Ohio State is ready to take on the Golden Gophers in the “Prepare-for-Michigan” part of their schedule. Minnesota comes in the Horseshoe heavy underdogs, arriving for Homecoming and right onto the tracks of the incoming bullet-train that is the Ohio State offense. Troy Smith will continue his assualt on the Big Ten, going up against one of the worst defenses in college this year (Minnesota is currently ranked 97th in total defense). Minnesota can’t stop the run, which should bode well for Pittman, looking to rack up some serious yards in game where Tressel will lean heavily on the run once Troy puts the Bucks up by a few touchdowns in the middle of the second quarter. Look for a heavy dose of Pittman, Wells, and Wells. Should be a good day for the OSU Offense.
You want previews? As always, Buckeye Planet and The O-Zone deliver the goods. We usually take a look around the blogosphere for some additional commentary, but there’s not a lot for the Minnesota game. Bloggers are already ramping up their Michigan previews and prognostications, so it’s rather quiet on the Minnesota front.
That’s not to say this week will be interesting. Aside from the fact that this will be a statsheet-stuffer for the offense, there will be some really cool festivities at halftime as Jack Nicklaus get’s to dot the I in script Ohio. (Ironic that the Golden Bear dots the I when his alma mater is playing the Golden Gophers, innit?) Homecoming is also this week, which means the introduction of this year’s homecoming King and Queen. Much to the dismay of the females all around campus, el Kaiser is not one of the nominees for Homecoming King. Sorry ladies, he’s taken.
Hopefully you’ve seen sportsMonkey’s post about the possibility of a streak of winning nine games by a margin of victory of 17 or more points. The line is currently 27 points. What say you?
Minnesota usually sports a potent running game, and this year they’re averaging over 160 yards a game. They gained 108 vs. the vaunted Michigan defense. Can OSU’s defense (who replaced nine starters) hold them under an hundred yards?
Little Animal (Lauranitais) hails from Minnesota. How many tackles does he account for? (o/u: 12)
Antonio Smith was a beast last week. Does he outdo himself and take a pick to the house?
Add your predictions in the comments!
el Kaiser’s predictions:
Final Score: OSU: 47 Minnesota: 10
Minnesota’s rushing: over, 129 yards.
Little Animal: over, 16 tackles
Antonio Smith: as much as I’d like to see it, no endzone for Smith. (Antonio, that is)
Sylvester Yon-Rambo’s predictions:
Final Score: OSU: 56 Minnesota: 3
Minnesota’s rushing: under, 68 yards.
Little Animal: under, 7 tackles
Antonio Smith: 1 int and 2 TFLs and 0 TDs
Comments: I know the buckeyes are going to put up 50 points eventually this year…..I hope it is against that stupid idiotic team up north. Minnesota will try to pass the ball on saturday a lot and wont be able to run while trailing so much. Little Animal wont get enough def plays to get more than 12 tackles as they will have a lot of 3 and outs. Smith will of course earn a reputation as a ball hawk and will be everywhere on Sat.
sportsMonkey’s predictions:
Final Score: OSU: 45 Minnesota: 7
Minnesota’s rushing: over, 101 yards.
Little Animal: even, 12 tackles
Antonio Smith: 1 INT
Comments: I really think the Bucks want a shutout, and this could be the game. Field conditions should be the worst all year, though; Columbus is getting about 36 hours of straight, steady rain from Thursday night to Saturday morning. The field will be muddy and slippery, so that might keep the Bucks out of the 50s in scoring (unless the defense &/or special teams pitches in a TD or two). Minnesota really only has two weapons – the pounding rush and their wideout Payne, who had a field day with the Michigan secondary earlier this year. The Little Animal and his friends should be able to control the former, Antonio Smith the latter.
To me, the most interesting thing about this week’s game is that OSU will finally get to see a rushing attack that’s similar to Michigan’s. Not as good, of course, but similar. Nothing fancy, just a big junior RB pounding away down after down, with an occasional pass to a talented WR. It’ll be a good learning experience for the OSU defense, as they begin to prepare for UM and Hart.
Zeke’s predictions:
Final Score: OSU: 38 Minnesota: 6
Minnesota’s rushing: under, 95 yards.
Little Animal: under, 10 tackles
Antonio Smith: No pick six for Antonio
Good stuff guys, I think you should have added how many yards Ginn is going to get on his toe, and then the over under on how many yards his toe cost him.