Brett Ludwiczak
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You’re Nuts: With Ohio State on a bye, which game this week are you watching?
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by James Black/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Your (almost) daily dose of good-natured, Ohio State banter.
Following dominant wins over Akron and Western Michigan to start the season, Ohio State has this weekend off, as this is the first of their two bye weeks this season. Having a bye week this early in the season is something Buckeye Nation isn’t used to. This is Ohio State’s earliest bye week since 2002, and the Buckeyes have had a week off in September only five times in the last 22 years. While Ohio State would probably love to be on the field on Saturday to build off their two wins so far this season, having a bye week earlier in the season is likely to become normal with the expansion of the College Football Playoff.
Even though the Buckeyes won’t be taking the field on Saturday, there will still be plenty of action around college football. Some high-profile non-conference games are on Saturday’s slate, along with conference play around the country continuing to trickle into the schedule. There are also a couple of rivalry games between former conference foes that will have a bit of an odd feel since we are used to them being played in late November and not the middle of September.
Today we want to know which college football game this week you are most excited to watch. Since Ohio State isn’t playing this week, we can kick back and enjoy the rest of the action around the country. Maybe you’re focusing on another Big Ten team that the Buckeyes could be playing later in the season, or your primary focus could be on a matchup that has a fun storyline. There are plenty of interesting games throughout the day, so there shouldn’t be a problem finding at least one to look forward to.
New Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti has hit the ground running in Bloomington, with the Hoosiers winning their first two games this season by a combined score of 108-10. I know their opponents in those games have only been Florida International and Western Illinois, but after so many years of losing, Indiana has to take wins wherever they can get them. If the Hoosiers didn’t have UCLA’s attention heading into this game, Indiana certainly has it now after dropping 77 points on the Leathernecks on Friday night.
The Bruins have had a very strange start to the season. Off the field, UCLA had to replace head coach Chip Kelly after Kelly decided to join Ohio State’s coaching staff as their offensive coordinator, leaving DeShaun Foster to replace Kelly. Now the Bruins are dealing with a bit of a herky-jerky start to the season, with their first game being at Hawai’i, followed by a bye week last week. UCLA wasn’t all that impressive in their only game this season, barely beating the Rainbow Warriors 16-13.
Saturday night’s game will mark the first Big Ten contest for the Bruins, making UCLA the first of the four new teams in the Big Ten to play a conference game. When the schedule was released, UCLA probably was happy to see Indiana as their debut opponent, since the Hoosiers have been one of the weaker teams in the conference for decades. After seeing how Indiana has played in their first two games, the Bruins now know they’ll be in for a fight on Saturday night in Pasadena. Former Ohio quarterback Kurtis Rourke will be hoping to spoil UCLA’s conference debut at the Rose Bowl, and I think they have the goods to pull the “upset”.
After a weekend of upsets and near upsets, it is a great reminder that even when you think a slate of college football games is going to be boring, it almost certainly won’t be, because this is college football where chaos is the baseline in this glorious sport.
So, I am going to go with a game that just might have some chaotic potential on Saturday. The No. 15 Oklahoma Sooners will take on the Tulane Green Wave on Saturday, Sept. 14, at 3:30 p.m. ET in a game to be broadcast on ESPN. On paper, a top-15Big 12 SEC blue-blood power like OU should not have an issue in an early-season matchup with a Group of 5 squad... but they might.
During Week 2, the Sooners struggled to get past Houston, winning 16-12 while Tulane had No. 14 Kansas State on the ropes in Manhattan. The Green Wave was up 27-20 in the fourth quarter before K-State tied it with 11:20 left and then went ahead on a scoop-and-score three minutes later to go ahead for good.
So you have a Power 5 team that almost lost to a G5 team and a G5 team that almost beat a Power 5 team. Obviously, there are a lot of “almosts” in there, but it does lay the groundwork for an interesting battle in Norman on Saturday afternoon. And, when you look around at the rest of the games, there are not a ton of other compelling matchups to watch, so with the Buckeyes off, this one seems like a fairly good way to waste time this weekend.
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Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by James Black/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Your (almost) daily dose of good-natured, Ohio State banter.
Following dominant wins over Akron and Western Michigan to start the season, Ohio State has this weekend off, as this is the first of their two bye weeks this season. Having a bye week this early in the season is something Buckeye Nation isn’t used to. This is Ohio State’s earliest bye week since 2002, and the Buckeyes have had a week off in September only five times in the last 22 years. While Ohio State would probably love to be on the field on Saturday to build off their two wins so far this season, having a bye week earlier in the season is likely to become normal with the expansion of the College Football Playoff.
Even though the Buckeyes won’t be taking the field on Saturday, there will still be plenty of action around college football. Some high-profile non-conference games are on Saturday’s slate, along with conference play around the country continuing to trickle into the schedule. There are also a couple of rivalry games between former conference foes that will have a bit of an odd feel since we are used to them being played in late November and not the middle of September.
Today we want to know which college football game this week you are most excited to watch. Since Ohio State isn’t playing this week, we can kick back and enjoy the rest of the action around the country. Maybe you’re focusing on another Big Ten team that the Buckeyes could be playing later in the season, or your primary focus could be on a matchup that has a fun storyline. There are plenty of interesting games throughout the day, so there shouldn’t be a problem finding at least one to look forward to.
Today’s question: With Ohio State on a bye, which game this week are you watching?
We’d love to hear your choices. Either respond to us on Twitter at @Landgrant33 or leave your choice in the comments.
Brett’s answer: Indiana vs. UCLA
New Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti has hit the ground running in Bloomington, with the Hoosiers winning their first two games this season by a combined score of 108-10. I know their opponents in those games have only been Florida International and Western Illinois, but after so many years of losing, Indiana has to take wins wherever they can get them. If the Hoosiers didn’t have UCLA’s attention heading into this game, Indiana certainly has it now after dropping 77 points on the Leathernecks on Friday night.
The Bruins have had a very strange start to the season. Off the field, UCLA had to replace head coach Chip Kelly after Kelly decided to join Ohio State’s coaching staff as their offensive coordinator, leaving DeShaun Foster to replace Kelly. Now the Bruins are dealing with a bit of a herky-jerky start to the season, with their first game being at Hawai’i, followed by a bye week last week. UCLA wasn’t all that impressive in their only game this season, barely beating the Rainbow Warriors 16-13.
Saturday night’s game will mark the first Big Ten contest for the Bruins, making UCLA the first of the four new teams in the Big Ten to play a conference game. When the schedule was released, UCLA probably was happy to see Indiana as their debut opponent, since the Hoosiers have been one of the weaker teams in the conference for decades. After seeing how Indiana has played in their first two games, the Bruins now know they’ll be in for a fight on Saturday night in Pasadena. Former Ohio quarterback Kurtis Rourke will be hoping to spoil UCLA’s conference debut at the Rose Bowl, and I think they have the goods to pull the “upset”.
Matt’s answer: No. 15 Oklahoma vs. Tulane
After a weekend of upsets and near upsets, it is a great reminder that even when you think a slate of college football games is going to be boring, it almost certainly won’t be, because this is college football where chaos is the baseline in this glorious sport.
So, I am going to go with a game that just might have some chaotic potential on Saturday. The No. 15 Oklahoma Sooners will take on the Tulane Green Wave on Saturday, Sept. 14, at 3:30 p.m. ET in a game to be broadcast on ESPN. On paper, a top-15
During Week 2, the Sooners struggled to get past Houston, winning 16-12 while Tulane had No. 14 Kansas State on the ropes in Manhattan. The Green Wave was up 27-20 in the fourth quarter before K-State tied it with 11:20 left and then went ahead on a scoop-and-score three minutes later to go ahead for good.
So you have a Power 5 team that almost lost to a G5 team and a G5 team that almost beat a Power 5 team. Obviously, there are a lot of “almosts” in there, but it does lay the groundwork for an interesting battle in Norman on Saturday afternoon. And, when you look around at the rest of the games, there are not a ton of other compelling matchups to watch, so with the Buckeyes off, this one seems like a fairly good way to waste time this weekend.
Continue reading...