If any of you ever get the urge to complain about any alternate uniform Ohio State decides to roll out, remember – at least it ain't this.
TCUs uniform for the Texas game. pic.twitter.com/7A1q0YAtvv
— Drew Davison (@drewdavison) October 22, 2019
ICYMI
- Northwestern snap counts.
- Wisconsin is still Ohio State's stiffest test yet.
- A former Buckeye is helping Corey Kiner grow.
- Ohio State is focusing on continual self-improvement.
- It's a benchmark game for Ohio State's offense.
Word of the Day: Gleek.
KHALIL MACK, VONN MILLER, LEBRON JAMES HYBIRD. Chase Young like how you would expect a defensive end created in a lab to look, and it's becoming increasingly hilarious to listen to folks try to explain both how good and physically terrifying he is.
But Pete Thamel (and Nick Bosa, via Thamel) gave it a try!
To and and all NFL teams valuing my assessment – draft Chase Young. Just draft him. He's the best, most can't-miss player I've ever seen at Ohio State, and that includes the guy who might be the best pass rusher in the league as a rookie who's played six games.
GREAT VALUE. I never thought I'd know a universe where Ohio State does not have one of the 20 highest-paid head coaches in the country, but that's where we are currently.
Ohio State is undefeated, the No. 3 team in the country and is waxing opponents by an average of 42 points a game. But Ryan Day is just the 22nd highest-paid coach in the country.
From USA TODAY's database:
| Rk | School | Conf | Coach | School Pay | Total Pay | Max Bonus | Bonuses paid (2018-19) | School Buyout As Of 12/1/19 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clemson | ACC | Dabo Swinney | $9,255,000 | $9,315,600 | $1,125,000 | $1,075,000 | $50,000,000 |
| 2 | Alabama | SEC | Nick Saban | $8,707,000 | $8,857,000 | $1,100,000 | $875,000 | $34,100,000 |
| 3 | Michigan | Big Ten | Jim Harbaugh | $7,504,000 | $7,504,000 | $1,325,000 | $350,000 | $11,687,500 |
| 4 | Texas A&M | SEC | Jimbo Fisher | $7,500,000 | $7,500,000 | $1,500,000 | $250,000 | $60,625,000 |
| 5 | Georgia | SEC | Kirby Smart | $6,703,600 | $6,871,600 | $1,150,000 | $275,000 | $24,239,584 |
| 6 | Auburn | SEC | Gus Malzahn | $6,800,000 | $6,827,589 | $1,400,000 | $125,000 | $27,050,000 |
| 7 | Texas | Big 12 | Tom Herman | $6,750,000 | $6,750,000 | $725,000 | $220,000 | $20,416,667 |
| 8 | Purdue | Big Ten | Jeff Brohm | $6,600,000 | $6,600,000 | $1,290,000 | $337,500 | $27,650,000 |
| 9 | Oklahoma | Big 12 | Lincoln Riley | $6,384,462 | $6,384,462 | $950,000 | $205,000 | $21,013,333 |
| 10 | Florida | SEC | Dan Mullen | $6,070,000 | $6,070,000 | $925,000 | $400,000 | $12,000,000 |
| 11 | Penn State | Big Ten | James Franklin | $5,650,000 | $5,650,000 | $1,000,000 | $200,000 | $16,495,833 |
| 12 | Northwestern | Big Ten | Pat Fitzgerald | $5,144,937 | $5,144,937 | -- | -- | -- |
| 13 | Oklahoma State | Big 12 | Mike Gundy | $5,125,000 | $5,125,000 | $900,000 | $62,500 | $16,632,813 |
| 14 | Nebraska | Big Ten | Scott Frost | $5,000,000 | $5,000,000 | $950,000 | -- | $20,416,667 |
| 15 | Florida State | ACC | Willie Taggart | $5,000,000 | $5,000,000 | $1,475,000 | -- | $17,708,333 |
| 16 | South Florida | AAC | Charlie Strong | $5,000,000 | $5,000,000 | $815,000 | $30,000 | -- |
| 17 | Texas Christian | Big 12 | Gary Patterson | $4,900,776 | $4,900,776 | -- | -- | -- |
| 18 | Iowa | Big Ten | Kirk Ferentz | $4,800,000 | $4,800,000 | $2,875,000 | $825,000 | $21,571,250 |
| 19 | Kentucky | SEC | Mark Stoops | $4,750,000 | $4,763,600 | $2,750,000 | $1,050,000 | $22,703,125 |
| 20 | Washington | Pac-12 | Chris Petersen | $4,625,000 | $4,625,000 | $1,050,000 | $450,000 | $21,770,833 |
| 21 | Stanford | Pac-12 | David Shaw | $4,613,707 | $4,613,707 | -- | -- | -- |
| 22 | Ohio State | Big Ten | Ryan Day | $4,500,000 | $4,500,000 | $800,000 | -- | $18,750,000 |
| 23 | South Carolina | SEC | Will Muschamp | $4,400,000 | $4,400,000 | $1,400,000 | $175,000 | $19,437,500 |
| 24 | Michigan State | Big Ten | Mark Dantonio | $4,399,437 | $4,399,437 | $650,000 | $75,000 | $7,000,000 |
| 25 | Wisconsin | Big Ten | Paul Chryst | $4,150,000 | $4,150,000 | $1,250,000 | $1,650 | $14,993,055 |
To be fair, $4.5 million is still a healthy chunk of change, and I'm not sure what more are you supposed to give a guy with absolutely no full-time head coaching experience stepping into the role for the first time.
But it's still still hilarious that he makes over half a million dollars less than two head coaches he beat by a combined score of 100-10.
I think he might be due for a raise in the very near future because I'm confident this whole "coaching football" thing is going to work out fine for him.
DOBBINS VS. TAYLOR. We've got a battle between the Big Ten's best backs on this as Jonathan Taylor and J.K. Dobbins will both try to gash the other's team on Saturday afternoon.
But history favors Dobbins.
From Jim Tomlin of Saturday Tradition:
This season: Taylor has a slight edge in total rushing yardage through seven games, 957 to 947. Dobbins, however, has a much better average. Dobbins has 7.1 yards per carry — among FBS players averaging 7 yards or better per carry, he’s the only one with more than 120 carries (with 134). Taylor has 157 carries, averaging 6.1 yards a pop.
Taylor is a bit more involved in the passing game, with 16 catches for 138 yards and 4 touchdowns. Dobbins has 10 catches for 74 yards and 2 TDs.
Head to head: Dobbins rushed for 171 yards against the Badgers the last time these teams squared off, in the 2017 Big Ten Championship Game. That’s one of the Buckeye star’s five best career performances — interestingly, the top four all came on the road and that Wisconsin performance was at a neutral site.
Taylor’s only shot at OSU came in the same game, but the Buckeyes held Taylor, then a freshman, to 41 yards on 15 carries.
I love tossing in the "then a freshman" line to explain away why Taylor shit the bed in the biggest game of the season while completely neglecting to mention that the guy who gashed Wisconsin for 171 yards on 17 carries in the same damn game was also a freshman.
Anyway, yeah. I've seen this movie before. Taylor will finish with fewer than 70 rushing yards on Saturday and his Buckeye counterpart is going to absolutely bury the Badgers.
THE HATE IS STRONG. For all the talk about kickoff times and viewing time slots, the truth is that Ohio State fans are going to watch the game no matter what, just like they did on Friday.
You could schedule a kickoff 2:30 a.m. and Ohio State fans would make sure it was one of the most-watched games of the weekend.
But it turns out they'll also show up to watch their second-favorite team – whoever's playing Michigan.
Columbus had a higher TV rating of the Michigan-Penn State game than Detroit and Pittsburgh. Dayton's rating was higher than Philadelphia's. Ohio State fans' fixation with Michigan never ceases to amaze me. pic.twitter.com/fKFmS126nd
— Kyle Rowland (@KyleRowland) October 22, 2019
Not that Rowland fits this bill as he's just making an observation, but generally speaking, I love when the Mitten folk try to act like Ohio State's "fixation" (call it an "obsession" if you want, I don't object) with Michigan is a bad thing and not the exact mentality that gave us wins in 14 of the last 15 games.
Yes, keep complaining that we're obsessive. We'll keep kicking that ass like it's never been kicked.
VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED. Paris Johnson Jr. is the top player in the state, the top tackle in the country and the No. 7 player overall. And each week, he's matched up against a team of mostly average Ohio athletes.
The results are probably worse than you'd even expect.
One day, Paris Johnson Jr. and Dawand Jones are going to be on the same offensive line and the slobs as a unit are going to have to rebrand as an IHOP.
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