Buckeyes Need The Wolverines to be Good [Guest Post]

OSU Football(This is a guest post by Shannon S, one of many applicants for the recently open positions on the MotSaG staff.)

Can’t believe I actually just wrote that but its true. Recently, Devin Gardner was quoted as saying:

“We always have room for improvement, but this is definitely a championship-caliber football team that will win in the Big House against Ohio State,” Gardner said. “We don’t feel we’re inferior to anyone in the country, and we’re going to give it our all.”

Yes, this is good bulletin board material for the Buckeyes (not that they need much for The Game). Both teams’ players and coaching staffs get the importance of the best rivalry in college football.

A little while ago, I came across an article written by Lisa Horne on Bleacher Report talking about the Buckeyes weak 2013 schedule. I agree with her point that Ohio State does have a weak schedule. However, I will have to disagree with her thought there is only one tough game for the Buckeyes:

“The most dangerous team on Ohio State’s schedule is Northwestern. The Wildcats return 17 starters after posting a 10-3 record that included a 34-20 Gator Bowl victory over Mississippi State.”

Northwestern had a great year last season but this year’s schedule isn’t going to be so friendly. They start the B1G off at home against the Buckeyes (after an off week) and then have to travel to Wisconsin, who is a question mark with a new coach. The Wildcats will have another tough stretch playing at Nebraska, followed by two home games versus Michigan and Michigan St. Last season the two losses Northwestern had was against Nebraska and Michigan. Northwestern didn’t play Ohio State.

I contest that Michigan will be Ohio State’s most dangerous team to face in 2013. I agree that Northwestern will be a tough game for the Buckeyes but I envision Michigan winning the Legends Division, thus helping Ohio State reach the National Championship game by having to play the Buckeyes two weeks in a row. Michigan has a decent schedule. They play Notre Dame, who played in National Championship game in 2012, at home. Michigan’s toughest B1G road game is against Northwestern and have to play host to Nebraska and Ohio State. There is a real possibility of Ohio State and Michigan meeting this year both being undefeated for their match in The Big House. That would set up a rematch the following week in the B1G championship game. This is what the B1G wanted and possibly will get in the final season of the Legends and Leaders division before the realignment takes effect in 2014.

I am hoping for the Buckeye’s sake that Michigan is a championship caliber team. Everyone says the B1G is weak. It’s getting cliche at this point. After seeing these two team with Top 5 recruiting classes this past year, I am excited that this rivalry has the potential to get to where it was once before. As hard as it is for a team to go undefeated one year, let alone back to back years, this Ohio State team has the best shot to do it. Urban Meyer is a great head coach and knows how to get the best out of his players and he has a ton of talent on this team. Wins against Michigan in the Big House and on a neutral field will definitely propel the Buckeyes and will end the discussion if they belong or not.

Comments

  1. That Northwestern game wont be an easy game thats for sure but I agree the pressure to win against TTUN is always what makes that game so much more difficult to win. Either way those are most likely the two toughest games on the schedule.

    Loved the post and look forward to reading more from you really soon.

    • I agree there is no way to overlook Northwestern but I think the Buckeyes athleticism will come out on top in the end. buckeyes offense is going to be so explosive and I just loved for the first time in his career watching Braxton throwing. During the Spring game I noticed his spiral is tighter and gets down field faster than the last two years.

      Thanks for the compliment and hope to do more posts.

  2. I’m not so sure. It certainly wouldn’t hurt, but we’re going to have to be undefeated to make the title game regardless. If that happens, how could anyone justify keeping out a team that has gone 25-0 over two seasons and is coached by one of the most successful coaches of the past decade? Even if there are other unbeatens, that’s a hard argument to make.

    Now, if we aren’t steamrolling everyone, then the “weak” Big Ten could drag us down. That is where a good Michigan team would come in handy, especially since they could possibly be our last two games.

    Ultimately, though, as long as 2 or 3 other Big Ten teams (say Northwestern, Penn State and Nebraska) are decent and we don’t have any close games against the cellar-dwellers, we should be fine.

Trackbacks

  1. […] Before the season started I wrote my first post hoping and thinking Michigan was going to be a good team and I also wrote about The Pastry Chef and our site thinking he was going to be the in the Top 25 […]

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