Best wishes to everyone for a happy and safe 4th Of July weekend out there. Go Bucks!
“The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving on.†~ Ulysses S. Grant
Leave it to a native Ohioan to spell it out what needs to be done in order to win. West Point graduate, Civil War general, and former United State President, I am willing to bet Ulysses S. Grant would have given football coaching a shot if it had been around in his day.
While counting down the days until the 2015 college football season begins, I thought I would pass the time by ranking and reviewing the upcoming 2015 Ohio State opponents, from least difficult to most difficult. This ranking system of mine will be highly subjective, prone to possibilities of injuries, transfers, or other unforeseen events that could dramatically impact its accuracy. As always, I encourage comments and critique about what I have projected.
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Rutgers Scarlet Knights (Game 8)
2015 OSU Opponent Ranking: 6 out of 12
Players Recruited By Ohio State: DL Darius Hamilton, DB Ronnie James. There may be more players on Rutgers’ roster that had offers from Ohio State, but Hamilton and James are the only ones I could find in my research. Please correct me if I am mistaken.
Game Date: October 24, 2015
Kickoff Time: 8pm EST. ABC/ESPN/ESPN2 telecast TBD.
Location: High Point Solutions Stadium
Rationale For The Ranking: Ohio State had no trouble last season with Rutgers in Ohio Stadium, defeating the Scarlet Knights 56-17. While another lopsided victory by Ohio State will be forecast by the Las Vegas prognosticators, something about a trip to Piscataway, New Jersey has me wondering how focused the Buckeyes will be. After all, Ohio State will have played always tough opponent Penn State the week before, and may be looking ahead to Minnesota the following week. Throw in the fact that this will be a night game, and the Rutgers faithful will have had all day to get ready for the first visit by the Buckeyes to High Points Solutions Stadium.
Prediction: Similar to my prediction for Northern Illinois, I see Ohio State possibly coming out slowly in this one, but picking up steam by the end of the first half. The longer Rutgers stays competitive in this one, the more the crowd will be into it, thus making it more challenging for Ohio State to pull away with a convincing win. Another 56-17 victory may be in the cards, but it will not surprise me if this stays closer than the 2014 contest.
Previous Posts In The Series:
12 – Hawaii
11 – Western Michigan
10 – at Indiana
9 – at Illinois
8 – Maryland
7 – Northern Illinois
[…] 12 – Hawaii 11 – Western Michigan 10 – at Indiana 9 – at Illinois 8 – Maryland 7 – Northern Illinois 6 – at Rutgers […]