It has to take care of business against struggling Purdue in West Lafayette, Indiana, on Saturday, overcome Iowa’s hard-nosed defense when it returns to Beaver Stadium on November 5, then finish strong at Indiana and Rutgers and back home against Michigan State.
Advertisement
But a loss to Penn State? The rest of the Buckeyes’ schedule will be grueling, and their loss against Penn State can either motivate them to finish strong, or be the beginning of the end to such a promising season.
Junior tight end Mike Gesicki from Southern Regional had a team-high four receptions for 46 yards His 16-yard reception early in the fourth quarter started a five-play, 90-yard touchdown drive.
Give credit to the Buckeye defense.
His Nittany Lions couldn’t have pulled a massive upset over then-No.
The Golden Nugget sportsbook has opened betting on potential national championship game matchups. Best pass: Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley threw accurately to the back shoulder of wide receiver Chris Godwin and away from cornerback Gareon Conley for a 20-yard touchdown in the second quarter.
“The way things appear, Alabama or Ohio State could lose a game and still get into the playoff”, Westgate head football oddsmaker Ed Salmons said. “He (Barrett) was under pressure on pass plays and we didn’t move them off the line of scrimmage on running plays”. Best hit: Penn State defensive linemen Evan Schwan and Kevin Givens combined to sack Barrett for a 3-yard loss on fourth-and-23 from the Ohio State 29, sealing the victory with 1:02 left.
“[We] just didn’t execute at the highest level”, Buckeyes right guard Billy Price said.
No. 13 Boise State of the Mountain West is the highest-ranked team outside of the power conferences. He completed four passes while the IL running game was mostly bottled up by Michigan’s athletic front seven. They didn’t give the quarterback enough time to go through his reads, which made it hard to get into rhythm.
Allen almost blocked a first-half field goal, too, but made an adjustment on his positioning at halftime, he said.
Olaniyan said he wasn’t surprised that Penn State managed to take down the Buckeyes. Not only did Penn State’s 24-21 toppling of No. 2 Ohio State shake the foundation of Beaver Stadium, but it shook up the Top 25 poll as well.
“It’s not business as usual”, Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said. For one, their loss immediately hurt the strength of schedule for MI football, as well as the chance for the Wolverines to end OSU’s flawless season on their own.
MI is next at 5-1, followed by Washington and Louisville, each at 7-1, and Clemson at 8-1.
The following week, the Buckeyes will play No. 7 Nebraska, which will be coming in either undefeated or fresh off a loss to Wisconsin. The Tigers beat Arkansas 56-3 and have won four straight since a 1-2 start. Meanwhile, Maryland is quietly 5-2. The Buckeyes can do the same thing Michigan State did past year.
It also must be pointed out that all those games were at home, as Michigan’s only road game thus far came at Rutgers. DiGalbo shined on Saturday with five total touchdowns and was named this week’s Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division offensive athlete of the week for the second time this season. If the Wolverines are still undefeated heading into the November 26 matchup and the Buckeyes win every game leading up to it, the game could decide who heads to the College Football Playoff, assuming the victor also wins the Big 10 Championship Game.
Advertisement
At Michigan, Coach Jim Harbaugh knows the value of a big play.
