The eyes of college football world will be on the Big Ten this weekend. ESPN’s College GameDay is going to be on the campus of Wisconsin since the biggest game of the weekend will pit two Top Ten teams. (#2) The Ohio State University Buckeyes go into the hostile confines of Camp Randall to face the (#8) Wisconsin Badgers.
Paul Chryst is in the middle of his second year leading the Badgers. Already having victories over SEC power LSU in Week 1 at Lambeau Field and the mighty Spartans of East Lansing. The lone loss was against the scrappy Wolverines in Ann Arbor the week before their bye. Chryst having an extra week to get his team prepared for this Saturday’s game cannot be dismissed.
Ohio State will step foot on Wisconsin’s campus with an overall record of 57-18-5. The last meeting was in 2014 with a 59-0 thumping for the Buckeyes which helped propel them into the first ever college football playoffs, going on to win the National Championship. The Buckeyes last visit to the Cheese State was in 2012, Urban’s first year defeating Bret Bilelama 21-14.
The Intangibles
TV: ABC (Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Samantha Ponder)
Radio: Ohio State IMG Network 97.1 WBNS (Paul Keels, Jim Lachey, and Matt Andrews
Online: WatchESPN I Ohio State IMG Network I TuneIn
Social Media: @OhioStAthletics I @UWBadgers
Series Record: 57-18-5 (Last meeting: Big Ten Championship OSU 59 – UW 0, Dec. 6, 2014)
Previewing the Badgers
Wisconsin has one of the toughest schedules if not the toughest one in the Big Ten this season. The #8th ranked team in the country will be playing against their third ranked opponent this season (Sparty not being ranked anymore excluded them from this conversation). This is the tenth time the Badgers will host a match-up of AP Top Ten teams, they are currently 7-2 with six straight wins.
Offensively, Wisconsin isn’t the run the ball down your throat powerhouse that the Big Ten is accustomed to seeing. Corey Clement has been hampered by injuries the last season and a half. Currently, the rushing game for Bucky is ranked 78th in the nation. Even with missing a full game Clement has 3.9 yards per carry average, 319 total rushing yards with five touchdowns. Dare
Ogunbowale has 185 yards with one touchdown (4.2 ypc) and Bradwick Shaw has the longest run for 35 yards (5.7 ypc, 136 rushing yards with one td).
The Wisconsin offensive line seems to have issues at times not being able to open up lanes for the running backs like they were able to do in years past. Having surrendered eight sacks in five games so far is high especially when you compare being spoiled looking at Ohio State’s numbers. Having an offensive line where everyone is over 6’5″ and average 315 lbs means there is some serious beef there. Left tackle Ryan Ramczyk was described by former Wisconsin linebacker Joe Schobert as the toughest lineman he faced when Ramczyk played offense scout team last season. Next to Ryan is the guard Michael Dieter who started seven games at center and six at left guard. The center is a redshirt freshman Brett Connors, to his right side is Bea Benzchanel who started six games at right tackle plus three at right guard last year. Jacob Maxwell who started three games in 2015 anchors the right tackle spot.
Wisky’s tight end have athleticism but lack experience. Currently, the starter 6’5″, 246 lb redshirt sophomore Troy Fumalli has 16 reception for 181 yards (11.3 ypc) has yet to find the end zone. Back-ups 6’5″ 262 lb Eric Steffes along with 6’4″, 236 lb redshirt freshman Kyle Pennington have both scored once. Steffes has four catches for 12 yards (3 ypc) while Pennington has three receptions for 35 yards (11.7).
The quarterback position has seen a change this season with Bart Houston starting against LSU in Week 1 only to see the redshirt freshman Alex Hornibrook take over. Horinbrook at times looks fearless and has great precision as was evident in the Michigan State game. Alex claimed his bad game against UM for their loss was attributed to him being hurt with a broken rib or just general injury to his chest. He said it affected his throws which allowed the Wolverines to get picks off the youngster. Having close to a 60 percent completion rate the biggest issue for him is the wide receivers stepping up.
Jazz Peavy and Rob Wheelwright are the two main wideouts for Wisconsin. They are both averaging over 15 yards per reception. Wheelwright is the only one of the two who has a touchdown (2).
Statistically, Wisconsin’s passing attack is ranked 97th nationally, 88th at scoring along with 106th for total offense.
After reading about their offense, you ask yourself how is it they are ranked so high and only have one loss so far. It’s their defense which is second in red-zone defense behind Ohio State. Bucky’s defensive ranks are #2 in scoring, #4 total defense, #5 passing and #9 rushing. They bring their lunch pail and make you work for everything, even if their best defensive player has missed the last game and will be out for this weekend.
Lead by a defensive line that has four tackles for loss so far this season. Alex James, Conor Sheehy both have 9 tackles (James: 3 sacks, Sheey: 0.5 sack). Olive Sagapoli and Chickwe Obasih are the other two defensive linemen to keep an eye on.
Playing a 3-4 front means the linebackers are crucial to the Badgers. They have a great group of them also. Vince Biegel is the leader along with being the best defensive player for Wisconsin but sadly he will be out of the game due to injury. Have no fear because they have the next man up mentality too. Each linebacker has a minimum of one sack, Jack Cichy leads the team in tackles with 35 (3.5 TFL, .5 Sack), T.J. Watt is a beast and has 29 tackles (7.5 TFL, 5.5 sacks), T.J. Edwards has 28 tackles (2 TFL, 1 sack) along with Garrett Dooley who has 13 tackles (1TFL, 1 sack). This linebacker unit is fast while playing all over the field.
The secondary that Wisconsin has seems to be getting overlooked by some folks around the country. Cornerbacks Derrick Tindal (three INT’s/five PBUs) and Sojourn Shelton (one INT/two PBUs) have both played lights out at times this season. Free safety Leo Mussa has an interception plus a pass breakup and strong safety D’Cota Dixon has chipped in with one INT with two pass breakups.
Previewing the Buckeyes
The Buckeyes enter this match-up at 5-0 after a tough win against Indiana last week. The offense was not where it was in the first four games of the season and will need to find it’s mesh point this week if they want to take out the pesky Badgers.
The Buckeyes are led by junior quarterback J.T. Barrett, who comes into the game right in the thick of the Heisman talk. He is completing 64% of his passes on the season with a 15/3 TD/INT ratio. He has also rushed for 342 yards and four touchdowns. His ability when the play breaks down to find some yardage is uncanny and one thing the Buckeyes rely on from him week to week.
At running back the Buckeyes have thunder and lightning in Mike Weber and Curtis Samuel. Weber comes into the game as the 2nd leading rusher in the Big Ten with 566 yards, only trailing Penn State’s Saquon Barkley who has 582 through six games. Curtis Samuel is a do it all H-Back who has taken snaps at running back, wide receiver and as a wildcat quarterback. He enters the game with 410 yards rushing which is good for 9th in the Big Ten, and 345 yards receiving which is 7th best. The Buckeyes will need to get Samuel more touches this week, as he is averaging more than 10 yards per touch.
The wide receivers for Ohio State have kind of disappeared so far this season outside of Noah Brown’s big game in Norman. Last week the Buckeyes receivers had three total catches for 41 yards, which will not get the job done against the Wisconsin’s and Michigan’s of the world. Guys like Parris Campbell, Terry McLaurin and Marcus Baugh need to step up in order to give J.T. Barrett some targets down the field.
One of the biggest surprises so far this year is the play of the offensive line. Led by senior Pat Elflein and junior Billy Price, the young Buckeye line as shown growth and dominance averaging 323 yards per game on the ground. With newcomers Michael Jordan, Isaiah Price and Jamarco Jones it was uncertain what the Buckeyes were going to get out of this group this year. The Buckeyes rank 3rd in the nation in rushing yards per game, and the big fellas up front are the main reason for the running games success.
On the defensive side of the ball, the defensive line has been nothing short of spectacular so far this season. After losing Tracy Sprinkle in the first game of the season, guys like Robert Landers, Jalyn Holmes and Dre’Mont Jones have stepped up to provide stability along the line. The Buckeyes enter play as the 9th best rushing defense in the country giving up less than 100 yards per game, but the stat the stands out the most is they have allowed zero rushing touchdowns this season. The defensive line came up huge last week stopping Indiana on a 4th down late in the game that would have given the Hoosiers a 1st down and potentially cut the lead to seven.
Behind the stellar defensive line is one of the best linebacking trio’s in the country in Raekwon McMillan, Chris Worley and Jerome Baker. While McMillan is a known commodity, and is as sure fire a tackler there is, the real surprise comes from Worley and Baker who replaced NFL draftees Darron Lee and Joshua Perry. There has not been much falloff if any from last year production wise. Jerome Baker continues to get the start due to Dante Booker’s nagging injury, but when Booker is healthy we may see him as the backup because of Baker’s great play.
There really is no need to talk about the secondary because they have been amazing so far this season. The back four coming into the season was quite the unknown with only Gareon Conley returning as a starter from last season. Enter Malik Hooker and Marshon Lattimore and the Buckeye’s have become ball hawks. The Buckeyes have 10 interceptions on the season, and more impressive is that four of them have been returned for touchdowns (should be 11 and 5, but Hooker’s return last week was wiped by a bad penalty call).
Three Key Matchups
- T.J. Watt vs J.T. Barrett: Does the last name Watt ring a bell at Wisconsin? It should because All-Pro defensive end J.J. Watt roamed the field for the Badgers in the 2009-10 seasons and now his younger brother T.J. is doing the same. T.J. plays linebacker instead of defensive end, and will probably be spying on J.T. Barrett most of the night. If the Buckeyes can get blocks on Watt to spring Barrett on QB runs, then look out because we all know what he is capable of once he hits the open field.
- Ohio State’s Blitz vs Alex Hornibrook: The Badgers enter the game starting redshirt-freshman Alex Hornibrook who took over for Bart Houston during a sluggish game against Georgia State. He comes in completing 56% of his passes but has thrown five interceptions, mostly when he is being pressured. If the Buckeyes can blitz effectively and get pressure on Hornibrook, expect him to make some bad decisions with the football, letting the ball hawks in the secondary make some interceptions happen.
- Ohio State vs Camp Randall: The Buckeyes have had one road game so far this season, and it was in a rowdy environment in Norman as the Buckeyes battled the Sooners. I heard it was loud there, but the Buckeyes quickly quieted the Sooner Nation. Camp Randall in Madison is a different beast, as it is one of the toughest places to play in all of college football. If the Buckeyes can silence the fans early like they did against the Sooners, then they shouldn’t have an issue “Jumping Around” themselves entering the 4th quarter.
Prediction
This will be a tough match-up no matter how you slice it. I expect Wisconsin to come in and try and run the ball against Ohio State’s defense as I don’t think they have a lot of confidence in Alex Hornibrook. However, I don’t think that the Buckeyes will let Corey Clement run all over them, and will make Wisconsin have to throw the ball 25-30 times. If that is the case the Buckeyes walk out of Madison easy winners. If Wisconsin is able to establish the run or make some key defensive stops then its a whole other ballgame. Final Score: Ohio State 34 – Wisconsin 13
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