The crowd will be loud and it’s also the first road game of the season for the Buckeyes-a team that is rather inexperienced considering how many players went to the National Football League following last season. After starting the season 1-1, the Sooners know the margin from error the rest of the year is just about zero if they want to have any chance of making the playoffs.
Advertisement
BALL HAWKS: Ohio State already has three interception returns for touchdowns by three different players. Louisville hosts Florida State.
Who ya got? Oklahoma or Ohio State and why?
Oklahoma will try to put the Buckeyes into the “One Loss, Desperate Team” category as far as the CFP is concerned.
Ohio State will be playing its first road game of the 2016 season against Oklahoma.
Of late, however, the Oklahoma head coach has struggled against teams ranked in the nation’s top five.
“There’s challenge all over the place when you play them”, he said.
Yes. They replaced three offensive lineman from past year. You can tell he’s really in sync with what they are doing. They’ll still have a chance to win the Big Ten, no matter what happens Saturday, and the Big Ten victor is going to make the Playoff nearly every year.
By the third week in August, Oklahoma’s defense was in game-planning mode. Tyquan Lewis led Ohio State in sacks last season and looks to have picked up right where he left off, while Raekwon McMillan leads the defensive unit with 12 tackles. This position has been a glaring weakness for the Sooner defense through two games, and to the extent Ohio State thinks it has a mismatch against the defense, it’s probably at this spot.
A quarterback matchup the likes of Saturday’s showdown between Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield and Ohio State’s J.T. Barrett is rare, especially in the regular season.
The “Silver Bullet” defense should come out steaming, ready to show the Oklahoma offense how dominant they believe they are. “This is definitely a step up in athleticism that we’re playing. That makes up for a lot of mistakes”. “He just doesn’t make the plays when they are there, but he had a couple of outstanding plays where nothing was there, and it’s hard to bring him down”. We have to stay aggressive and compete. Those are some bold words considering Ohio State’s defense has yet to give up a touchdown this season. In his seven home games, Baker Mayfield has completed 69 percent of his passes and thrown for 20 TDs against two interceptions.
“It’s not just what he can do at quarterback”, Schiano said. “He’ll be scrambling this way and chuck it that way”. He plays for an outstanding high school team at Liberty which features future Ohio State player Brendon White.
His offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach was Tom Herman, who left to become Houston’s head coach a year ago. Likewise, Stoops phoned one of his best friends in the business, Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio, for insight on the Buckeyes.
“We have to be balanced”, Meyer said.
By erasing Oklahoma’s running threat, Ohio State could experience the same success Houston enjoyed during their memorable upset.
Advertisement
They know questions. Coming up with the answers is where the talent is exposed.
