Ohio State is on a bye this week, but Urban Meyer, the team, and most fans would rather keep rolling after last week’s utter destruction of Rutgers. It’s also the last weekend before the first College Football Playoff standings come out, and it’s probably better to have a solid performance fresh in the committee’s mind than not, but fortunately for the Buckeyes, most of the other top teams are off this week too. There’s also the issue of injuries, and like most teams this time of the season, Ohio State is pretty banged up. A week off before the most important month of the season is probably for the best, even if it slows momentum a little.

Michigan is coming off their bye week today, and the break couldn’t have come at a better time for the Wolverines. With an extra week to move past the shocking, devastating loss to Michigan State, they can focus on the future and a Big Ten title that is still within their reach (although they’ll need help to get there).

Michigan travels to Minnesota to take on a struggling Gopher team coming off not only a bye week, but also a tearful goodbye from head coach Jerry Kill, who retired Wednesday on the advice of his doctor. I’m a big believer in the impact of intangibles on college football games, and it will be interesting to see how the competing intangibles manifest themselves on the field tonight.

For Michigan, there’s desperation. Realistically, the Wolverines need to win out to still have a shot at the Big Ten title and potentially a spot in the playoff (although that ship may have already sailed.) Michigan is also looking for redemption. The bizarre, instantly-viral way the Michigan State game ended has the potential to be a season-defining moment. It’s Coach Harbaugh’s job to make sure that doesn’t happen. Losing tonight could be severely damaging, with two more road trips coming up in the next three games.

From Minnesota’s perspective, there’s the obvious intangible of winning for a beloved, outgoing coach. Emotions will be running high, especially considering the circumstances of Coach Kill’s departure. He isn’t being fired for lack of performance or some scandal. He was already inspirational just for being able to coach at a high level in his condition, and now he becomes the kind of inspirational that can fuel a player or two (or an entire team) to a lights-out performance. Playing at home and under the lights only adds to that potential.

by: Ryan Black

photo: sweetfudge.com

The Bucks are going bye this Halloween weekend and have 4 (hopefully 5) games left until the bowl layoff. What’s a man/woman to do to fill the time? How about some good old fashioned trivia?

Trivia is defined as “information of little importance or value.” Well, it’s still cool to me damnit.

Nothing gets the juices flowing like springing a “did you know” on a fellow employee or friend, other than Pam from The Office, of course.

I’ve spent countless hours (1.5) researching stats and game film to come up with some fun did you knows based on the 2015 season. Sharpie these on your hand, post up at the water cooler and get ready to be the smartest guy in the office.

Here is your Buckeye Bye Week Trivia:

5. LSUWHO?

LSU is the new favorite to usurp Ohio State’s throne (because keeping the defending champs who have a 23 ppg winning margin at number 1 is too boring for the media).  Did you know that the LSU defense has given up over 20 points in every game this season but 1 (Mississippi State, 19).

Yes this includes 4-3 Auburn, 3-4 Syracuse, 1-7 Eastern Michigan, 3-4 South Carolina and a respectable 6-2 Western Kentucky. Can you imagine the heat Ohio State’s defense would be taking if their defense was performing against similar competition every game?

4. Checkdown King

Ohio State’s receivers have been up and down this season but have really turned it on the last three weeks. Despite a plethora of talented receivers, did you know that Ezekiel Elliott is second on the team with 23 receptions?

Elliott is such a luxury when everybody else is covered down field.

3. Special

Special teams decides games (ask Michigan). Did you know that Ohio State is top 8 in the nation in punting and kickoff coverage units?

This team is more than just offense and defense. If the field goal unit get’s it going, it’s hard to imagine a more complete team in the nation.

 

2. Half a hundred

Big plays seemed to lack for the Buckeyes after the Virginia Tech game for awhile but Ezekiel Elliott was tired of that. Did you know the only team with more rushes over 50 yards in the country than Ohio State (6) is the triple option Georgia Southern squad (8)?

Zeke may have the most impressive Buckeye highlight film ever by the time he’s done.

1. Conspiracy!!!

Many in the Big Ten (cough Penn State fans) believe refs always favor the “golden child” Buckeyes. The stats usually tell a different story: Did you know Ohio State’s opponents only average 47.6 penalty yards per game? This is good for 96^th in the nation.

But, the “tin foilers” will still spin it somehow.

Bonus: The Boys in Blue

Michigan has already reached their number of wins from last season under new coach Jim Harbaugh with great defense, special teams (save 1 play) and ball control. Did you know that Michigan still sucks?

Double Bonus: Here’s a spooky video

I paused it at 1:48, can somebody tell me how it ends?

By: Phil Schoch, Twitter me @osuphil95

Each week in this spot, we squint and peer at the college football landscape – the story-lines, point spreads and match-ups – and predict each B1G game as well as a few national spotlight games.

The season is a long journey, but we’re right back to where we started – back to .500! After a 4-3 mark versus the spread in Week 8, Pick ‘em & Tidbits has emerged from the dank despair reserved for degenerate gamblers, hobos on smack and rail-riding blues men. I can breathe again, if only for one week – 49-49 against the spread. But this train ain’t stopping. There are more gigs to be played. More tips to chase down. More back alley scores to be made. Come on, man. We didn’t choose this life! It chose us!

My Week 8 PM Stukenborg Fearless Prediction was an outright bust once again as the Utes were exposed by Southern Cal. I
was 5-2 straight up last week, keeping me slightly above the 75% threshold at 74-24 (75.5%).

Week 8 was an on-paper clunker – ahhh, but the story-lines continued to develop. Two of the previously undefeated got their comeuppance. The Utah Utes were mauled at the Coliseum by Southern Cal and Florida State flamed out in dramatic Michigan/Hindenburg-style versus Georgia Tech. Undefeated Baylor appears to have lost it’s starting quarterback due to a fractured vertebrae. Bama needed a 4th quarter rally at home to defeat 3-4 Tennessee, yet the Bristol agenda pushers are already lobbying for 1-loss-er’s, Bama and Stanford. [Note to Buckeye fans: Do not rage watch ESPN! It’s more hazardous to your health than processed meats. Relax. Let November play out. Just whisper – not yell (I’m being specific) – “Serenity now” a few times, turn off the TV, grab a beer or take a walk. Relax. Breathe.]

Disclaimer: Although to the outsider it may appear glamorous, the hobo’s life is not for everyone. Do not wager your hard earned money or your shopping cart full of aluminum cans based on anything seen in this article. You’ll thank me in the comments section.

Around the B1G…

Saturday, October 31 – Happy Halloween!

Penn State continues to masquerade as a quality opponent with their 6-2 record and Christian Hackenberg is wearing his bottom-half-of-the-B1G-QB costume again this season.  In conference play and against their one Power 5 non-conference opponent (North Carolina), the Illini have yet to score over 20 points. A very wart-y match-up.

From 1966 – 2012, legendary Minster (Ohio) resident, Paul ‘P.M.’ Stukenborg (pictured above) posted his weekly sports predictions in the hometown paper, The Community Post. Each week, Pick ’em will make a P.M. Stukenborg Fearless Prediction and call for an underdog to to knock off the favorite.

Pick em says… Illini, 20-17.

Nebraska is 3-5. The 5 losses have been by a total of 13 points! The Huskers must go 3-1 to reach bowl eligibility. A pair of undefeated teams, Michigan State and Iowa, are on the schedule for November. It’s going to be a long cold winter in Lincoln. Purdue is 1-6 and the locals are ready for basketball season to tip off.

Pick ’em says…  Huskers, 27-17.

Despite mounting injuries, Wisconsin is 6-2 with a November schedule that should land them in a sun-drenched Florida bowl. Rutgers is 3-4 and once the dangling carrot of bowl eligibility is eliminated, look for this team to implode and for Kyle Flood to get whacked.

Pick ’em says… Badgers 31-13. 

Iowa – good. Maryland – bad.

Pick ’em says… Iowa 27-17.

Minnesota was a popular pick as preseason favorite to win the B1G West. The Gophers are 4-3, but must face Michigan, Ohio State, Iowa and Wisconsin in four of their last five games. Not very B1G Coach of the Year-like Jerry Kill! The Wolverines should be plenty motivated to get back on the field and playing the thoughts of the Spartan game out of their thoughts.

National Spotlight Games… Michigan, 31-14.

This annual clash used to known as…

The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.

But in 2006 both refined institutions and the Southeastern Conference asked CBS and the city of Jacksonville to abandon the name in promotions due to concerns about alcohol abuse by students and other attendees. As a result, fans of both schools have had to get blackout drunk for a rivalry that lacks an official name.

Pick ’em says… Last year a Muschamp-led Gators crew embarrassed the Dawgs and rushed for 418 yards. Gators again, 34-31. 

Pleeeeease Temple? Pretty please – with we’ll-forget-Bill-Cosby-is-your-most-famous-alum on top?

Pick ’em says… Irish 34-20.

SO LONG AL GOLDEN… 

In yet another Buckeye night game, the night wasn’t so friendly to the Knights, the Scarlet Knights. The real scarlet knights weren’t wearing scarlet, but white, being lead by a new starting quarterback.

I’ve never been happier to admit how wrong I was in my life because finally…after eight long and underwhelming weeks…someone seized the position and solidified that position.

I’ve converted – #TeamJT.

On the business side of this recurring piece, I’ve decided to replace The Players section with a The Opponent section, which will reference the team from the game I’m writing about – in this case, Rutgers.

Urban said – “J.T. doesn’t surprise me. That injury, I didn’t see it in spring, I didn’t see the J.T. Barrett because he was immobile and couldn’t go. Training camp he was getting better and better and better, and he’s still only a redshirt sophomore. I think he’s in full swing now, obviously, and that was a progression throughout practice, development and I thought he played great.”

• The Fans – Obviously he is in full swing. We saw it for the first eight weeks – glad you finally woke up and smelled the roses.
• The Media – So what is Cardale’s role going to be? Now that you’ve finally picked a starter after eight weeks of us badgering you to name one.
• The Opponent – He sure surprised us. Darn you Eli Apple for not coming to the school in your home state to help us stop him.

Last week, Miller was the one who pulled the offense together, but this week it’s safe to say the offense is in good hands with Barrett at the helm.

Over the past few games, the Buckeyes have finally limited some of the bonehead mistakes that plagued them earlier in the season.

Urban said – “The thing you’re not seeing: You’re not seeing the self-destructive stuff. The turnovers, interceptions or penalties. That was a loud environment and to not have any penalties, someone just told me that as I was leaving the locker room, that might be the most impressive thing. That’s how locked in they were.”

• The Fans – We see it Urban. Once again, we’ve been seeing it for eight weeks. Sign me up for an assistant coach position because I’ve been right this whole season!
• The Media – You probably didn’t have as many penalties and turnovers this time because of who you started at quarterback.
• The Opponent – A loud environment? Ask these guys if it was a loud environment:

Those poor guys. Well, at least they got paid. . . I’m assuming…

Meanwhile – Ohio State be like:

In case you haven’t seen the news, there’s a new book coming out that probably puts this column in the coffin. Rather than me writing Urban’s dictionary, he has written his own!

Urban said (via Twitter) - 

• The Fans – I’d love to learn how to get the most out of this team…oh that’s right, I knew how for eight weeks – by FINALLY STARTING JT BARRETT.
• The Media – Will you sign my book?!? And get JT to sign it for me too.
• The Opponent – Maybe this book will help us to recruit better kids…

https://twitter.com/mercernole/status/649537041076645888

As we approach a bye week in the schedule, until next time – bye.

The next opponent on Ohio State’s calendar is the last team that the Buckeyes and their fans want to see: BYE.

BYE is my least favorite game every single year. From the fans’ perspective, there is absolutely nothing to be gained from playing against this team. They don’t improve our Strength of Schedule; they don’t help us improve our perception – in fact, we’ll probably be completely ignored this week. We just can’t beat this team. Sure, BYE has such an inferior talent level that our entire two-deep can mail it in and use the weekend to recover from any nagging injuries, but where’s the entertainment in that?

As an opponent, BYE is so putrid that Ohio State – the No. 1 team in the country, with the nation’s longest active winning streak (21) – isn’t even being televised this week. As a matter of fact, no record of this weekend’s game will even be kept. No stats, no highlights, nothing. BYE is like the Washington Generals of college football. Speaking of that, RIP Washington Generals.

BYE is such a cupcake opponent that OSU players love to face off against them, but they bring absolutely nothing to the table as far entertaining fans. Instead, we’re left with scouting Michigan rooting for Michigan to lose, among of a list of other games that are nice to watch but just don’t get our adrenaline flowing like the Scarlet and Gray.

And BYE shows up at the worst possible time. After seven weeks of Ohio State’s expected-to-be-fine-tuned offense sloppily rumblin’, bumblin’, stumblin’ to closer-than-necessary victories over vastly less talented competition, the Buckeyes finally switched to J.T. Barrett as the starting quarterback – who was promptly named the Big Ten Player of the Week.

Unsurprisingly, the OSU offense finally soared en route to a 49-7 victory over Rutgers. So after nearly two months of Ohio State fans clamoring for the offense to come remotely close to hinting at its potential, Urban Meyer made the switch at quarterback and the end product looked glorious. Now, eight games into the season, the Buckeyes are starting to show fans what we presumably could have seen in Week 1.

And just as the offense looks to get clicking and gain momentum as we push towards meaningful November contests, BYE rears its ugly head and wastes our time. What a tease! I want to see J.T. Barrett accumulate even sweeter stats, while living up to his nickname of “The Distributor”, as he gets our boatload of talented skill players plenty of opportunities to make plays.

But, alas, we’re stuck with BYE this week. We’ll have to wait another week to see how smooth the Ohio State offense really is and how goof the Buckeyes really are as a complete team, as they continue to gel more and more towards the most important games on the schedule. In the meantime, this coming weekend is a time for doing work around the house and rooting for Michigan to lose.

The Ohio State Buckeyes have been the target of much criticism over the course of the season for their inconsistent play.  However they may earn the moniker of most consistent “Coach Slayer” should Rutgers’ Head coach Kyle Flood be shown the door this week.  Looking back to the end of the 2014 regular season, the Buckeyes victory over That Team Up North lead directly to the firing of Brady Hoke.  Earlier this year the University of Maryland fired football boss Randy Edsall after a three touchdown loss to OSU.  And now with the Rutgers beat down that we all watched this past Saturday, Flood might be finding his spot right behind these gentlemen in the unemployment line.

So if you’re reading this as an Athletic Director that’s trying to get rid of a pesky coach, give Gene Smith a call.  Urban and the boys would be happy to give you good reason to send the guy packing.

#1: TBDBITL got busy across the pond

Because the choice between a weekend trip to Piscataway or London might be the easiest decision ever made, The Ohio State Marching Band accepted their invitation to play during the Jacksonville Jaguars and Buffalo Bills contest at Wembley Stadium in London.  The Pride of the Buckeyes, naturally, were at their best.

#2: Nebraska’s nightmare continues

This local newscaster says it best.  If Ohio State ever had a season like this one I might just…  Oh… 2011.  Please don’t remind me.

#3: Penn State played Maryland and Zzzzz…

The game was actually pretty good (if you could ignore Maryland’s uniforms or avoid falling asleep like I did).  These two former opponents of the Buckeyes competed in their rivalry(?) game which resulted in a one point win for the Nittany Lions.  When you win 36 of the 39 meetings between the two schools, it’s not a rivalry.

#4: Oh Big Ten Network, you shouldn’t have!

In an early Christmas present to us all, the B1G Network immortalized last week’s Michigan loss with this gem.  Jalen Watts-Jackson BROKE AND DISLOCATED his hip during that celebration.  Wow.

#5: Buckeyes get back to form

Many had been calling for J.T. Barrett to take the reins of this offense for months.  This weekend on the Jersey Shore, he proved that he deserves his starting role.  Was it all part of the Urban Meyer plan?  We will never know for sure.