in college football, and they’ve flexed their muscle this season with multiple wins — some less expected than others — over their West counterparts. This trend continued this weekend with Michigan State. After previously beating Wisconsin, they took down Illinois 23-15 on Saturday.

Illinois came into the game at 7-1 with arguably the nation's best defense and one of the best running backs in the country. Michigan State, on the other hand came, into this one following an embarrassing loss to Michigan after an even more embarrassing decision by their players to jump two of Michigan's players in the tunnel after the game. This led to eight players being suspended, including star linebacker/defensive end Jacoby Windmon.

Even at full strength, many expected an Illinois win. Especially with MSU down eight players, this seemed like a blowout in the making. Instead, coach Mel Tucker rallied his troops and got a much-needed win. This season has been a major disappointment for the Spartans, but wins like this can provide some positivity for the future.

Iowa found its offense, which is bad for everyone involved


Iowa upset Purdue 24-3 on Saturday behind another impressive offensive performance. No, this is not a joke — their offense was impressive. Spencer Petras played one of his better games, throwing for 192 yards and two touchdowns while most importantly not turning the ball over. The most impressive showing came from freshman running back Kaleb Johnson, who ran the ball 22 times for 200 yards and a touchdown. He broke off a 75-yard touchdown run, and averaged almost first down per carry with his 9.1 yards per carry average.

All of this sounds great, except this 100% means that Kirk Ferentz is going to puff out his chest, blame the media for chronicling the downfall of the Iowa Hawkeyes, and give his son a raise. Ferentz has been almost hostile when asked about his offense scuffles. The past two games have been their best performances in the past couple of seasons, but for there to be real change this offense needs to continue being the worst in college football. Unfortunately, if this continues and Iowa keeps winning because of it, we will be stuck with the Ferentz father/son duo for the foreseeable future.

75-yards to the house in a breakout game to remember:

Aidan O’Connell’s draft stock is plummeting


Iowa has a special defense. That is not shocking to anyone who hasn't been living under a rock the past few seasons, and they gave Aidan O’Connell hell this weekend. O’Connell came into the season with fringe first-round hype, but finished this last game 20-of-43 for 168 yards with zero touchdowns and two interceptions. O’Connell connected with Charlie Jones 11 times for 104 yards, but that is the only good thing about this performance.

Iowa's defense made C.J. Stroud struggle for half, so you could argue that the credit should just go to Iowa, but Stroud figured it out eventually. To be a first-round pick you have to play well against your toughest opponents. On the season, OConnell has thrown for 2,438 yards, 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions with a 64% completion percentage. With three games left he has almost eclipsed his interception total from last season, and is not producing touchdowns at nearly the same rate.

O’Connell will probably still get drafted, but in a season where you wanted to see him build on his 2021 campaign, throw fewer interceptions and lead Purdue to back-to-back good seasons, he has fallen short in almost every category.

Nebraska…. You know what to do


Lance Leipold just orchestrated one of the best turnarounds of the past couple of decades, turning around the Kansas Jayhawks and making them a legitimately good football team. In their second season under Leipold, the Jayhawks are going bowling and there are still three games left to play. Leipold is the hottest name in the coaching industry right now. He’s in Kansas and made his name at Wisconsin-Whitewater, so he isn’t afraid to coach in the midwest. Plus he has Nebraska ties, spending seven years at Nebraska-Omaha and another three years at Nebraska-Lincoln.

There is not a better coach on the market, and if he keeps current interim head coach Mickey Joseph on staff to recruit, he could turn Nebraska around faster than Kansas. This is a no-brainer. Back up the brinks truck and promise your firstborn grandchild if you must, but Lance Leipold needs to be screaming Go Big Red next season. Anything else would be a complete failure. That may be harsh, but as a Big Ten program you should be able to take a coach from almost any school in the country, especially one with ties to your program.

Head ball coach, Jim Leonhard


Jim Leonhard, congrats on your full-time appointment as the head ball coach of the Wisconsin Badgers. You’ve shown yourself capable of going 3-1 in your first four games with three games left and a chance to win the division. As long as you don’t finish 0-3, you’re all but guaranteed the job. No pressure, you just need to win enough games to make it in a 12-team playoff and compete for a Big Ten Championship against Ohio State, Michigan, and USC.

If I can offer some advice, don’t do the loyalty play. Fire the majority of this staff, and bring in a young and talented offensive staff who can innovate and recruit. Hire a defensive coordinator who can run your system and trust them to do it. As a first-time head coach in this situation, you do not need to hold onto defensive play calling. Hire people you trust, and bring Wisconsin into national relevance. I promise you, no one wants to play in Madison in mid-December.

Stars Matter


Throughout the last few seasons — maybe since Saquon Barkley left for the NFL — Penn State has struggled to run the ball. Much of their struggles can be attributed to a porous offensive line that couldn’t block a troll on Twitter. Despite multiple high-ranked running backs, the Nittany Lions could not run the ball effectively. That changed this year, and it's due to two highly ranked freshman running backs.

Recruiting isn’t a surefire thing. You may miss on a few prospects, but the more highly rated guys you land the higher your chance of success. Penn State found success in the 2021 recruiting class, landing the No. 1 running back in the cycle in Nick Singleton, and adding four-star running back Kaytron Allen to boost the class. Both running backs have been a huge success and are going to compete to be the best running back duo in the country as early as next year. Add in five-star quarterback Drew Allar, and Penn State’s future is bright.

Go home West Division, you’re drunk


Nine games into the season and anyone can win the West division. I’m sure if we did the math even Nebraska could find a way to win. Illinois, despite a loss to Michigan State, still leads the division with a 7-2 record and a 4-2 mark in conference play. Four teams — Iowa, Wisconsin, Purdue, and Minnesota — are tied for second at 3-3 in the division with three games left. Illinois is the favorite to win the division with the tie-breaker wins over Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota, but they still have to face Purdue and Michigan to end the season.

In the past two weeks, Iowa has found an offense and has put up impressive numbers, by their standards. Jim Leonhard is 3-1 as Wisconsin’s interim head coach and has them playing much better en route to most likely making a bowl game. With four teams still in play, the West is bound to cannibalize itself. I can’t in full confidence say that anyone is going to win this division, so buckle up. It’s going to be a fun three weekends until this thing is settled.

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You’re Nuts: What would you set the Ohio State-Michigan line at right now?
Josh Dooley via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Photo by Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Will the Buckeyes still be the favorite come Nov. 26?

Everybody knows that one of the best parts of being a sports fan is debating and dissecting the most (and least) important questions in the sporting world with your friends. So, we’re bringing that to the pages of LGHL with our favorite head-to-head column: You’re Nuts.

In You’re Nuts, two LGHL staff members will take differing sides of one question and argue their opinions passionately. Then, in the end, it’s up to you to determine who’s right and who’s nuts.

This week’s topic: What would you set the Ohio State-Michigan line at right now?

Josh’s Take


Fresh off a second consecutive road victory, and owners of a perfect 9-0 record, the Ohio State Buckeyes are... not rolling? We need a vibe check, Gene, because I feel like they are nowhere near a season-high level. Not after back-to-back (first half, at least) clunkers and an ugly 14-point win over the Big Ten doormat known as Northwestern.

OSU’s offense has forgotten how to run the ball, Ryan Day – according to some – is recycling his worst play-calling hits, nobody is ever healthy, and our damn pets’ heads are falling off! Does that just about sum up the last two weeks? And now we’ve got this team up north running up the same record, winning an impossible slugfest in the fiery pits of hell — AKA Piscataway at night. What does it all mean for The Game?

Not much, in my opinion. Because I was already buying a certain amount of Wolverine hype, and a sloppy 11:00 a.m. local time win in a rain-soaked wind tunnel does not erase what I saw from the Buckeyes throughout September and October. Gene, I thought this year’s version of The Game was always going to be a battle, due to the stakes, as well as recent results. Not to mention a little thing called pure, unadulterated hate. I am not going to change said opinion based on a few funky weeks.

Ohio State is still arguably the best team in college football. C.J. Stroud is a virtual lock to be selected inside the top-5 of the 2023 NFL Draft, Ryan Day knows how to dial it up, TreVeyon Henderson and Miyan Williams are a talented RB duo, and the Buckeyes have a ton of talent up front. Rough weeks happen — just ask Dabo.

While I readily admit that OSU has not looked great running the ball for a few weeks, I would also point out that Iowa still possesses one of the top defenses in the country, Penn State played well, and if you take into account Stroud’s rushing yards against Northwestern, the running game has not been that bad! And I also believe it can be tricky to find your rhythm – as a unit – if the offensive line is blocking for a different guy each week. The offense will get rolling again, and these past 8-12 quarters will eventually be viewed as a blip on the ol’ radar.

On the other side of the ball, Ohio State has been playing fantastic defense, and Jim Knowles exists. So does J.T. Tuimoloau. But this is nothing new. Not in 2022, at least. The Buckeyes have the No. 8 scoring defense in FBS, meaning the season will not automatically come to an end if/when Stroud and the offense struggle. OSU can finally count on getting at least a few stops, which creates additional breathing room and a larger margin for error.

Do we, as fans of the scarlet and gray, look forward to low-scoring slobberknockers? No, not necessarily. But I don’t think we should be absolutely horrified by the thought of such a game, either. I am willing to throw the Northwestern game out, and look at the matchup with TTUN the same way I would have after Week 1, Week 5, or Week 8.

As for the eventual opponent, they are legit. I wasn’t so sure about their quarterback or the replacements on defense, but once the Wolverines began Big Ten play, I found myself willing to admit that Jim Harbaugh has a squad. And the matchup after Thanksgiving might end up being a battle for the ages. But the fact that they smoked PSU has not changed my opinion on them. Because TTUN did not light the world on fire against Iowa, Indiana, or Michigan State. They are a good team, more than capable of locking horns with Ohio State. The same could have been said a month ago.

I know some fans are more fearful of the upcoming rivalry matchup, but I am not. Because I will always be at least a little bit fearful! It is known as The Game for a reason. However, I do believe the Buckeyes would be favored if a spread were established today (I am familiar with futures, but my co-host and I are debating what we think the spread should be right now). The Wolverines must come into The Shoe and take on a team loaded with NFL talent, coached by elite football minds. And that home field advantage counts for something.

I would set the line at OSU –5.5, right in the “Vegas zone” for that reason. Ohio State is the slightly more talented team, and they get a few points for playing in Columbus.

There you have it, Gene. That’s my number, and I am sticking to it... Unless the Buckeyes struggle with Indiana, in which case I might go from 0 to 60 on the panic meter.

Gene’s Take


I am not pushing the panic button on a 9-0 Ohio State team just yet, but the results of the last few weeks have at least been a tad bit concerning. The Buckeyes were absolutely cruising heading into the bye week, and it seemed as though that would be a perfect time to work out a few small minor kinks here and there as well as get a bunch of guys healthy that had been dealing with small nagging injuries throughout the first half of the season. In the three weeks since OSU had the weekend off, things have instead been trending in the opposite direction.

The Buckeyes had a slow start against Iowa, but they figured it out in a major way as they went on to drop 54 points on the Hawkeyes, who still own one of the nation’s best defenses. Not much cause for concern after that one. Penn State always finds a way to play Ohio State stuff, and they did just that despite Ryan Day’s group still emerging from Happy Valley with a double-digit victory. Small concerns in terms of play-calling after this one, but once again no alarm bells going off. Then came the Northwestern game, where rain and heavy winds led to a 21-7 win on an afternoon most expected Ohio State to win by upwards of 30-40 points.

The results of these games are not the reason I have my concerns. It is instead the way that the Buckeyes’ run game has steadily declined. In addition, receivers not named Marvin Harrison Jr. have seemingly fallen off a cliff. On the other side of the ball, the defense has continued to look solid, but I still have massive questions about the cornerback play — a position group that hasn’t really been tested, but doesn’t yet appear to be up to the task if they are. All of these areas play a major role in my thoughts about Ohio State taking on Michigan at season’s end.

Looking at things empirically, Ohio State currently owns the No. 1 scoring offense in the Big Ten at 45.8 points per game, just ahead of Michigan with 42.2 points per contest. Defensively, Michigan has the edge in scoring defense, allowing only 12.1 points per game to Ohio State’s 15.8. The gap between the two teams when it comes to scoring points and allowing them is incredibly small, and the same goes for yardage. The Buckeyes have the edge in yards per game, averaging 484.1 to the Wolverines’ 465.7, while Michigan once again has the advantage on defense, allowing 242.4 yards per game to Ohio State’s 271.8. The overall statistics are basically negligible.

The larger differences come up when you start to look at things from a style standpoint. Ohio State is far and away the better passing offense, out-gaining Michigan through the air 290.9 yards per game to 215.7, while the Wolverines have the much more impressive rushing attack, outgaining the Buckeyes on the ground 250 yards per game to 193.2. Will those sorts of things matter when the two teams face off at the end of November?

I do think Ohio State is the better team in this matchup, but the flaws the Buckeyes have began to show do concern me. On offense, I question Ryan Day’s ability to call plays when things don’t go the way he plans it, and I need to see the run game improve as well as guys like Emeka Egbuka and Julian Fleming returning to their early-season form. It would help to get Jaxon Smith-Njigba back on the field at some point as well, but that would require Ohio State having someone actually good in charge of their strength and conditioning program — which they do not have.

Defensively, I still think the Buckeyes are in a good spot. They allowed over 200 yards rushing to Northwestern, but it took them almost 60 carries to do it (just 3.5 yards per carry as a team). I love what I’ve seen from the defensive line and the linebackers, and the safeties have done a pretty great job as well. My questions on this side of the ball revolve around the cornerbacks. I haven’t seen any reason to believe that Tim Walton is the right man for the job, as we’ve seen a guy like Denzel Burke regress pretty heavily from a year ago and seemingly all of the corners are struggling with the same issues. Michigan doesn’t have the world’s most elite passing offense, but its good enough to attack those guys.

All that being said, right now I would put Ohio State at around a 10-point favorite. I’d likely have the Buckeyes at around a touchdown favorite at a neutral site, so I’m giving a few additional points here for home field advantage. There is obviously a ton riding on this game, not limited to a Big Ten Championship spot and a likely College Football Playoff birth. Day has a lot to prove as Ohio State’s head coach, as you simply cannot lose to Michigan two years in a row. I’m sure the entire Buckeyes’ roster still has a bad taste in their mouth from how last year’s addition of The Game went down, and they will come into this one with an additional fire that we haven’t seen in quite some time.

There are issues to be corrected, and like Josh I will be far less confident if things do not improve over the next two games against Indiana and Maryland, but Ohio State has more than enough talent to figure it out. It will take the Buckeyes’ best effort to best their rival on Nov. 26, but this type of game is exactly why so many of these players came to Columbus in the first place.

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Grumpy Old Buckeye: Ohio State at Northwestern
Michael Citro via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

These are the things that broke my Grump-o-meter on Saturday.

Ohio State’s 21-7 win at Northwestern on Saturday was an ugly, uninspired performance, and, despite the weather making passing difficult, the game was still orders of magnitude tougher than it needed to be for the Buckeyes. I’m convinced at this point that Ohio State is one of the few teams in the nation that can beat Ohio State, and it worked pretty hard at that in Evanston, Illinois on Saturday. Thankfully, it came up short.

My Grump-o-meter (patent pending) reading is based on a scale from 1-10, but the following things (and several more that were too numerous to name) were enough to drive that reading so high that it shattered into a million pieces. Now I’ve got a broken Grump-o-meter, which is just one more thing to be angry about.

Come Get Your Weather, Nerds


Wind and rain can be a great friend to an overmatched team, as it makes the opponents a bit more predictable if passing is hindered by such weather. That’s what the Buckeyes were faced with on Saturday, and it served as a hell of an equalizer. C.J. Stroud had issues with the wind, Ryan Day refused to alter his play calling to account for it, and it served as a bit of a motivational factor for the Wildcats. It was annoying.

Henderson’s Hurts


One of the truly disappointing things about TreVeyon Henderson’s career to date — for both OSU fans and for Henderson himself, no doubt — is that he can’t seem to stay healthy for more than one or two games at a time. Running backs are rarely 100% once a season gets underway, but it’s difficult for Henderson to stay anywhere near that level for any notable period of time.

This may be more of a case of how things seem than how they are, but Henderson didn’t make the trip to Evanston, and after he started to get things going at Penn State it was a disappointing step backward, especially given the blustery weather. And his kind of burst is also exactly what the Buckeyes could have used against Northwestern. He was missed.

Don’t Hold


Going against the wind, it was imperative to stay ahead of the chains in the first quarter to set the tone. Miyan Williams ran for about seven yards on the first play from scrimmage, so of course Matthew Jones held a Northwestern defender, severely crippling the opening possession. The Buckeyes did not pick up the required 20 yards and punted to open the game. In fact, the Buckeyes struggled on third downs most of the day.

JK Johnson’s Struggles Spread to Run Game


Ohio State’s supposedly fixed defense got schooled on the second Northwestern series. The Wildcats looked tougher, stronger, and faster than the Buckeyes, which was on display when Evan Hull was met in the hole and dragged three OSU defenders for a first down. The Wildcats made the second drive pay off when Hull made one simple cut that completely baffled JK Johnson, giving the running back a free run to the end zone. Hull could literally only do two things there — run to the boundary, where Johnson could push him out, or cut inside. Johnson seemed perplexed by the second option.

Offensive Line Too Soft in Short Yardage


Running the ball in short yardage is about attitude and beating the man in front of you. Ohio State was not good at that last season, and although it has — at times — been better at it in 2022, it’s still a problem. If the Buckeyes can’t get a yard on consecutive runs against Northwestern, they’re getting out-efforted. One sequence looked ripe for an easy quarterback sneak, but instead the Buckeyes ran a slow-developing handoff to Williams that didn’t quite make it back to the line of scrimmage. The next appeared to be bounced outside by Williams because the hole was closed, but it still appeared to be off-tackle instead of straight ahead.

Dropping Like Flies


Ohio State’s receiving corps has been the best or, at the very least, among the best in the country for several years now. It’s weird to see them dropping passes. But between Julian Fleming, Emeka Egbuka, and tight end Cade Stover, five or six balls hit the ground that shouldn’t have on Saturday. Some of those drops were partially to blame for Ohio State struggling just to get the game tied by halftime. In that kind of weather, passes aren’t going to be as easy to catch, but these were in their hands. They weren’t always between the numbers, but they were catchable, and they are usually caught.

Weird, New Defensive Issues Surface


Ohio State gave up three consecutive third-down conversions on long-yardage situations on Northwestern’s first possession of the fourth quarter, and it was maddening. A defense that has excelled at getting off the field in 2022 somehow could not stop the extremely meh offense of the Wildcats from converting on third-and-7, third-and-9, and third-and-8 on three straight sets of downs. The game was very much still in doubt at that point, with the Buckeyes clinging to a 14-7 lead. Thankfully, the Wildcats’ drive stalled after a failed fourth-and-8 play at the OSU 36-yard line.

That wasn’t the only problem on the day. Hull and Cam Porter were able to find success in the wildcat formation when it was fairly obvious what was coming. The defense has been strong this season against the run, and somehow Northwestern gave the Buckeyes fits on an obvious rush look. The Buckeyes will likely see this again as a result.


Those are the things that enraged me on Saturday. At least the Buckeyes avoided sharing the fates of Alabama, Clemson, Illinois, Kansas State, and Tennessee, and it was nice to see Williams go over 100 yards again. It was incredible to see Stroud run for 79 yards.

What ticked you off on Saturday? Let me know in the comments below.

Next week: The Buckeyes return home to face the Hoosiers.

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Film Review: Ohio State’s recent run game struggles continue against Northwestern
Chris Renne via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images

The Buckeyes’ run game is struggling, and the clock is ticking when it comes to finding their identity on the ground.

Heading to Illinois this time of year is never easy, and the Ohio State Buckeyes learned this in their 21-7 win over Northwestern. In conditions with 35 mile per hour winds and rain, the Buckeyes were forced to win on the ground this week, and once again did not look pleasant doing it.

Early in the game the Buckeyes tried to keep their passing offense involved, forcing the ball through the air with little success. With the winds blowing at such high speeds, the Buckeyes’ passing game was rendered useless early on in the matchup. Ohio State ran the ball 36 times to only 26 passes, and in the first half starting running back Miyan Williams averaged only two yards per carry. The weather and lack of run game success put Ryan Day into an uncomfortable position as a play-caller, constraining what the Buckeyes’ offense was able to do.

“I’ve never been around conditions like this. I don’t know what the numbers show, but there must have been 30-mile-an-hour winds. And if you ever tried playing golf in 30-mile-an-hour winds, it’s hard to get off the tee, forget throw a football. We saw this coming, so we had a plan,” Ryan Day said regarding the weather on Saturday.

Despite the weather in Evanston, Ill. – and Ohio State knowing they would need to run the ball – the running game had another sub-par effort, not to steal Ryan Day’s golf reference. Three games in a row the Buckeyes struggled to find any consistency running the football. The reasons were multiple in the failures on Saturday, but the late success in the matchup provides a little evidence that there can be success moving forward.

Run Game Struggles


The run game struggles happened early on in the matchup, which has been the case in the last three games for the Buckeyes. In their last two games against Penn State and Iowa, Ohio State ran for 3.8 and 2.2 yards per rush, respectively. Against Northwestern, the game was trending in that direction once again. In a contest that was a mirror image of some of Ohio State’s biggest matchups in 2021, they were unable to gain first downs in 3rd-and-short scenarios, and showed a lack of inventiveness to amplify the mistakes.

The lack of creativity is the place to start. Ohio State has given away tendencies leaning on runs from under center or pistol looks. Against every team on the schedule this season, you can go back and find Ohio State in a 3rd-and-short scenario running their Wide Zone to the boundary side of the field. This tendency has been recognized by three consecutive defensive staffs.

At the snap, Northwestern slants their entire defensive line to the boundary side. This allows them to cut off the offensive linemen trying to reach and turn the defenders. Matt Jones (No. 55) and Donovan Jackson (No. 74) get pushed up field. Jones getting beat inside forces Williams to bounce the ball outside. Northwestern was able to key in on tendencies, and they were able to beat the Buckeyes to their spot, leading to a huge 3rd-down stop.


In the next play, Ohio State is once again in a 3rd-and-short scenario around midfield, this time needing only three yards. If you have been following along you know the play-call here, and yes, it is wide zone to the boundary.

Looking at this play, pause the clip at two seconds and look at how far the offensive line is away from the line of scrimmage. Northwestern was consistently pushing Ohio State’s offensive line back ,changing the running angles. Even with the loss of leverage at the line of scrimmage, Williams does a solid job of staying play side, following the block into the running lane. Jones (No. 55) is responsible for getting out to the backside backer, but he whiffs on the block and the backer makes the play. This shows how important technique is in zone blocking, and when one player misses his block it can blow up the whole play.


Execution in the blocking scheme was the issue in the first two plays, and that trend continues again in Ohio State’s next 3rd-and-1 attempt. This time around, Ohio State decides to bring in their heavy-personnel package with Josh Fryar as an extra tight end/tackle.

This is technically 13-personnel with three tight ends. The Buckeyes motion Gee Scott Jr. into the formation. Scott runs a split-action to lead block across the formation, adding an additional blocker play side. The offensive line down blocks, and Fryar and Stover double team the end until Fryar comes off to help inside. Stover falls off his block right in the hole and this blows up the play.

For the Buckeyes, the run game needs to start up front, and until the offensive line begins executing at a higher level, the ground game is going to be hard to evaluate.


The last thing I personally want to hear is the predictability argument. The Buckeyes were in four obvious run situations. Tendencies are thrown out the window in short yardage run scenarios. It comes down to toughness and doing the job better than the guy across the line.

In the next play, the Buckeyes are in a pivotal 4th-and-1 spot. Ryan Day wants the team to get some momentum back, deciding to go for it on fourth down. Ohio State’s interior offensive linemen take on the the cutting nose tackles in the A-gaps. The issue here is the play is lost on the backside of the formation. Dawand Jones (No. 79) is responsible for blocking the backside backer. His job is to get to the second level and cut him off from the run-lane. Jones gets beat to the spot, and the Northwestern linebacker is able to scrape and make the play at the line of scrimmage.

Jones was not better than the man across from him on this play, and once again one small misstep led to a fourth down stop for the Wildcats.

Success in run game


Ohio State’s run game was not kept at bay for the entirety of the game, and they began finding success when they needed it most. In a call of desperation, the Buckeyes turned to the quarterback run to aid them against the loaded numbers in the box. With Northwestern consistently outnumbering Ohio State, they had to get creative and they found ways to do that.

Before halftime the game was 7-0 Northwestern with neither team scoring since the 6:45 mark in the first quarter. The Wildcats were receiving at the half, so the Buckeyes needed to get something going. As we looked at, the Buckeyes had little success running in short yardage scenarios with the backs. This was in part due to Northwestern treating Stroud as a non-threat from a running standpoint. Ohio State recognized this and saved the right play-call for the perfect moment.

Northwestern’s outside linebacker crashes down hard with the down blocks by the offensive line, and so does the nickel safety who has the quarterback run to that side. By both these players diving in, Stroud pulls the ball and gets an easy first down.


Now that Ohio State has recognized how Northwestern is attacking by keying on the offensive line steps and slanting that direction, they now have an opportunity. Ohio State motions Egbuka and blocks a wide zone to the field side. This gets Northwestern’s defense off balance and moving the opposite direction.

With Northwestern overcommitting defenders in the box, this gives the Buckeyes an opportunity to get outside with a misdirection look. Instead of needing to block eight defenders with seven, they can block two with two with Egbuka responsible for beating the backer outside. Ohio State used Northwestern’s shown tendencies against them again, and Ohio State was able to get in the end zone before the half.


The next play, Ohio State goes away from their traditional zone and runs a “Pin-and-Pull” run scheme. A “Pin-and-Pull” is a simple but effective blocking scheme. The basic rule of this concept is if a defensive linemen uncovers an offensive linemen, that offensive linemen pulls to the run action. For the rest of the offensive line, they pin the defender to the inside away from the run action.

In this case, Donovan Jackson is uncovered and the puller. Ohio State slants left and Northwestern stays consistent to their technique slanting with the blocks. The Buckeyes do a solid job pinning down the defensive linemen, and Jackson turns in the crashing defensive end, giving Miyan Williams plenty of space. At the second level, the receivers and tight end make their blocks, leading to a nice gain for Williams. Ohio State has had this run play in their bag since Week 1, but rarely go to it. This play can really add a nice dynamic and keep defenses honest with how they respond to the offensive line’s steps.


Later in the game, Ohio State once again shows a Split-Zone run concept and this time they are successful with it. The Buckeyes do a great job initially at the line of scrimmage and Stover kicks out the crashing end to open up the initial hole to run through. Williams hits the hole, and Donovan Jackson and Dawand Jones are able to make their blocks at the second level. Williams is able to get the first down here with a physical run, but more importantly it sets up the next play.


In this last play, the Buckeyes had run a few more Stroud designed runs and scrambles before they broke off a huge run. Ohio State is in a 2nd-and-9 down and distance trying to put the game away. The Buckeyes run the read option off of the same split-zone look from the previous play.

The Buckeyes’ zone blocking scheme steps to the side of the run-action of Williams. This creates a situation that puts the defensive end into a decision point. He chooses to crash down, which allows Stover to get to the second level and lead block for Stroud, who pulls the ball instead of kicking out the end. When we talk about equating numbers, the crashing defensive end creates a 3-on-2 numbers advantage for Ohio State on the outside. Stover and Marvin Harrison Jr. do a great job of getting on their blocking responsibilities, and this creates a huge gain for Stroud.

The Buckeyes would score a couple of plays later and put the game away on the back of Stroud’s running performance.


Expecting Ohio State to rely on Stroud as a runner is a relative pipe dream. The Buckeyes want to win with their blocking schemes without having to get Stroud involved. The Buckeyes’ offensive line has been struggling, and this created the need for Stroud to be a runner to help create better numbers in the box.

Against Northwestern, they used Stroud as a necessity, but the use out of necessity created a potential solution to aid the offensive line moving forward, especially in short yardage situations. With the small threat of Stroud running the ball, the opposing defensive ends and linebackers had to give that much more thought to Stroud as a runner.

“It felt good to get a couple of runs in today, and hopefully Coach Day calls some more runs. Maybe everybody in the world will be happy with me then,” Stroud said post game about the opportunities he had running the ball against Northwestern.

In the end, the onus is still on the offensive line to get right and clean up their mistakes. They missed quite a few crucial blocks in the first half, and in crunch time Ohio State took the game out of their hand with the read options. The Buckeyes can’t beat teams if they aren’t able to run in obvious run situations.

Ohio State found success late on the ground again, but the lack of consistency has been alarming. The first half struggles have yet to hurt the Buckeyes on the final scoreboard, but to reach the penultimate goal they will need to find their identity on the ground again before it’s too late.

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Ohio State women’s basketball player preview: Kaitlyn Costner
1ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Kaitlyn Costner against Slippery Rock University in an exhibition game on Nov. 3, 2021. | Ohio State Athletics

The second-year guard returns for another campaign with the Buckeyes

The start of the 2022-23 Ohio State Buckeyes women’s basketball season is approaching. Up and down the roster, the Scarlet & Gray have a slightly different look than last year, when they made the Sweet Sixteen on top of winning a regular season Big Ten title.

Part of that group of players from the trophy-winning campaign is up next in the Land-Grant Holy Land player preview series. Kaitlyn Costner joined Ohio State after an impressive high school and AAU career, but had trouble earning minutes in games. Does that continue this year?


Name: Kaitlyn Costner
Position: Guard
Class: Sophomore
High School: Penn-Harris Madison & Elkhart Central (Mishawaka and Elkhart, IN)
2021-22 Stats: 0.5 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 0.5 apg, .273 FG%, .000 3FG%

Last Season


Overall, production wasn’t big for Costner, having a season high four points and three assists in the Buckeyes non-conference win against Norfolk State on Nov. 14. In 11 appearances and 59 minutes, Costner scored six points and added 11 rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Costner entered the Ohio State program with a strong showing in high school basketball. Playing in Northern Indiana, just east of South Bend, Costner played for two different schools on top of AAU basketball.

At both high school stops, the guard’s teams won their sectional titles, and a divisional title with Elkhart Central. Not bad for basketball-crazy Indiana. Leaving high school, before joining the Scarlet & Gray, there was interest from other Division I schools. In Aug. 2020 Costner announced her intention to join Ohio State, but entered a tough group of guards to try to take away minutes.

What to Expect


Costner has the ability to drive to the lane and shoot from deep. Also, Costner possesses strong ball-handling skills. She can break down an opposing guard and either drive to the basket or shoot with limited space.

Unfortunately for the guard, it’s been hard to get a lot of time to see what she can do on the court. Costner scored four of her six points in the season in one game. In Monday’s exhibition win against Notre Dame College, Costner played the final 5:37 of the game, missing two shots but grabbing three rebounds in limited time.

Prediction


It’s really hard to imagine head coach Kevin McGuff giving Costner ample minutes this season. Enough playing time to analyze where Costner lands in the future of McGuff’s plans with the Buckeyes, but likely not much more.

Costner grew up in a basketball family, with her dad sitting in the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. The coaching and ability is there, but will another season on the bench lead to a potential transfer?

There might be pause on that decision with guards Jacy Sheldon and Taylor Mikesell nearing the end of their NCAA careers, and sights on professional basketball.

Highlights


Here’s a video from Costner (24) and her time with MBA Select, the basketball school that her dad operates.


Miss any player previews? Here’s the list so far:

• Taylor Mikesell
• Eboni Walker
• Madison Greene
• Emma Shumate
• Cotie McMahon
• Rebeka Mikulášiková
• Rikki Harris
• Hevynne Bristow
• Kaia Henderson
• Karla Vreš

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Ohio State men’s basketball vs Robert Morris: Game preview and prediction
justingolba via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Joseph Scheller/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

Team 124 is off and running!

We are officially back. The Ohio State men’s basketball Buckeyes host Robert Morris on Monday night to start off their basketball season. The Buckeyes faced Chaminade in an exhibition game last Tuesday, winning easily 101-57.

In the exhibition game, Tanner Holden lead the way for Ohio State with 25 points off the bench. There are a lot of different ways that Chris Holtmann and his staff can go with the starting lineup to start the season and for the exhibition, the Buckeyes started Isaac Likekele, Bruce Thornton, Sean McNeil, Zed Key and Brice Sensabaugh. Holden, Felix Okpara and Roddy Gayle played the most minutes off the bench, while Justice Sueing (ankle) and Eugene Brown (concussion) did not play.

It should be worth noting that if the game was not an exhibition and actually counted, Sueing likely would have played — according to Ohio State. Both are questionable for the game tonight.

Gayle added 14 points off the bench, and Key lead the starters with 15 points and five rebounds. All of the freshmen were productive along with Gayle, as Okpara finished with nine rebounds, Thornton finished with 11 assists, Sensabaugh scored eight points, eight rebounds and three assists, and Bowen Hardman had 12 points on four three-pointers. It should also be noted that Ohio State recorded 24 assists to just 11 turnovers.

Obviously, it was only an exhibition against a Division-II program and not too much can be taken away from the game, but they Buckeyes did what they had to do to make sure no one was freaking out heading into the season. Louisville cannot say the same.

The availability of Sueing and Brown will be key. Sueing is the best player on the team for Ohio State and Brown is an experienced and important rotational player for the Buckeyes that plays both ends of the floor. If Sueing can go, he will likely jump into the starting lineup. It appears his injury is not serious, and even if he doesn’t play, he should be ready to go Thursday against Charleston Southern.

It has been well known that the freshmen will have to play key roles early, but if Sueing or Brown miss any real time, that will be amplified and could determine the outcomes of some of the early non-conference games.

Preview

Joseph Scheller/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

This is an interesting matchup for a number of reasons. First off, the two teams are coming into this one in very different positions. Ohio State enters as a team with five new freshmen, three new transfers, and only two guys returning who played valuable minutes last season (Key and Brown) and Brown is questionable to play with a concussion.

Robert Morris, however, is returning three of their top four scorers. The Colonels struggled last season, only going 8-24 overall and 5-16 in conference.

For RMU, graduate senior Kahliel Spear is back after leading the Colonels last season with 14.7 points per game. Spear is not much of a deep ball shooter, shooting just 8-for-30 (.267) last season from three-point land, but the 6-foot-7 forward still shot an efficient 55 percent from the field. Spear also averaged 7.7 rebounds with 30 total steals and 35 blocks in 32 games.

The Colonels lost their top scoring guard Rasheem Dunn to graduation, but he only played 12 games last season. Dunn averaged 12.8 points per game and 3.7 rebounds per game. Michael Green III and Enoch Cheeks are returning as the third and fourth leading scorers for Robert Morris last season, averaging 10.4 and 9.2 points per game, respectively. Kam Farris also averaged 9.2 points per game, but he transferred to Marist in the offseason.

For Ohio State, there are plenty of unknowns with this Buckeye team, particularly on offense after losing E.J. Liddell, Malaki Branham, and Kyle Young, but they are bringing in talented scorers like Sean McNeil, Isaac Likekele and Tanner Holden to shoulder some of that load.

Another fun fact to note before watching this game (which unfortunately is only streaming on BTN+): the last time Ohio State faced Robert Morris was November 10, 2017. That also happened to be the very first game that Chris Holtmann coached at Ohio State — having been hired during the summer of 2017. The Buckeyes won that game 95-64, behind 19 points and 11 rebounds from Keita Bates-Diop.

Prediction

Joseph Scheller/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

Ohio State pretty much has to win their first three games, and I think they start that off with a win over Robert Morris. Even though the Colonels should be much improved from last season, Ohio State just has too many weapons and too much depth for the Colonels to compete with.

People will look at this game and point to the Akron game from last season, the season opener in which the Buckeyes needed a last second layup from Zed Key to win the game. However, Akron ended up winning the Mid-American Conference, going to the NCAA tournament, and giving the UCLA Bruins all they could handle in a 4-13 matchup.

Robert Morris is not Akron, and Ohio State may struggle a bit early as the new group tries to gel together, they will eventually pull away in the second half and move to 1-0 on the season.


ESPN BPI: Ohio State 95.1%
Line (According to DraftKings Sportsbook): Ohio State (-20.5)
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
TV: BTN Plus

LGHL score prediction: Ohio State 82, Robert Morris 64

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I-70 Football Show: Severe weather and shocking results
JordanW330 via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

In a weekend where multiple teams were upset and a few lost their chance at a playoff berth, a win is a win no matter how you got it.

Welcome to a new episode of Land-Grant Holy Land’s I-70 podcast. On this show, we talk all things Big Ten football and basketball. After every week of action, we will get you caught up on all the conference’s games and look ahead at the matchups, storylines, and players that you should be paying attention to in the next week. My name is Jordan Williams, and I am joined by my co-host Dante Morgan.

Listen to the episode and subscribe:


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Welcome back to another episode of the I-70 Football Show. This past weekend was littered with weird results throughout the sport, as three of the top six teams lost on Saturday, including Alabama falling in overtime to LSU. The weirdness extended to the Big Ten, as Ohio State survived a wind storm that featured sustained winds of 30mph and gusts of wind recorded up to 80 mph to beat Northwestern, 21-7. The Buckeyes wanted nothing to do with this game ,and their energy and effort were lackluster throughout. On a weekend where multiple teams lost their shot at reaching the playoffs, a win is a win.

Speaking of winning, Wisconsin keeps winning under interim head coach Jim Leonhard, as he brings his record to 3-1 since taking charge of the Badgers’ program with a win over Maryland. Iowa has gotten back to its winning ways and found an offense along the way, scoring 33 and 24 points in back-to-back weeks without a defensive touchdown. The consequences of Iowa having an average offense will be unbearable, as Kirk Ferentz will use it as an excuse to blame the media for questioning his offense and his son, the offensive coordinator.

Next week will be separation Saturday for the Big Ten West, which currently has Illinois at the top at 7-2 with a 4-2 conference record. After Illinois, there is a four-team tie for second place, with Wisconsin, Iowa, Purdue and Minnesota all sitting at 3-3 in the conference. Illinois plays Purdue while Iowa and Wisconsin play. A loss will knock at least one team out of the running for the West. An Illinois win, and they will all but secure the division and a trip to Indianapolis to face the winner of the Ohio State-Michigan game.

In their weekly pit stops, Dante is disappointed in Anthony Davis — again — as he only shot the ball two times in the second half of the Laker’s loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Jordan talks about the wild weekend in which Clemson and Alabama were all but eliminated from College Football Playoff contention.


Connect with us on Twitter:

Jordan: @JordanW330

Dante: @DanteM10216

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Four-star DL from Florida includes Ohio State as a finalist
Bret Favachio via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Jordan Hall | 247Sports

The Buckeyes were included among the top schools from a blue-chip defender who will be taking an official visit to Columbus this month.

After escaping with a narrow — and at times ugly — victory against Northwestern this weekend, the Buckeyes were also gathering some positive momentum on the recruiting trail. A longtime target along the interior defensive line narrowed down his recruitment and the Buckeyes were a beneficiary in that update. Plus, a top linebacker in next years cycle plans a visit to Columbus later this month.

Hall down to five


Fresh off of landing a pledge from 2023 four-star defensive lineman Kayden McDonald of North Gwinnett (GA) earlier this week, Ohio State also found themselves among the finalists for another blue-chip prospect along the defensive interior. On Friday evening, it was 2023 four-star defensive tackle Jordan Hall of Westside (FL) who narrowed down the programs in the running for his coveted commitment.


The Jacksonville standout accumulated over 30 offers as a prospect and will now focus on the likes of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU, and Ohio State going forward. As things currently stand, the Bulldogs are the current favorite to land the No. 52 overall prospect on the 247Sports Crystal Ball.

Nonetheless, the good news right now for defensive line coach Larry Johnson and the Buckeyes is that Hall, a top 15 player from Florida, is currently scheduled to make an official visit to Columbus later this month when Ohio State looks to get their revenge on Michigan inside of Ohio Stadium.

When speaking with Hayes Fawcett and On3, Hall briefly discussed the five schools still in the running. When talking about the Buckeyes, the All-American Bowl selection had this to say:

“Ohio State is the one out of the five I haven’t been to, but I’m really the most interested in seeing what they have to offer. They are always a good offense for me to compete against in practice. Coach Johnson is one of the best ever at what he does. I’ll be in a new environment for me to grow as a person, and I really feel like I’ll be able to grow and thrive there as a D-lineman. The SEC has a lot of people like me in it, but the Big Ten doesn’t, so I’ll come in and be developed and have a very good impact as soon as I get there I believe.”

While it certainly seems as if Ohio State is playing catch up in the race for Hall, if they are able to make that visit later this month come to fruition, you never know what could come about. Until then, the Buckeyes just have to remain afloat with a quartet of SEC powerhouses in hot pursuit for the No. 7 defensive lineman in this years class.

Jones set to visit this month


Much like the aforementioned Hall and numerous other prospects across the country, 2024 four-star linebacker Kristopher Jones of Mountain View (VA) is another recruit that will be in Columbus later this month. According to Garrick Hodge of Eleven Warriors, Jones is planning on visiting Ohio State near the conclusion of the month for the Buckeyes game against Michigan.

Jones may be a relatively unfamiliar name among Buckeye fans for the time being but perhaps it is a name to get familiar with. The Stafford native is one that Ohio State has already offered dating back to June when he impressed at a camp setting in Columbus.

The 6-foot-2, 220-pounder also has already garnered scholarship opportunities from programs like Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Penn State, Tennessee, and more.

The visit from Jones, which is now just a few weeks away, will be the second stop in Columbus for the blue-chip defender and it’s a visit that the Buckeyes won’t take for granted. Jones currently grades as a Top 150 prospect in next years cycle. The Virginia standout also grades out as the sixth highest graded linebacker in the class and the third best prospect overall in his state.

Quick Hits

• According to Hayes Fawcett of On3, Ohio State target and four-star quarterback Colin Hurley of Trinity Christian Academy (FL) has committed to LSU and is also reclassifying from the 2025 recruiting class to 2024. With the Jacksonville native now off the board, 2025 quarterback Ryan Montgomery of Findlay (OH) is the lone signal-caller in the class with an offer from the Buckeyes, paving the way for him to be the clear-cut top target at the position.

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