Here I am fuming after this poor showing, but after putting all the anger and bad thoughts, Our Buckeyes earned a tough, hard-fought victory over an Indiana team that just wouldn’t die.  I understand that there are games that are considered to be “trap” games and this game?  WAS THE TRAP…  At home too…  But that is neither here, nor there.  Let’s be real, there were very few highlights, so I will mention the very few that had occurred.

J.T. Barrett was not his usual self.  He struggled mightily and that is rare for the anointed leader for Ohio State.  He finished 9 for 21 for 93 measly yards through the air with a single touchdown strike to Dontre Wilson who shed a tackle en route to a 37-yard sprint to the end zone.  J.T. Barrett had 26 carries for 137 yards and a touchdown.  The touchdown came on a Quarterback run for 5-yards.  The other touchdowns scored were courtesy of Mike Weber and Curtis Samuel.  Both were scored deep within the red zone, Weber chipped in two scores from 9-yards and 1-yard out and Samuel chipped in his lone touchdown from 5-yards out.  This game was not the ideal showing prior to the two-game road trip to Wisconsin and then Penn State.  Wisconsin will have two weeks to prepare and I guarantee you that they watched this game for some weaknesses and I for one think that Indiana exposed the Buckeyes.  Not too much, but enough to give the Buckeyes fits.  They will most likely look at what Indiana did and use it with their personnel to try to secure a win at home.  I don’t know if the wind was that bad or J.T. Barrett had a bad day, but things better pick up because the latter half of the season is upon us and that is when the tougher matchups come up.  The offensive line needs to be more disciplined and they need to cut down on the dumb penalties because it prevents the team from reaching their potential.  That and the Wide Receivers and the Tight Ends need to make more of an impact.  You can’t mess this up because once again, the harder part of the schedule is upon us.

The Buckeyes Defense was pretty good when they sorely needed a key stop.  Although the Buckeye Offense put up numbers well below their season average, 383 total yards rushing and passing, they did their best and kept Indiana below their season averages, 281 combined.  The offense gave up two turnovers, but the defense took it away twice and one was a pick-six, but it was negated due to a chop block during the return.  This was a game where the defense looked like they were just going through the motions, expecting to show up and win, but for some reason, Indiana came out swinging for the fences and every time they hit the Buckeyes, the Buckeyes responded accordingly.  This game baffles me.  Indiana shouldn’t be in this, but like Jeremiah stated, Indiana IS the trap game, every year.  They always play Ohio State close and although they eventually lost by 21 points, the game was much closer than the final score looked to be.  There will be a lot of talk between the coaches and both units and I want them to be angry for the rest of the year.  Like angry after the Virginia Tech and Michigan State losses angry and I think that they will get lit up by Urban Meyer because he looked furious. Let’s hope the Silver Bullets reload because again, it is only going to get harder as the season progresses on. It always seems like, during a couple of games, our offensive play callers seem to forget our strengths, our bread, and butter.  This was close to last years Michigan State. Quarterback runs galore.  Cute, ineffective trickeration, mass movement, you name it.  Tim Beck and Ed Warriner tried it all.  Hope they fix it prior to our date against TTUN.  I am still a tad salty, but I still love my Buckeyes.  Now, on to Wisconsin.  O-H!!!

For the fifth game of the season, our Ohio State Buckeyes face off against a 3-1 Indiana Hoosier team fresh off of an overtime upset of the Michigan State Spartans at home.  The Hoosiers travel to Columbus for a date against the undefeated Buckeyes, in what could possibly turn out to be an exciting game in BIG 10 play.  Obviously, the Buckeyes are 4-0 and playing at home after a homecoming game that saw them take on a Rutgers team that was ill-prepared for them.  They won that game 58-0 and they had 8 different offensive players score touchdowns during that game.  This could either be the final home game tuneup or another exciting BIG 10 Conference game.  Let’s take a look at the playmakers on both squads.

Last season, the Quarterback controversy hit the Buckeyes squad hard and with the indecision at the most critical position the Buckeyes struggled mightily against the Hoosiers. Now, J.T. Barrett anointed as the clear-cut starter at Quarterback, the Buckeyes have stability at the helm to combat against the new-look Hoosiers Defense that has retained 9 of the 11 defenders from last years team.  J.T. Barrett will lead the charge against an experienced defense and I know he will be up to the task.  He has proved to be the leader in the locker room and he and the Buckeye coaches will get the team ready to as the great Bobby Boucher would say,”Open up a can of…”.  You know what I am implying and it’ll be interesting to see how he leads and what he is capable of doing to this experienced set of defenders.  Tegray Scales and company will attempt to stop J.T. Barrett from putting up points and putting the game out of hand.  That is a tall task and with the surplus amount of weapons on this Buckeyes squad, we will just have to wait and find out.  Speaking of weapons, Curtis Samuel is also hoping to make an impact during the game.  Last season Samuel was not utilized as frequently as he is being used this season.  He will look to put up huge numbers against the opposing defense to make up for last season’s near letdown.

On the other side of the equation, you have Richard Lagow and Devine Redding.  Lagow, a Junior from Plano, Texas has put up some eye-popping numbers so far this season.  He is 79 of 127 for 1278 yards, with 9 touchdown passes against 6 interceptions.  He completes 62% of his passes and has been sacked a total of 8 times so far.  He threw 5 of his 6 picks against a scrappy Wake Forrest Defense that forced him to make errant throws en route to a 33-28 win on Indiana’s own home turf.  If the Silver Bullets can force turnovers for the entirety of the game, they will be in good shape. The Buckeyes possess a stout defense that can turn offenses away and get to the Quarterback.  It might take a little bit, but they will get what they want.  At Running Backs Devine Redding returns and last season, he ground out 45 tough yards on 30 attempts for two scores and he will look for better results against a Buckeye Defense that made him earn every single yard from last year’s scrimmage.  With just as many defensive weapons donning the Scarlet and Gray, we will see if the depth at every position prevents Redding from having a great game.  The Buckeyes are a force to be reckoned with and they will impose their will against Indiana.

Results:

Last games prediction was close to being halfway correct.  The only thing I didn’t predict was the shutout.  I was close to the amount of points that the Buckeyes put up (55-12) and I was off by 3 points.  This week, I think the Silver Bullets get the turnovers that continue to make them one of the best defenses in the nation. Ohio State will look to make and impact on defense and to score.  I have a feeling that the Rushmen will put the pressure on the Indiana Offense, early and often and suffocate them against the run and pass.  The Secondary will also give no breathing room to the Hoosiers Wide Receiving corps.  I say the Buckeyes get to Lagow and sack him 4 times and add 3 interceptions and a fumble during the game.  J.T. Barrett goes off again and firmly places himself into Buckeyes lore with 242 passing yards with 3 total touchdowns, 2 passing touchdowns and a rushing score.  Weber goes bananas with another 100+ yards for the game and a score.  Samuel is used throughout the game and will rack up nearly 160+ total yards with a pair of scores. The defense turned the ball over and scores once.

Final Score:  49-3 Ohio State

marked the beginning of the 2015-2016 College Football season.  With a few high profile games in the books we have already witnessed a perceived upset at TTUN’s expense.  College Football is a beautiful thing and any team can be beaten, at any given moment or anytime during the season.  We as fans have been dealt a near death-blow at The Shoe last season when the visiting Hokies came in and outplayed us.  I am sure that we all experienced a lot of anxiety and a lot of doubt afterwards.  The ESPN pawns doubting The Buckeyes and doubting the BIG as a whole.  We suffered that entire week.  But look what happened.  We took the loss like men, the team came together and we took the entire nation by storm en-route to being crowned the Inaugural College Football Playoff Champions.  What a feeling.  Now after spending the year in the hunt and as the hunter, the Buckeyes find themselves as being the hunted.  The Chase has now been dubbed as The Grind.  The Grind to defend.  The Grind to prepare for every teams best shot.  During this article I will compare and contrast both teams.  I will also let you know who has the upper-hand in each category.  I want to analyze and predict the outcome, but most importantly have fun with it.

The Coach:

This year our Buckeyes will be opening up the season in Blacksburg and the atmosphere will be intense.  With Frank Beamer at the helm as Head Coach, the Hokies have gone an impressive 134-39-1 in his 29 seasons at Virginia Tech.  He has a career winning percentage of .667% out of 348 games.  That is 231-115-2 for you analytical folks.  Urban Meyer has coached for the last 14 years with stints at Bowling Green, Utah, Florida and then Ohio State.  He has compiled an astounding 142-26 W-L record and a 8-2 record in Bowl Games.  Meyer holds a .845% winning percentage, besting rival Nick Saban’s .754% record.  Even though Saban and Beamer have been coaching longer, you cannot sleep on or doubt Meyer’s ability to get his team to perform at a higher level, during big games and throughout the season.

Beamer pulled out the win last season by upsetting the Buckeyes in Columbus.  Do they have what it takes to pull out another?  As I fan, I hope not, but like what Lee Corso would say, “not so fast my friend.”, the silver bullets will look to decimate the same opponent who nearly cost them while pursuing the Championship Chase.  I understand that it was last year, but I am still semi-upset about it.  The one play that immediately comes to mind is the pick-6 at the end to seal the game for Virginia Tech.  But I know Meyer has a plan in place.  During highly anticipate “revenge games”, Meyer has compiled a 9-2 record during these instances.  This is since 2001.  So watch out Beamer.  The Silver Bullets are coming.  With that statement, I am predicting Meyer to stretch that record to 10-2.  Meyer will scheme and find ways to make the Hokies pay for almost costing them a championship last year.

My Prediction:  Ohio State.

Offense vs Offense:

The Buckeyes are absolutely loaded on offense even with the suspensions of two of their premier offensive weapons, Dontre Wilson and Jalin Marshall.  They will also be without Corey Smith, who showed up when the Buckeyes needed plays the most last season.  That is a huge loss for the Buckeyes.  Couple that with the loss of Noah Brown and a less confident Buckeye fan would spaz out.  Don’t fret though, with the QB battle still raging on and with the positional switch for Braxton Miller, I expect no drop off.  The younger, less experienced players (ahem, Johnnie Dixon, James Clark) and potentially a few freshmen (looking at you K.J Hill).  Someone will step up.  Other than that, RB Elliot, WR Thomas and TE Vannett all have returned and the Buckeyes looked primed for another run.  They will also look forward to doling out some revenge.

Now on the Virginia Tech sideline, Michael Brewer is back and primed for another huge game against the Buckeyes, but during this game they will be the home team.  Other than Brewer, TE Ryan Malleck and WR Demitri Knowles will provide the necessary Senior leadership to a young Hokies Offense.  Can the younger players make an impact and will they step up?

Advantage:  Ohio State.

Defense vs Defense:

With Joey Bosa being held out for this game, it will be interesting to see how DE Jalyn Holmes and DE Sam Hubbard will fare during Bosa’s absence.  With LB’s Lee, Perry and McMillan returning and with DT Washington and DB’s Bell, Powell and Apple in the fold, it would be difficult to get momentum against this defense.  There are pieces in places and emerging underclassmen who will also be utilized at some point this season.  There is a ton of potential and I am anxious to see who will step up and who will falter.

On the Virginia Tech sideline, CB Kendell Fuller is the most well know player on the defense.  FS Riley, the player who recorded the pick-6 at the end of regulation will look to shut down the Ohio State offense.  With a young defensive line the defense will look toward the challenge.  Last year the defense caused 3 INT’s.  Can they repeat and will the Bear Defense work again?

Advantage:  Ohio State.

While this won’t be a walk in the park.  Blacksburg will offer a lot of crowd noise and a bunch of obnoxious fans, but it won’t deter Ohio State from getting the revenge that they want and that they need to have.  They are hungry and they want to come out swinging on all cylinder and I expect to see a lot of fireworks.  J.T. Barrett will be the starter, but the Hokies mustn’t focus on him alone.  Cardale Jones will apparently get some time at QB and former QB Braxton Miller will look to burn DB’s all around the field.  Let’s not forget about Ezekiel Elliot, Michael Thomas and Nick Vannett could do to shred a defense.  I know that it may seem biased, but hey I said that I wanted to have fun with it so I predict the Buckeyes to shred the Hokies in every phase of the game.  Go Bucks!

Final Score:  Ohio State defeats Virginia Tech, 52-17