The last speed bump before The Showdown in the ‘Shoe is finally here. Northwestern has had an extremely tough season this year, tragedy and all. They haven’t played exceptionally well and they draw the unfortunate lot of being OSU’s last opponent before the Michigan game. We weep for Northwestern.

So what about previews? What can we expect from Northwestern? The guys at Buckeye Planet have their preview up, along with the hardest working Ohio State on-line writer, Tony Gerdeman, has his game preview up at The O-Zone where he points out that history hasn’t been kind to Northwestern when OSU is ranked #1.

While I writing the rough draft for this post, I found I was mentioning Michigan more than Northwestern, but I realized there isn’t much to say about Northwestern. They’re having a down year, OSU is on top of the college football world. Northwestern has struggled mightily against the Buckeyes and this week shouldn’t be much different. In the end, we stand here and can clearly see Michigan in the distance and Northwestern is nothing more now than an afterthought. That’s not to disrespect the Wildcats, but let’s be honest here. OSU is in need of a tune-up after the lackluster game against Illinois and Northwestern is going to be a tackling dummy for OSU to scrimmage one last time. That hasn’t stopped the fans, though, as this game is a sellout. I would wager that OSU will be adequately represented by its fans at Ryan Field.

The odds makers put favor the Buckeyes by 23 points. What say you?

What about the offense? Is Tressel going to open the play book this week, or play it close to the vest again (I love saying that)? How many yards will we see OSU roll up on Northwestern? (o/u 450)

Speaking of offense, Pittman needs a good game to get back in the groove for next week. How many yards does he chew up NW’s defense for? (o/u 150)

Little Animal needs one more INT to tie the OSU record for INTs by a linebacker. Does he do it yet again?

How many times is November 18th/Michigan mentioned by the broadcast crew? (o/u 18 times)

el Kaiser’s predictions
Final score: OSU: 31 NW: 6 (Tressel shows compassion)
OSU Offense: over, 451 yards
Pittman: over, 220 yards (I’m hoping that Pittman is huge in this game)
Little Animal: No INT tomorrow, he ties and breaks the record next week.
Broadcast Crew: under, 8. I have a feeling they’ll be told to keep the hype to a minimum until the fourth quarter.

sportsMonkey’s predictions
Final score: OSU: 38, NW: 0
OSU Offense: under, 425 yards (Tressel will play it quite conservative, but still have plenty of success)
Pittman: under, 130 yards
Little Animal: Yes, the Butkus finalist will tie Chris Spielman’s season record (6) with at least one INT.
Broadcast Crew: over, 132 times.

Sylvester Yon-Rambo’s predictions
Final score: OSU: 56 NW: 0
OSU Offense: over, 621 yards
Pittman: under, 118 yards
Little Animal: 2 INT’s Breaks the record and dedicates 1 pick to Spielman.
Broadcast Crew: OVER they jst repeat it over and over the whole game and dont utter another word the whole game……63,179 times

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

Welcome to another Open Thread, where we get hyped up about this week’s opponent, look at strengths and weaknesses, we look at match-ups, which ones will give the Buckeyes trouble, which ones we can exploit, and … wait a minute, we’re playing Indiana this week? Okay, nevermind about weaknesses and matchups. Let’s talk about more important things, like where the heck am I going to watch this game?!

If you are interested in looking at Indiana in detail, Buckeye Planet and The O-Zone are always great places to start. Sure, Indiana just had a HUGE upset (for them) over Iowa, but Keith reminds us that Iowa wasn’t exactly 100% last week. Good for Indiana, but come on now. The Glenville Tarblooders could have beaten that injured Iowa team.

Let’s be perfectly honest: there’s not a snowball’s chance Indiana comes into the ‘Shoe and does anything but lose by five touchdowns. Troy Smith and Antonio Pittman are salivating right now, thinking of the numbers they are going to put up on this team. Ginn wonders if he can back-pedal a punt return and still make people miss. Pitcock and Gholston are betting who can make Kellen Lewis cry harder. Kirk Barton is discussing which side of the offensive line is prettier (no, I’m being serious)

Kirk on which side of the offensive line is better: “Me and (right guard) T. J. (Downing) are better looking than the left side. They’re younger and they’re obviously going to be very good players, but right now me and T. J. have the looks department locked down.”

I’d have to agree, they’re a couple handsome men.

So yeah, no one’s really worried, right? Vegas has us favored by 30 points. What say you?

What about the defense? How many yards do we surrender to the Hoosiers? (o/u 275)

Ted Ginn Jr, a punt, and the endzone. All in the same play?

How many TDs does Troy Smith account for? (o/u 4)

Does Laurinaitis get a pick this week?

el Kaiser’s predictions:
Score: OSU: 45 IU: 9
Defense: under, 274 yards
Ted Ginn Jr: no, but he gets one close
Troy Smith: over, 5
Laurinaitis: He returns to his thieving ways, grabbing a pick in the third quarter.

Zeke’s predictions:
Score: OSU: 41 IU: 6
Defense: under, 229 yards
Ted Ginn Jr: Yep, 2 weeks in a row
Troy Smith: under, 3
Laurinaitis: Not this week

Sylvester Yon-Rambo’s predictions:
Score: OSU: 56 IU: 0
Defense: under, 118 yards
Ted Ginn Jr: yes, He gets 2 returns for TDs
Troy Smith: over, 6
Laurinaitis: I believe he gets 1 pick and 2 FF with 1 recovery and 2.5 TFL

sportsMonkey’s predictions:
Score: OSU: 45 IU: 6
Defense: under, 175 yards
Ted Ginn Jr: If they punt to him at least three or four times, then yes, he’ll take one to the house. But I don’t think they’ll punt to him more than once or twice.
Troy Smith: 4
Laurinaitis: Yes, 1 pick. Something tells me the Little Animal will have a Butkus-like day tomorrow.

End of the first half
I think I just heard Bob Griese say that the reason Michigan State isn’t on the board is not because of Ohio State, but because of their own ineptitude. Huh? That’s simply a huge slap in the face of OSU’s defense. They can not block Quinn Pitcock, Laurinaitis is every where and I don’t think the secondary has had to make a tackle because the front-7 are so dominant.

And how nice was it to see Ted Ginn Jr take a punt to the house? That was great to see and there was no doubt he was gone after he took a few strides. Beautiful. Gonzalez has made two nice grabs. The Buckeyes are playing a great game, 24 – 0.

End of the game
Final Score: OSU: 38 MSU:7

Not a lot to udpate. A couple more touchdowns, the domination is complete. It would have been nice to see a shut-out, but that’s tough to do when you’ve got your third stringers in there. Nevertheless, this was no trap game. Ohio State was never on “upset alert.” This game was never in doubt, even after Beanie’s fumble in the first quarter. Troy padded his Heisman resume with another “Heisman-esque” touchdown pass to Robiskie with a Spartan defender biting at his ankles. The guy never seems rushed, never harried. Can’t say enough about the guy.

So now the downhill roll to November 18th officially starts. Next week welcomes Indiana to the show. IU is coming off a HUGE upset of Iowa, but there’s no way they come into the ‘Shoe and do that to the Buckeyes. Ohio State will be ready.

After dispatching with Bowling Green, OSU turns its eyes back on to the Big Ten. Are they looking ahead to the showdown in November? What can we expect from the train-wreck that is Michigan State? WhiteDawg at Double Duece has a preview with some good links. Tony Gerdman’s preview is up at The O-Zone and Buckeye Planet has an exhaustive preview as well (complete with a cowboy who can’t stop slapping himself).

And what about previous upsets that MSU has unexpectedly thrown on OSU? I was there, in the Horseshoe, in 1998. I’ve never spoken of the horrors I saw that day, and never will. I’ll never forget the feeling, though. It was a strange feeling to be surrounded by 90k+ people and hear a pin drop. But that ain’t happening this year. This Buckeye team is better coached and just as talented as the ’98 squad. The ’98 MSU team was coached by Nick Saban, not the unpredictable John L. I am predicting a big win in East Lansing. The dogs will not be called off this weekend.

Vegas has the line at 14 points. I thought it would be more than that. Do they know something we don’t? Maybe since the Buckeyes didn’t cover the spread last week (after covering it the first five weeks) they’re a little gun shy. What say you?

What about these questions:

Last week was the first game since early 2005 that the Buckeyes didn’t beat the spread. Will OSU ‘return to form’ by beating the spread again? O/U: 14 pts

In the 2005 OSU/MSU matchup, Drew Stanton was sacked 12 times. How many sacks does the OSU defense get this week? O/U: 6

Troy Smith is set to break the Big Ten record for career QB rating. What will Troy Smith’s completion percentage be? O/U: 72%

Will Ray Small see the endzone again this week? O/U: 1

el Kaiser’s predictions:
Final Score: OSU: 42 MSU: 6 (I see a butt-whipping happening tomorrow)
Spread: Waaaay over, 36
No. of Sacks: over, 9 (Pittcock makes up for Patterson missing a game a dedicates to sacks to him)
Troy’s completion %: under, 67%
Ray Small will see the end zone again. Twice (over)

sportsMonkey’s predictions:
Final Score: OSU, 38 – 10
Spread: Over, 28 pts.
No. of Sacks: Under, 5
CMP %: Under, 69%
Ray Small TDs: Even, 1

Zeke’s predictions:
Final Score: OSU: 31 MSU: 13
Spread: Over, 18 pts.
No. of Sacks: Over, 7
Troy’s completion %: Over, 80%
Ray Small will see the end zone again. Under, 0

Sylvester Yon-Rambo predictions:
Final Score: OSU: 23 MSU: 21
Spread: Under, 2 pts.
No. of Sacks: Under, 3
Troy’s completion %: Under, 53%
Ray Small will see the end zone again. Under, 0
I dont see us playing very well tomorrow. It will be very cold and there will be a lot snow on the ground and probably during the game as well. I cant help but remember 1998 and it makes me feel sick to my stomach everytime we play MSU. I hope I am dead Wrong and EL KISER is dead Right. Go Bucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!