It’s a big, big week/Beanie Wells update

It’s officially Monday morning, which means Penn State week is upon us.

There will be a LOT to say about this week, and the mud will fly all over the place all week long.  For now, all we can say is that Saturday night will see the biggest game in the Shoe since Michigan visited in 2006.

Let me make a not-so-bold prediction right now.  I think the Buckeyes are headed to the Rose Bowl this year.  Here’s why;

• If Ohio State beats Penn State, they will run the table against Northwestern, Illinois and Michigan, sending them west with an 8-0 Big Ten record.  While they’ll climb the charts in the BCS, I do not believe that the BCS will fall our way enough to bypass the Rose and send us to the BCS National Championship.  Ivan Maisel of ESPN.com disagrees and says that back-to-back impressive wins against MSU and PSU would be a big boost to give the Bucks a fourth title shot in 7 years (he does have a point, considering that nobody from the SEC besides Florida looks even remotely like a world-beater this year)
• If Penn State wins this week, we’ll slip into second place in the Big Ten, but running the table will solidify that second-place slot.  Penn State does not have a tough road after the Buckeyes, and I believe a win at The Shoe will eventually boost them into the National Championship.  That sends us to the Rose Bowl (if we win out and stay in the top 14 of the BCS, which will happen at 10-2)

Later this week, we’ll do a trade-off with a PSU blog, and we’ll take a look at a very specific place on the turf at Ohio State.  But for now, this is a “let’s get ready” post.  Go Buckeyes!

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Beanie Wells rushed for 140 yards on Saturday, easily earning himself the MVP of the game (although a lot of players certainly did their part to earn the win).  Here’s his updated standings in the list of All-Time rushing greats at The Ohio State University

• #1 – Archie Griffin – 5,529 yards (2,725)
• #2 – Eddie George – 3,768 yards (964)
• #3 – Tim Spencer – 3,553 yards (749)
• #4 – Keith Byars – 3,200 yards (396)
• #5 – Pepe Pearson – 3,121 yards (317)
• #6 – Carlos Snow – 2,974 yards (170)
• #7 – Michael Wiley – 2,951 yards (147)
• #8 – Antonio Pittman – 2,945 yards (141)
• #9 – Beanie Wells – 2,784 yards

I don’t expect Beanie to crack the Top 8 against Penn State (but if he does, it’s a sure sign that we dominated the Lions), but the following week against Northwestern should send him past Pittman, Wiley and Snow in one fell swoop.  (Of course, provided he stays healthy, knock on wood).

With five games to play (4 regular season, plus the bowl game), an injury-free Wells should rush past Keith Byars into the #4 slot.  He needs a mere 80 yards per game to do that.  Unless he has a couple of games like he did against Michigan last year, he likely won’t see #3.  He needs 150 yards per game to pass Tim Spencer.

As for topping Eddie or Arch, he’ll need a senior season to get there, and I’m not so sure he’ll stick around for that.  If he does, Eddie’s #2 slot would be passed, but I doubt Archie will see his record broken.  151 yards per game for the rest of his career would be an amazing feat.

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