Urban held his weekly call-in show yesterday and coming off the bye week, there wasn't a lot of groundbreaking news.
As Meyer noted after Wednesday's practice, it sounds like Sabino is good to go after more than a month on the shelf with a broken fibula and with Wisconsin primed to run the ball 40+ times, we should see a lot of Sabino out there with Shazier and Boren. How those three perform will go a long way toward deciding a victor.
On the other side of the ball, Meyer said Bri'onte Dunn is still out with a sprained MCL and that Adam Homan is the third-string tailback. On special teams, a key gunner will be back as Armani Reeves returns to action.
Special units could very well loom large over the outcome Saturday but as usual when it comes to Wisconsin, the game will likely come down to which team wins the lines of scrimmage.
TRENCH WARFARE. The Badgers ran it a ridiculous 64 times for an equally insane 564 yards (8.8 ypc) last week against Indiana but got shut down the week prior as Sparty held Wisconsin to 19 yards on 0.5 ypc in 37 attempts.
The Bullets, specifically the front four, are keenly aware of what the Badgers bring to the table. Simon says:
"They're very physical and a very dominating team when they want to run the ball and when they get things going, they're hard to stop. We're going to have to make them one-dimensional on offense, stop that run early and do whatever we can to make it a passing game.
"Most physical team is going to win. That's usually what it is, they're going to try to run the football right down the middle, and it's our job to stop them. Whoever is tougher is going to win that battle."
No question the more physically dominant team typically prevails in this budding rivalry. There's also no doubt Big Hank feels pretty good about the matchup:
"We're built to stop the power and the run. That's what we do and that's what we've been known for around here. I feel like that's going to come pretty easy for us."
Not only is Hankins feeling confident, it sounds like he's looking for some payback for 2010 as well:
"I really don’t like them, to tell you the truth. I’m sure they probably hate us too, but I really don’t care what they think."
The refs better check both teams for shanks before this one kicks off because it's going to be an alley fight rivaling the intensity of the street battle in the Beat It video.
IT AIN'T EASY BEING GREEN. It's no secret the Buckeyes plan to follow a similar defensive gameplan to what Michigan State used in holding the Badgers to under 20 net rushing yards in a three-point loss back in late October.
In that contest, Bucky quarterbacks Joel Stave and Danny O'Brien were forced to throw it 22 times, completing 14 for 171 yards and a touchdown. That said, Stave is now out with a busted collarbone and O'Brien has been so bad Bielema was forced to turn to senior Curt Phillips last week against Indiana.
Phillips, despite his senior status, is as raw as Eddie Murphy with exactly 19 pass attempts and 11 completions on his career resume thanks partly to multiple ACL tears. Seven of those attempts came last week in his first career start as Bret saw no reason to pass with the Badger running game shredding the Hoosier defense.
That may have been a mistake as Phillips comes into Saturday having yet to really ever attempt getting into a rhythm throwing the football at the college level, something the Buckeye defense will dare him to do by stacking the box in an effort to take away the run.
On 12 actual pass plays called last week, Phillips was sacked twice with both coming deep in Hoosier territory.
Knowing the Buckeyes will often sell out to stop the run, the pressure will fall on Phillips to execute in the passing game. How he fares will be almost as big a factor as which team wins in the trenches.
RDS should be in the discussion for B1G Defensive POYI ALMOST FORGOT ABOUT THE LAME TROPHY NAMES. Brian Bennett took a look at how the players currently stack up in the B1G individual award races.
The Graham-George Offensive Player of the Year trophy is still Braxton's to lose with two huge games remaining. Taylor Martinez is still a pretty solid lock in the bridesmaid slot thanks to an average of 302 yards of total offense per game, a full 15 ahead of Braxton, with Montee Ball, Matt McGloin and Venric Mark rounding out Bennett's top five.
Ball is gaining ground and his 144 rushing yards per game leads the B1G by an impressive 14 yards so he seems slotted correctly, though I'd have Mark ahead of McGloin if for no other reason than Moxie cries too much.
Interestingly, Bennett doesn't have Shazier in the running for the Nagurski-Woodson Defensive Player of the Year. Four of his top five are linebackers yet only one of them, Gerald Hodges (10.0), is averaging more tackles than Shazier's 9.7 per game.
I'M SURE IT WAS ALL ABOUT THE SWEATSHOPS. Ohio State agreed yesterday to a 10 year, $97 million deal with J.America and Fanatics Inc., giving them exclusive rights to design, market, produce and distribute all retail apparel excepting the school's existing deal with Nike.
The agreement could be a crushing blow to many local businesses with some either losing their license to sell apparel or no longer having the ability to partner with a particular, potentially exclusive, vendor meaning the stores that survive will all likely have a more cookie-cutter selection of swag. All retail outlets will see their current license to sell OSU goods expire at the end of 2012 and they'll have to reapply for a license through J.America.
The university trumpets the deal for a variety of obvious reasons discussed in the article, including the ability to more confidently know Buckeye gear isn't being made in sweatshops, as summarized by Jeff Kaplan, SVP and executive officer to President Gee:
“This new partnership enables the university to protect and enhance the royalty revenues that support student success, continue its commitment to growing business in Ohio, and demonstrate leadership in socially responsible business practices."
"The new apparel model increases the university’s leverage to protect the rights of workers who are involved in the production of licensed apparel. We will significantly decrease the number of factories we need to monitor for human rights issues from more than 800 to fewer than 20, making it easier to enforce compliance with Ohio State’s code of conduct.”
Time will tell but I'd be real nervous if I operated a small Buckeye geared retail establishment.
SCREW JAY VALAI. Jersey Juxtapositions worth your perusal...The science of morning wood... Will Leitch examines what happened to Rick Reilly... SI.com hoops writers make their predictions for 2012-13... The consequences of an NFL coin toss... CFB scoring still on a record pace... Evil popcorn... Mashup! PE / Jackson 5 style.
