Badgers edged by Buckeyes in five sets - University of Wisconsin Badgers
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


Badgers edged by Buckeyes in five sets
University of Wisconsin Badgers
MADISON, Wis. – With her second kill of the match, senior Kelli Bates joined the 1,000-career kill club, becoming just the sixth Badger in program history to record 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs. Her milestone wasn't enough as the eighth ...

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Ohio State football: Buckeyes preparing for tough time against underdog Hawkeyes - Akron Beacon Journal
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


Ohio State football: Buckeyes preparing for tough time against underdog Hawkeyes
Akron Beacon Journal
IOWA CITY, Iowa: Third-ranked Ohio State put itself back in position for a possible playoff berth with a wild comeback win over No. 7 Penn State last week. The Buckeyes (7-1, 5-0 Big Ten, No. 6 CFP) only need to look at what happened to their biggest ...
Ohio State football: Do Buckeyes need style points to boost College Football Playoff chances?Landof10.com
Ohio State Buckeyes to handle Iowa in trap game -- Bill Livingston (photos)cleveland.com
Hawkeyes can't count on letdown by BuckeyesHillsboro Times Gazette
Black Heart Gold Pants -Dayton Daily News -247Sports
all 273 news articles »

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MaxBuck said:

Apparently Artur lost his starting job at IMG to a guy who is walking on at some D1 school. Odd situation.

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It was the right move - Sitkowski absolutely has potential....looks the part, great size, etc. But accuracy will be a major issue for him, and unless Rutgers improves their line it's not going to help. A QB with some mobility is needed at this point. Last time I looked, Sitkowski had quite a bit more INT's than TD's, even going back to his NJ days.

Seven ranked matchups fill Week 10’s college football schedule
Alexis Chassen via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Here’s the full slate of college football games this weekend.

Ohio State kicks off against Iowa at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday in Kinnick Stadium, but it’s not the only exciting game in Week 10. There are seven ranked matchups this week, including No. 19 LSU vs. No. 1 Alabama, and No. 6 Clemson vs. No. 20 NC State. Another ranked matchup, and rivalry game, No. 8 Oklahoma vs. No. 11 Oklahoma State, should be a good watch, too.

For the Big Ten, No. 4 Wisconsin will face Indiana in a game that at least has potential to end in an upset. No. 7 Penn State will face No. 24 Michigan State — just a week before the Buckeyes face the Spartans — and unranked Michigan (heh) will play Maryland.

Here’s the full slate of games this weekend, and how to watch:

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Ohio State recruiting: Buckeyes impress family of Tyreke Johnson; 2019 tight end thinking Ohio State - Landof10.com
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


Ohio State recruiting: Buckeyes impress family of Tyreke Johnson; 2019 tight end thinking Ohio State
Landof10.com
Recruiting never stops, and if you take a day off, you fall behind. Join us every night for a daily recap of Ohio State recruiting news, insight on what's happening behind the scenes and a glimpse at what's coming next.


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Strength of schedule is one of the harder criteria to measure in an evolving college football landscape
Alexis Chassen via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Also, remember when the BCS era made three undefeated teams a worst-case scenario?

“Strength of schedule is at the heart of virtually every college football argument between October and January each year. Hell, it’s a point of debate for every college sport. The schedules are too varied and not comprehensive enough.”

-Bill Connelly, SB Nation


One thing I learned today, is that S&P+ guru Bill Connelly is not a fan of strength of schedule arguments. Let’s be honest though, at one point or another, we’ve all complained about Ohio State’s placement in the rankings, arguing that having to face a conference foe on the road should mean more than Alabama winning at home over a non-conference team. “But who have they played?” (On repeat.)

Strength of schedule has never been easily defined -- similar to the catch rule in the NFL, it’s sort of open to interpretation. Ask three different people (writers, players, coaches) and you’ll get three different answers. There aren’t exact parameters to consider, or a consistent algorithm to take the human element out of the decision. And it’s an argument that the Buckeye faithful will still probably be making in ahead of when the playoff teams are announced, especially if there is a potential for OSU to be on the outside.

Connelly explains how, with Power 5 teams scheduling up to three non-conference competitions each season, the ability to effectively compare schedules is only getting more difficult. Despite this, the College Football Playoff committee still includes the metric as their criteria for choosing the best four teams in the nation.

“If it had existed in 2010, the Committee would have had to divide two spots between undefeated TCU and Stanford, Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Michigan State, all of whom had one loss. SEVEN Power 5 teams got through conference championship week in 2008 with just one loss.”

-Ryan Nanni, SB Nation


Doesn’t it seem like the BCS era was forever ago? Well, it wasn’t, and it often saw the championship filled with either two undefeated teams, or a very good one-loss team. Now that we are in the College Football Playoff committee era, there’s a lot more opportunity for an exceedingly larger pool of playoff-caliber teams to make an argument for inclusion.

As noted above, the strength of schedule argument is still used by the committee -- and fans far and wide -- and can certainly give credence to putting a two-loss team into the playoff over an undefeated team who faced inferior competition all season. Penn State almost became the first two-loss team to make it to the playoffs in the CFP era in 2016, but ultimately finished on the outside looking in, at No. 5.

Even with the first set of CFP rankings being released earlier this week, the committee is pretty clearly hoping that the college football landscape does some work to help narrow in on the best four teams. With so many factors, like strength of schedule and head-to-head matchups, there are enough mitigating criteria to essentially negate any advantage one team may have over another, especially if you are inclined to argue.

Either way, the Buckeyes currently sit at No. 6 and Ohio State fans have absolutely no doubt that this team will snag one of the final four spots. Over confident? Probably. Chances that actually happens? Pretty damn good. (Don’t @ me.)

Holtmann Era Begins in Columbus

-Ohio State Buckeyes


We are just a week away from the start of Ohio State’s basketball season, and all eyes will be on the new head coach for the men’s squad, Chris Holtmann. After coming in to a seemingly complicated situation, one that saw one of Ohio State’s most cherished coaches, Thad Matta, “part ways” with the program, Holtmann has his staff in place and has brought in a few key recruits to keep the program afloat in 2017.

Before the start of the season, Holtmann and the Buckeyes will play an exhibition game against Wooster on Nov. 4. It’ll be a home game for Ohio State, who will tip-off at Value City Arena on Saturday at 4:05 p.m. and will begin the latest tradition -- inspired by the football team — of singing Carmen Ohio with the fans following the contest.

Ohio State assistant coach Ryan Pedon graduated from Wooster in 2000, but will be on the winning side of history in this matchup. Ohio State and Wooster first played back in 1905, with 12 total games over the duration of the series — the Buckeyes lead 8-4.

Will that streak continue on Saturday? They have a good chance with Holtmann, Pedon, and staff looking to start off their new basketball era on a good note.

“This is the first season for Notre Dame as a member of the Big Ten for men's hockey. The Buckeyes and Irish were together as members of the CCHA in 1981-82 and '82-83 and then from 1992-93 when Notre Dame rejoined until 2012-13 when the league was disbanded.”

-Ohio State Buckeyes


The No. 16 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes will face the No. 10 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish in a two-game series this weekend, the first puck drops Friday at 7:00 p.m. in Columbus. This will mark the first time the Buckeyes will face Notre Dame since 2014, with Ohio State leading the overall series 35-32-10.

The last time these teams met, the Buckeyes came away with a 5-1 victory thanks to seniors like Kevin Miller, Janik Moser, Luke Stork and Matthew Weis. Looking for a similar finish this weekend, the hockey team is a lot younger, but not any less capable of pulling off the victory. The Buckeyes will meet the Fighting Irish again on their ice in Indiana next week.

STICK TO SPORTS

• If you’re trying to get a jump on your holiday shopping, there are a few sites offering decent discounts this weekend.
• First it was Pizza Hut, now, even DiGiorno is making fun of Papa John’s weak attempt at blaming the NFL and players taking a knee for their dip in sales.
• If you’re looking for a house, and have $1.5M to spend, Frank Llyod Wright’s home is for sale!

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5 reasons Ohio State football will beat Iowa: Buckeyes have their best run defense in 8 years - cleveland.com
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


5 reasons Ohio State football will beat Iowa: Buckeyes have their best run defense in 8 years
cleveland.com
So we gotta get great vertical push and keep our eyes in our gaps. It's the same type of fit. If we jump out of our gaps it's gonna be a long day.” Ohio State has not had many long days when it comes to stopping the run. In fact, the Buckeyes haven't ...
PREVIEW: Ohio State at Iowa; Buckeyes seek seventh straight winDayton Daily News
Ohio State recruiting: Jack Miller's decision timeline, who is signing when for the BuckeyesLandof10.com
Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Iowa Hawkeyes: Odds, College Football Betting PickBleacher Report
Quad City Times -Black Heart Gold Pants -The Columbus Dispatch
all 594 news articles »

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Ohio State’s secondary must stand tall against both the run and pass vs. Iowa.
Ian Hartitz via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Can the Buckeyes’ defensive backs continue to make their presence felt in opponent’s backfields?

Much of the Big Ten, Ohio State included, has embraced principles of the spread offense and evolved over the past 20 years. Rich Rodriguez and Urban Meyer each brought less-successful programs to national prominence thanks in large part to their innovative offensive systems, and the rest of the country quickly attempted to catch up and reap the benefits.

Well, most of the country attempted to embrace the spread offense. Kirk Ferentz has been Iowa’s head coach since 1999, and they’ve continued to embody your used-to-be typical physical and run-first Big-Ten team. An argument could be made that this at-times less-explosive brand of football can expose the Hawkeyes against clearly-inferior opponents, as evidenced by a loss to North Dakota State last season and narrow win against Rutgers.

Still, dealing with Iowa’s pro-style offense based upon instilling their will at the line of scrimmage is far from the most-enjoyable experience the Buckeyes defense will have this season, and the Hawkeyes have proven to be dangerous, as evidenced by their two-point loss to Penn State this season. The burden in slowing down the offense will fall most heavily on the defensive line, although defensive coordinator Greg Schiano showed last week that the Buckeyes’ defensive backs can be just as important in creating negative plays in the run game:


Ohio State’s corners won’t feel threatened by any Hawkeyes on the perimeter, so don’t be surprised if the Buckeyes’ secondary is once again very involved in the trenches. The Hawkeyes don’t have a receiver with over 400 yards this season, as five separate players are stuck between 200 and 380. Two of those receivers are tight ends, as Iowa will regularly work from under center and attempt to beat the Buckeyes with play-action passes when they do take chances downfield. Nick Easley is perhaps the Hawkeyes No. 1 threat, as he’s posted a season-long 36-375-4 line and is slippery enough in the open field to make things happen against man coverage.

Although he struggled against Oklahoma, Damon Arnette has emerged as a force to be reckoned with in the slot. Ohio State doesn’t give any of its corners consistent help, and Arnette’s role as the nickel back is intuitively more difficult than outside corner due to the lack of a sideline for assistance. Arnette’s ability to track Easley across the field could prove to be vital in getting the Buckeyes off of the field:


Penn State couldn’t consistently run or pass on Ohio State last week, but they still managed to overcome numerous third-and-long situations and ultimately converted seven of their 15 attempts on the money down. The Hawkeyes hardly offer the same level of firepower as the Nittany Lions, but the Buckeyes need to take advantage of any, and all, opportunities to build a lead against an offense not built to score quickly.


Ohio State’s secondary stood tall against its toughest test yet last week. Playing behind the best defensive line in the country, the Buckeyes’ corners and safeties must take advantage of any mistakes that come their way. Against Iowa, this could mean making tackles behind the line of scrimmage when the opportunity arises.

The Buckeyes are currently favored by 17.5 points with a 52-point over/under, meaning Vegas is projecting a score of 34.75-17.25 in favor of the Buckeyes. J.T. Barrett proved last week that he’s more than capable of holding his own in a shootout, but Ohio State’s secondary can go a long ways towards keeping this one firmly in the Buckeyes’ control.

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Kurelic: Ohio's No. 1 talks OSU; doom, gloom on Jones & Smith? - 247Sports
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


Kurelic: Ohio's No. 1 talks OSU; doom, gloom on Jones & Smith?
247Sports
Another time Drennen was in The Shoe was when the Buckeyes played Oklahoma. In his most recent visit Drennen saw a much better Ohio State outcome as the Buckeyes defeated Penn State 39-38. Afterwards he was part of the celebration. “I'd start off by ...
3 for 3: Who did Ohio State miss on recently, and who fits that bill in Class of 2018?Landof10.com
Ohio State Gameday+ | Rearview mirror: Nov. 4, 1916The Columbus Dispatch
Wisconsin prepares for home weekend against Ohio StateThe Daily Cardinal

all 7 news articles »

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Bowl projections for Ohio State are simple this week. It’s either the Rose Bowl or the Orange Bowl
Geoff Hammersley via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


A playoff game against Georgia or Clemson in the ‘Granddaddy of Them All’ would be nice.

It’s hard to believe, but it’s been almost a week since the Ohio State Buckeyes rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat then-No. 2 ranked Penn State inside The Horseshoe.

Time flies when you’re having fun reliving that game in your head, I guess.

Anyway, as time keeps on a-movin, bowl projections keep on a-churnin. Again, we rounded up five outlets, and compiled their prediction for where their respective writers think the Buckeyes are headed this postseason.

In weeks past, the projections for Ohio State have been all over the place among these five selected outlets. However, as the great Bob Dylan once sang, the times are a-changin. This week, the projections are narrowed down to two places: the Rose Bowl Semifinal, or the Orange Bowl.

Let’s take a look at who has the Buckeyes in the playoff.


Ahh, Jerry Palm—he’s had the right idea the whole time. Since we started the bowl projection round-up, Palm has had the Buckeyes in the playoff picture.

For the past couple weeks, the Rose Bowl has been the focus for where he thinks OSU will be headed. Unlike last week, though, he has the Clemson Tigers facing Ohio State in the ‘Granddaddy of Them All.’

On the other side of the playoff table, Palm has Alabama facing Penn State in the Sugar Bowl. A part of me wants to see a Buckeye-Crimson Tide meetup in Atlanta for the National Championship, but a part of me also wants to see a rematch with the Nittany Lions.

(Especially after seeing the OSU defense contain Saquon Barkley.)


SB Nation’s own Jason Kirk has the Georgia Bulldogs traveling out to California to face the Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl. Kirk’s predictions go a bit further, as he has Ohio State winning the game—and advancing to face Alabama in the National Championship. In the Sugar Bowl, Kirk is predicting that Nick Saban’s top ranked squad will defeat Clemson.

Like Palm, Kirk has the Scarlet and Gray as the No. 2-seeded team in the College Football Playoff.


USA Today’s Erick Smith has a similar trajectory for Ohio State; he has the Buckeyes in the playoff, however, unlike Kirk, Smith believes that Kirby Smart’s team will prevail over Urban Meyer and the Bucks.

Smith has an all-SEC natty, with Alabama beating Clemson in the Sugar Bowl Semifinal to set up the matchup.

Between Palm, Kirk and Smith, there is a consistent theme: one of the Power 5 conferences is getting two teams in the CFP.


We haven’t seen this matchup too much, as Sports Illustrated’s Eric Single has Virginia Tech facing Ohio State in the Orange Bowl.

Of note: Single has zero Big Ten teams in the playoff—he has Penn State taking on UCF in the Peach Bowl, and a Wisconsin-Washington clash in the Fiesta Bowl.

While these predictions should be taken with a grain of salt, Sports Illustrated did predict the Houston Astros were going to win the World Series this season...three years ago.


Both of ESPN’s writers have the Buckeyes flying South for the winter. Kyle Bonagura has a rematch of the 2014 edition of the Orange Bowl, with Ohio State facing Clemson.

His counterpart David M. Hale has kept his OSU bowl prediction pretty consistent. The only difference is that he has the Buckeyes playing the Miami Hurricanes. Hale has had this prediction for weeks now. I think if this game were to happen, Terry Porter has to be the ref; it’s only fair, as Miami is basically playing at home.

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Hawkeyes can't count on letdown by Buckeyes - Hillsboro Times Gazette
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


Hawkeyes can't count on letdown by Buckeyes
Hillsboro Times Gazette
Also, the Hawkeyes' three losses were by two to Penn State and by seven to Michigan State and Northwestern. If they were to find a way to upset Ohio State, or at least throw a scare into the Buckeyes, it would probably be by keeping it a low scoring game.


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Ohio State travels to Iowa in Week 10’s Big Ten College Football betting lines
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


The Buckeyes will try avoid a letdown after last week’s massive win over Penn State

Last week ATS: 3-9-1 (0-5-1 National, 3-4 B1G)

Season ATS: 58-61-3 (22-25-1 National, 36-36-2 B1G)

If this week’s B1G action wasn’t enough to keep up with, MC&J picked 10 national games this week, which you can find here.

B1G games:


No. 7 Penn State (-8) v. No. 24 Michigan State - 12:00 PM EST - FOX

Don’t overthink this one. Penn State gets back on track after last week’s tough loss to Ohio State. The Nittany Lions have a good core of leaders on both offense and defense that won’t allow them to feel sorry for themselves for too long about how they blew last week’s game.

The only way Penn State loses for the second week in a row is if Michigan State has their own J.T. Barrett at quarterback. The Spartans don’t. Michigan State had been flirting with losing the last couple weeks before taking on Northwestern last week, and the Spartans finally saw their luck run out.

Michigan State has a solid defense, but they have done most of their damage this year against offenses that don’t have much of a clue. Against teams that can actually move the football like Notre Dame and Northwestern, the Spartans haven’t fared as well. Trace McSorley and Saquon Barkley will be too much for the Spartans to keep up with.

Penn State 30, Michigan State 14

No. 9 Wisconsin (-13) v. Indiana - 12:00 PM EST - ABC

Heading into this season it looked like Indiana might have one of their better seasons in school history ahead of them. Instead, Tom Allen’s first year as head coach has turned into a nightmare for the Hoosiers. Indiana has lost three straight games by a combined 18 points.

Wisconsin is still undefeated this year, but the Badgers are getting no respect because they haven’t played anybody. It’s a problem when your best win of the year has come against Florida Atlantic. The Badgers have Jonathan Taylor on offense but not much else.

Unlike most years, at least Indiana can play some defense this year. I’m sick of backing the Badgers to cover big spreads only to see them either barely cover like they did against Maryland, or miss them completely, like they did against Illinois and Purdue. Taylor racks up some yards on the ground, but Indiana finds some offense of their own to keep this within two touchdowns.

Wisconsin 27, Indiana 17

Illinois v. Purdue (-14) - 12:00 PM EST - Big Ten Network

At least Illinois is sorta trying. The Fighting Illini have covered their last two games despite being pretty awful. Quarterback Cam Thomas might be exciting down the road for Illinois, but he is still just a freshman.

Purdue really could be 5-3 right now instead of 3-5. The Boilermakers have lost the last two weeks by a combined three points. Last week Nebraska scored with 14 seconds left to hand the Boilermakers a 25-24 loss in West Lafayette.

I’m worried I might have waited a little too longer to jump on the Illinois cover train. I’ll take my chances that there is one more stop on the route before the Fighting Illini go back to being absolutely terrible again. Purdue might win, but I don’t think they win by more than two touchdowns.

Purdue 31, Illinois 21

Maryland (-2) v. Rutgers - 3:30 PM EST - Big Ten Network

After having lost their previous three games, Maryland found themselves down 16-7 last week against Indiana after the first quarter. It would have been easy for the Terrapins to give up, but they fought back and beat the Hoosiers 42-39. Now the Terrapins will be looking to earn another win before a tough final stretch of Michigan, Michigan State, and Penn State

Rutgers at least scored points against Michigan this year. The Scarlet Knights kept things respectable last week against the Wolverines in the 35-14 loss. Rutgers is greatly improved this year on defense, but their offense is still a dumpster fire. If Maryland puts up a couple early touchdowns I just don’t see the Scarlet Knights having the firepower to respond.

Maryland 21, Rutgers 13

Northwestern v. Nebraska (-1.5) - 3:30 PM EST - Big Ten Network

Northwestern has been going to overtime for their wins lately. After squeaking by Iowa in overtime two weeks ago, last week the Wildcats needed three overtimes to upset Michigan State. Clayton Thorson had his best game of the season, throwing 356 yards and two touchdowns, while also adding a rushing touchdown in the win.

Nebraska needed some late-game heroics of their own last week, as a Tanner Lee 13-yard touchdown pass to Stanley Morgan Jr. with 14 seconds to go gave the Cornhuskers a 25-24 win over Purdue. Lee finished with 431 yards passing and two touchdowns, which easily was his best game during his short time at Nebraska.

This will be Nebraska’s first game at home since getting blown out by Ohio State, so the Cornhuskers will want to put forth a strong performance in front of their fans. Northwestern sees their luck run out as Nebraska moves a little closer to becoming bowl eligible.

Nebraska 31, Northwestern 24

Minnesota v. Michigan (-15.5) - 7:30 PM EST - FOX

You think Michigan’s offense is bad? Just wait until you watch the Golden Gophers. At least the Wolverines are trying to shake things up a bit with Brandon Peters getting his first start at quarterback on Saturday night.

I’m not sure if P.J. Fleck has any plan at all for Minnesota the rest of the year at quarterback. Demry Croft looked good for a little bit against Michigan State, but the sophomore quarterback has looked terrible the last two weeks for the Golden Gophers.

Even though the Wolverines have lost a couple games this year, five of Michigan’s six wins have been by at least 16 points. I’m just not sure how Minnesota is going to find the end zone against the Wolverines here. Michigan wins the Little Brown Jug by at least 17 points.

Michigan 37, Minnesota 14

No. 6 Ohio State (-16) v. Iowa - 3:30 PM EST - ESPN

Had it not been for awful special teams play, along with a lot of terrible officiating, last week’s game against Penn State likely wouldn’t have taken years off the lives of Ohio State fans. J.T. Barrett was near perfect in the win, pretty much assuring his spot in New York City in December for the Heisman Trophy ceremony.

The Buckeyes can’t afford to sleep on the Hawkeyes. Not only is Kinnick Stadium a tough place to leave with a win, but the Hawkeyes have a couple players on offense in quarterback Nathan Stanley and running back Akrum Wadley.

Normally I’d grab the points when a team has to hit the road after such an emotional win, but this Ohio State team is different. Not only will the senior leadership of Barrett not allow for a sluggish performance against the Hawkeyes, but the defense will be the biggest difference.

The Hawkeyes have issues on the offensive line with two freshmen starting at the tackle spots, which should allow for Nick Bosa and Sam Hubbard to cause plenty of disruption in the Iowa backfield. The Buckeyes show why many people are expecting them to be a part of the College Football Playoff with a convincing win over a quality opponent on the road.

Ohio State 38, Iowa 17

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Ohio State football: Do Buckeyes need style points to boost College Football Playoff chances? - Landof10.com
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


Ohio State football: Do Buckeyes need style points to boost College Football Playoff chances?
Landof10.com
All week long, our Land of 10 reporters following the Buckeyes will address the pressing questions on the mind of the Ohio State fan base with our new daily feature. To ask Austin Ward a question, follow along on Twitter and pass along a topic right here.
Tim Tebow: Ohio State might dominate Oklahoma if they play again247Sports
Buckeyes #6 in season's first CFP rankingNBC4i.com
OU football: ESPN analyst says Buckeyes much better than SoonersStormin' In Norman
Sporting News -cleveland.com -Saturday Blitz
all 1,257 news articles »

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The Friday List: The top B1G pass-rushing defensive ends
Tom Dienhart, BTN.com Senior Writer via Big Ten Network

Tom Dienhart's Friday List is back, and this week he's ranking the Big Ten's top pass-rushing defensive ends.

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I Got Five on it: Halloween is over, but Ohio State still has these leftover tackles for loss to pass out
Colton Denning via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Also, is this the week Ohio State executes a kickoff properly?

Can you believe it’s been almost seven years since Ohio State played Iowa on the road? Although the NCAA likes to pretend that the 2010 Buckeyes squad doesn’t exist, you and I know better; and what a crazy game it was.

With the Buckeyes’ Big Ten title hopes on the line, a scrappy Iowa team played the brand of nearly unwatchable football they’ve perfected over the last two decades, and held a 17-13 lead late into the fourth quarter, until boss-ass Terrelle Pryor decided it was time to make some plays:


Terrelle Pryor saves the damn season

Ohio State eventually scored on that drive, held on for a 20-17 win, and haven’t made the trip to Iowa City since.

Fast forward seven years, and Ohio State still has hopes for a Big Ten title and is in the national championship hunt, and Iowa is [checks advanced stats page] still playing unwatchable football. Time really is a flat circle.

With that in mind, here are five things to watch for as Ohio State takes on Iowa:

Can Ohio State avoid a hangover from last week’s emotional win?


On this week’s Hangout in the Holy Land game preview, Matt Brown and I surmised that the only real way Iowa can pull the upset is by getting off to a fast start. If the Hawkeyes force an early turnover or make a big special teams play, it’s not hard to picture this being the classic type of Big Ten slogfest that’s right in their wheelhouse.

Even with last week’s early mistakes, the Buckeyes are one of the best first quarter teams in the country (5th in Q1 S&P+ offense, 4th on defense), and can take what’s sure to be a fired-up Kinnick Stadium crowd out of the game early with a mistake-free start.

Essentially, what I’m really saying here is that the last thing any of us need in our lives right now is wondering how Ohio State got knocked out of the playoff race by Kirk Ferentz; so please, Ohio State, get off to a fast start.

So, what’s the plan on kickoffs?


It’s wild that Ohio State’s biggest problem since the OU debacle has been figuring out how to cover kickoffs/not kicking the ball out of bounds, but I suppose it beats last year’s fatal flaw of not being able to execute the forward pass.

It’s a serious issue though, and one that almost single-handedly lost them the Penn State game. Urban Meyer has apparently had enough, and you can expect some higher-end talent on the kickoff coverage unit tomorrow:


Not sure how great I feel about one of Ohio State’s most important receivers having to cover kicks because the coaches are too upset to admit their strategy of trying to pin opponents deep isn’t working, but here we are.

Former Buckeye specialist and punt god Cameron Johnston had this to say about Meyer’s assertion that the Buckeyes don’t have a kicker capable of producing touchbacks:


Welp. No matter what, it can’t get worse than last week (hopefully), and we’ll see if adding some more talent to the coverage unit fixes the problem.

What if Mike Weber got carries instead of passes in the flat?


Speaking of questionable strategies, let’s review what happened when Ohio State threw the ball to Mike Weber last week:

• Five yard loss
• Incompletion
• Nine yard gain
• Seven yard loss
• Nine yard gain
• Three yard gain

In total, Weber had five catches on six targets for nine yards, which adds up to a robust 1.8 yards per target. I get why Offensive Coordinator Kevin Wilson wants to use flat passes and bubble screens to punish defenses downfield later in games, but there are probably better ways of doing that than throwing to your power back for a gain of two.



To be fair, it isn’t Weber’s fault that he’s being used like Warrick Dunn. Those swing passes and checkdowns are still an important piece of the offense, but it’ll be interesting to see whether a few more of those go to J.K. Dobbins, who has a better shot of making something out of nothing than Weber.

Expect even more TFL’s from the Ohio State defense


Ohio State racked up an incredible 13 tackles for loss last week, and Iowa’s suspect run blocking is going to give them a chance to match or exceed that total.

The Hawkeyes’ offensive line have made for excellent turnstiles this year, ranking 103 nationally in Stuff Rate (tackles at or behind the line of scrimmage), which doesn’t bode well against a Buckeye defense that is one of the best in the nation at controlling the line of scrimmage (3rd in Defensive Stuff Rate).

Ohio State should be able to force plenty of 2nd/3rd-and-long’s, which means plenty of the rushmen package, and Iowa quarterback Nathan Stanley doing his best 4th quarter Trace McSorely impersonation:


Jordan Fuller is quietly having a monster season


Having a safety lead your defense in tackles is a scary proposition. Either he has a nose for the ball, or the rest of your defense is getting torched and he’s picking up the scraps . Luckily for Ohio State, Jordan Fuller’s case is the former.

The sophomore has been a beast in run support, which was on full display last week with his team-leading eight tackles, including this crucial third down tackle on Saquon Barkley:



Fuller is a different breed of safety than the ballhawks Ohio State has fielded in recent years, but his playmaking ability is just the same.

Against a vanilla Iowa offense, the Buckeyes will probably count on Fuller to make a few more plays at the line of scrimmage, and it’s worth keeping an eye on him just to see how much he means to this defense.

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PREVIEW: Ohio State at Iowa; Buckeyes seek seventh straight win - Dayton Daily News
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


PREVIEW: Ohio State at Iowa; Buckeyes seek seventh straight win
Dayton Daily News
Ohio State walks to the Skull Session before a game against Penn State on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017, at Ohio Stadium in Columbus. David Jablonski/Staff. COLUMBUS. Who: No. 6 Ohio State (7-1, 5-0) at Iowa (5-3, 2-3). When: 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
Four-down territory: Ohio StateQuad City Times
Brave and Bold: Predictions for Ohio State at Iowa247Sports
Ohio State football tickets 2017: Buy tickets for Buckeyes games (November 2, 2017)Landof10.com
The Daily Collegian Online -News-Herald.com -FiveThirtyEight
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Ohio State basically never loses to Iowa, but that’s true for half of the Big Ten
Matt Brown via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


The Buckeyes have dominated the Hawkeyes for the last two decades, but they’re not the only ones.

Ahead of Ohio State’s battle with Iowa tomorrow, I tried to think of times the Hawkeyes had managed to upset the Buckeyes in recent memory. But outside of the 2004 drubbing that brought in the Troy Smith era (33-7, Iowa), I couldn’t think of any. I had to double check the record books.

I couldn’t think of any because there haven’t been any. Despite a few close games in recent memory, Iowa has beaten Ohio State exactly once over the last 20 years. Since 1997, the Hawkeyes are 1-10 against the Buckeyes. There are a few more wins in the very early 1990s and late 1980s, but I was born in 1987. I don’t remember any of those, or really, any college football game before say, 1996.

That’s a pretty impressive run, especially since Iowa has had plenty of good squads over the last 20 years. It also got me thinking...since it’s hard to remember big, say, Minnesota, or even Illinois, wins over the Buckeyes.

So I looked everything up. Here’s everyone in the Big Ten’s record against Ohio State over the last 20 years.


A few things here to unpack:

• Ohio State is 70-16 against current Big Ten West opposition over the last 20 years. That’s a pretty good mark, but honestly, I think I expected a little bit better. Purdue’s toughness during the Tressel years kept the margin a little more respectable.
• The team to beat Ohio State the most in my fanhood lifetime isn’t Michigan or Wisconsin. It’s Penn State. While no conference team will ever surpass Michigan as a chief rival, recruiting nemesis or emotional equal, on the field, it’s the Nittany Lions that have been the biggest problem. This feels weird to even type, but it’s true!
• HALF OF THE BIG TEN has beaten the Buckeyes just once, or less, in the last twenty years (Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern, Nebraska, Indiana, Rutgers, Maryland). That is BONKERS.
• This twenty year mark does include a few clunkers, like the 2011 season (6-7), 1999 (6-6), and a three year run from 1999-2001 where Ohio State didn’t win more than eight games in a season. But if you assume the Buckeyes are going to hit double digit wins this year, they’ve won at least 10 games a season in 15 of the last 20 years. That’s a remarkable run of consistency, considering that’s under Cooper, Tressel, Fick and Meyer. Very few programs in the country have been that good, for that long.

What does this mean for Saturday? Not a ton. Iowa’s got a very good defense, has a record of playing top teams tough at home, and could very well upset the Buckeyes if they play poorly.

But history shows those kinds of perfect storms don’t happen very often. Ohio State has better players than almost everybody else in the Big Ten. They win the vast majority of their Big Ten games. And against a good half the league, they might go decades between losses.

I’m 30 years old and I have no memory of any time Indiana beat Ohio State in football. There are fans today that have no memory of when Minnesota did it. And there are already some out there that don’t remember the last time Iowa won either.

We’ll see how long this continues. But for now, it’s worth at least recognizing and appreciating. This level of consistent dominance is hard to do.

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PREVIEW: Ohio State at Iowa; Buckeyes seek seventh straight win - Hamilton Journal News
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


PREVIEW: Ohio State at Iowa; Buckeyes seek seventh straight win
Hamilton Journal News
Ohio State walks to the Skull Session before a game against Penn State on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017, at Ohio Stadium in Columbus. David Jablonski/Staff. COLUMBUS. Who: No. 6 Ohio State (7-1, 5-0) at Iowa (5-3, 2-3). When: 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

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Zurp said:

View attachment 16785

Forget about whether last game knocked him out of the race. Why was he even in the race? 100 yards per game rushing, 55-60 per game receiving. Only 3 games has he gotten to 100. I think someone posted something that shows he loses yards on a pretty high percentage of runs. He's shown a lot that he can't be the guy that the team relies on to sustain drives. If you can't rely on a guy, he probably shouldn't be winning the Heisman.

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Iowa. And that he started out both Michigan and Ohio State with huge plays for TDs.

BM5: QB recruiting calls audible | CFP takes | OSU-Iowa thoughts - 247Sports
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


BM5: QB recruiting calls audible | CFP takes | OSU-Iowa thoughts
247Sports
If the Buckeyes win out, will they make the College Football Playoff? * Why J.K. Dobbins didn't play more last week against Penn State. * Predictions for the Buckeyes' game at Iowa tomorrow. All that and more on a 15-minute edition of the Friday ...

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Ohio State vs. Iowa 2017: Game preview, how to watch, and 6 things to know
Chuck McKeever via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


The Buckeyes head to Iowa City to take on the Hawkeyes.

There's a kind of magic to America's heartland, and in our popular imagination, perhaps no place typifies this like Iowa.

"The children must be crying," Jack Kerouac once wrote of Iowa, "in the land where they let the children cry, and tonight the stars'll be out." In Iowa are cornfields and endlessly hitchhikeable roads; in Iowa James Earl Jones convinced Kevin Costner to build his field so that people might be able to chase the ever-fleeting past for just a little while longer.

The Ohio State Buckeyes head to Iowa this week not to chase the past, but to take one more step toward the future: a bid to the College Football Playoff. It's been a bumpy road, to be sure, but Urban Meyer's squad has reeled off six consecutive wins, including a dramatic and stunning victory against No. 2 Penn State last weekend. They face a much less sexy test this Saturday when they face off against an Iowa team whose specialty seems to be dragging opponents down into the mud to die. (That the Hawkeyes occasionally suffocate first is of little concern to them.)

Kirk Ferentz's team is coming off of a tight 17-10 victory over Minnesota, a throwback Big Ten game if ever there were one. Most times it feels like the Hawkeyes are still playing the football that was played decades ago, with a mostly-uninspired offense playing second fiddle to a beefy defense that knows how to hurt.

But then they do things like throwing the ball to running back Akrum Wadley, who we might hype up as a great H-back were he to play in Urban Meyer's offense. Wadley's running average has been disappointing this season, given his potential, but his receiving stats—19 catches, 14.1 yards per catch, three TDs—are eye-popping for a guy who's nominally supposed to be running between the tackles.

Whatever the Hawkeyes are—a chimera of parts from football's past, present, and future—they pose an interesting matchup for the high-flying Buckeyes.

Ohio State’s biggest advantages


Firing on (most) cylinders. The Buckeyes still have plenty of kinks to work out. Special teams has been a roller coaster, penalties have been plentiful, and the play-calling has been conservative at some of the worst times imaginable.

(*Stephen A. Smith voice*) BUT. Just about everything else is humming for Ohio State. J.T. Barrett is playing like he’s on a mission to destroy the world. The defensive line seems to decide weekly that a different member will eat the most in that particular game. The thunder-and-lightning combo of Mike Weber and J.K. Dobbins is a terrifying one when it’s balanced well by the coaches. The list goes on.

Outside looking in. The first College Football Playoff rankings came out this week, and Ohio State found themselves sitting at No. 6 on the list, just behind the team that handed them their only defeat of the season, Oklahoma. That makes for pretty good incentive to keep pounding opponents into the ground. An undefeated finish to the season with a win over Wisconsin in the B1G title game should be enough to get the Buckeyes into their third playoff in four years, but beating the tar out of everyone along the way would certainly bolster their résumé.

The Drago factor. Like Rocky's most blatantly propaganda-driven foe, the Buckeyes are both freakishly athletic and ruthlessly efficient. Drago literally killed an opponent in the ring, while Ohio State has done it figuratively: in the contests between the Oklahoma loss and the Penn State win, the Buckeyes scored 266 points while allowing just 56.

They've managed that, in part, by operating the second-most efficient offense in all of college football. The cold, steady drubbings they've dished out to opponents this season have been clinical in their precision. The Buckeyes have a 53.8% success rate on offensive plays, are the No. 1 offense in the country in the opportunity rate category (how often five yards are gained when there are five yards available, the metric that puts the feather in the o-line's cap), and are the second-best in college football at avoiding stuffs at or behind the line of scrimmage. If you're into advanced stats or just ruthless dismantling of opponents, you're probably fanning yourself looking at these numbers.


Iowa’s biggest advantages


The look-ahead trap and the hangover. Two tales as old as time in college football: a powerhouse team leaves it all on the field in dramatic fashion against a talented rival and then sleepwalks through their next game against an inferior opponent; a talented team with ranked opponents and rivals looming on the schedule fails to adequately prepare for the mediocre team they play beforehand. Both scenarios are in play here. The Buckeyes’ fourth quarter against Penn State last weekend took years off of the lives of everyone watching, so what it did to the guys who were actually playing is probably worse. And with hated opponents on the menu in two of the next three contests—Michigan State and Michigan—you could understand everyone involved feeling as though Iowa isn’t a whole lot to worry about. Add in the Buckeyes being the putative favorites to head to the B1G title game against No. 9 Wisconsin and you’ve got a whole lot of potential for looking ahead.

This can’t win the game by itself for the Hawkeyes. Even a sleepwalking Buckeye team has enough juice on both sides of the ball to win an ugly game. But if Iowa can get on the board early and hang close, anything could happen.

Josey Jewell is back. If you haven’t heard of Josey Jewell, you’re not paying close enough attention. Iowa’s star middle linebacker is a Butkus Award finalist who puts up eye-popping numbers as the Hawkeyes’ defensive leader. (Want proof? He has 22 more tackles than the next-highest player on his team.)

Jewell suffered a shoulder injury in Iowa’s win over Illinois a few weeks ago, one which was serious enough to sideline him for the Northwestern game. They ended up losing that one to the Wildcats by a touchdown. He returned against Minnesota last weekend, and his presence made all the difference in another game decided by just a touchdown—his 11 total tackles and two QB hurries led the team in a game short on scoring opportunities.

He’ll have his hands full against the Buckeyes, but playing against Jewell is hardly a prize for them, either. He’s an excellent run stuffer, athletic in pass coverage, and an expert at haranguing QBs.

Dampening the fuse. A few days ago, I broke down one of Iowa’s finest defensive attributes: stifling opposing teams’ explosive play opportunities. Explosive plays (defined more fully here) are a measure of yards gained from each spot on the field, which has a corresponding point value assigned to it. In other words: how often did you execute successful plays, and when you did, just how far downfield did you get?

The stingy Iowa defense isn’t super efficient—teams can and have marched on them—but they also don’t give up a lot of home run plays. Granted, outside of Saquon Barkley, they’ve yet to face a who’s who of college football’s big play guys, but still: even with Barkley in Penn State’s backfield, Iowa only allowed 21 points to the Nittany Lions. That’s mighty impressive.

Summary


F+ Projection: Ohio State 34, Iowa 18

Win probability: Ohio State 82%

How to watch, stream, listen to Iowa v. Ohio State:


Game time: Saturday, Nov. 4, 3:30 p.m. ET

TV: ESPN

Streaming: WatchESPN

Radio: 97.1 WBNS-FM

Know your enemy: Black Heart Gold Pants

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Ohio State recruiting: The latest on Buckeyes' top-ranked recruiting class - Landof10.com
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


Ohio State recruiting: The latest on Buckeyes' top-ranked recruiting class
Landof10.com
The Buckeyes had their final huge recruiting weekend of the year when they hosted Penn State and now Ohio State waits for some good news to come rolling in. Here's where things stand with the Buckeyes and their 2018 recruiting class as of Friday, Nov. 3.
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Ohio State just offered another 2018 QB. What does that mean ...Land-Grant Holy Land
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Ohio State football: Urban Meyer wants more blackouts, breaking down the Buckeyes' QB recruiting - Landof10.com
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Ohio State football: Urban Meyer wants more blackouts, breaking down the Buckeyes' QB recruiting
Landof10.com
Ohio State football is the No. 1 topic in Wake Up Sloopy every day — but we cover news, notes and analysis from across Buckeyes sports. Join us each morning to get caught up on everything you missed in the world of Ohio State football, recruiting, ...
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247Sports
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Ohio State Buckeyes to handle Iowa in trap game -- Bill Livingston (photos) - cleveland.com
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Ohio State Buckeyes to handle Iowa in trap game -- Bill Livingston (photos)
cleveland.com
Ohio State faces a classic trap game Saturday afternoon when the Buckeyes play Iowa at Nile Kinnick Stadium, one week after leaping back into the College Football Playoff squabble with a stunning one-point comeback victory over Penn State after ...
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Buckeyes still in wide receiver marketToledo Blade
247Sports -AthlonSports.com -Black Heart Gold Pants
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Ohio State's 2018 QB situation just got really interesting
Caleb Houser via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


The Buckeyes have offered a new 2018 QB. Is a shakeup coming?

The Buckeyes head to Iowa this weekend to take on the Hawkeyes in another 3:30 pm match-up. With last week's game surely still fresh in the mind of Buckeye fans after easily one of the greatest comebacks in Ohio State football history, it’s not hard to want to relive that moment time and time again. It's in the past though, and the Buckeyes need to move on and realize with Iowa along with everyone else’s best shot, they just need to take care of business and get to Indianapolis. Easier said than done, but Urban Meyer and his staff should have this squad ready for what’s taking place on the field. In the ever-changing recruiting world though, Meyer and staff look to be just as ready for everyone’s best shot at their 2018 top ranked class.

And here we go. Again...


Let’s just cut to the chase and address the elephant in the room. There’s a serious roller-coaster of emotions going on with the 2018 quarterback recruiting saga for the Buckeyes. With Emory Jones being the lone 2018 QB commit for Ohio State since the summer of 2016, it was thought to be all but sealed that Jones would be in Columbus come next fall and be the signal caller of the class. But with so much that has happened in the past year, you can thank Alabama as the reason for so many changes and at the very least possibilities of change.

Since his pledge to Ohio State, Jones has thought to have been the guy. It was Ohio State’s true top priority and they added him to the fold relatively early considering recruiting timelines. However, with multiple visits to Alabama in the last year, It’s been rumored time and time again that Jones and his pledge were wavering and a possible “flip” to the Crimson Tide could be coming. Jones did visit for the Penn State game last week and took to social media to say he was coming "home,” but ever since his departure, things have continued to progress on the rumor mill and Alabama is still the main source of it. There’s even a thought that Jones could in fact visit again Alabama again this weekend. If so, that should be the writing on the wall, you’d think.

Fast forward a little bit. Yesterday, Ohio State offered a quarterback they have been in constant communication with due to the unrest with Jones and there’s a new sense of feeling that Jarren Williams, another Georgia quarterback, could be the next in line if Jones were to in fact “flip” his commitment. Williams, the nation’s seventh-best dual-threat quarterback, is no new name to Buckeye fans. Williams has long been thought to be the first choice at replacing Jones, and yesterday may have been a serious step in that direction. While he is still currently committed to the Kentucky Wildcats, signs are really starting to point to more shake-up in the QB recruitment for these parties involved.


There’s a couple ways to skin this cat, but it’s easy to see that there’s serious potential for Jones to be gone from this 2018 class and Ohio State’s staff sees this as a real possibility. Knowing this could be the case, they have taken the necessary steps to offer their other priority in Jarren so they are not left on the outside looking in come signing day 2018. It is still possible that Jones ends up a Buckeye, but if he’s looking around more than ever, the Buckeyes have to be prepared and they have done so by making it official that Jarren Williams has an offer. We shall see where this all ends, but you can guarantee this topic isn’t even close to being over.

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