“I think he’s the real deal and he’ll probably be a late first-round pick”. The Buckeyes have lost just four overall – two to MSU.
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So as we begin Michigan-Ohio State week, this rivalry is unified in a unusual way.
The main story line was expected to be Ohio State trying to remain unbeaten and moving on to the Big Ten championship game in pursuit of back-to-back national championships.
Some will argue that you should never root for a conference. This time they put Ohio State’s playoff hopes in critical condition and left behind a team in Columbus that seems to have been playoff or bust. Regardless, Im not going to listen to the whole interview. It may have been wrong, it was in the moment, but he felt like it was what he needed to say, ” Bosa said. Winning the Big Ten Championship feels better when it is a challenge to earn it. But unless MI State loses to Penn State at home next week, the only thing on the line for the Buckeyes against that team from up North is pride. The MI Wolverines ground game is averaging 161.3 yards per contest, and De’Veon Smith leads the way with 621 yards and six touchdowns.
That being the case, it’s puzzling why Ohio State abandoned the pass. The rain was a factor in the first half, but was not as much in the second half.
The good news for Buckeye’s fans, if there is any, is current starting quarterback JT Barrett should be back next season with a strong recruiting class around him, so Ohio State could bounce back quickly. His comments incited a debate, or, more accurately, two discussions talking past one another. The team still has at least two more games, including a game against their biggest rivals, the University of MI.
“I didn’t want to pull a Jalen Watts-Jackson”, Geiger said, referring to his teammate who ended up with a broken hip after returning a botched punt for a touchdown to beat MI in October. So, we squashed it as a team. Neither played well against the Spartans or for that matter most of the season.
Elliott announced his intention to leave OSU after the game. This was a game that would have made Woody Hayes and Jim Tressel proud with inclement weather (and maybe some questionable play-calling too) turning the game into three yards and a cloud of dust football.
We now know that this offense is unable to just flip the switch and light up the scoreboard. They had more quarterbacks then they knew what to do with, one of the best running backs in the country and a defense with potential All-Americans at every level. I can’t speak for the play calling. I couldn’t disagree with him, his comments, that he should have gotten the ball a little bit more.
Defensively, allowing 17 points against the Spartans does not diminish that the Silver Bullets have been stellar all season. Eventually it caught up to them in their game against Nebraska.
Harbaugh has also changed the direction of MI football immediately. There is no time to dwell on the loss to the Spartans.
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Of course, the Fighting Irish (10-1) still have to win at Stanford (9-2) next week in what amounts to a playoff elimination game. The defending national champions suffered their first loss of the season at home, when MI State buried a last-second field goal to knock off the Buckeyes. That would be a hard pill to swallow and make for a long off-season.
