The bad news is, there's no Buckeye football today. But after last week's debacle, that might also be the good news.
This team is broken, bruised and battered and in desperate need of some schematic changes. It needs this off week.
I don't think I've ever approached a bye week so agreeably in my life – remind me about this in early August when I'm posting 30 second clips of teens doing the circle drill because that's the closest thing we've gotten to football in months.
The downside is, we've got just a bummer of a Saturday slate to work with.
| TIME (ET) | MATCHUP | FAVORITE | TV CHANNEL |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12:00 | #2 CLEMSON @ FLORIDA STATE | CLEM (-17) | ABC |
| 12:00 | #20 WISCONSIN @ NORTHWESTERN | WISC (-4.5) | FOX |
| 12:00 | PURDUE @ MICHIGAN STATE | MSU (-2) | ESPN |
| 3:30 | #18 IOWA @ #17 PENN STATE | PSU (-6) | ESPN |
| 3:30 | #21 SOUTH FLORIDA @ HOUSTON | HOU (-7.5) | ABC |
| 3:30 | KANSAS STATE @ #8 OKLAHOMA | OKLA (-24.5) | FOX |
| 3:30 | #9 FLORIDA vs #7 GEORGIA | UGA (-6.5) | CBS |
| 4:00 | #12 KENTUCKY @ MISSOURI | MISS (-7) | SECN |
| 6:30 | #15 WASHINGTON @ CALIFORNIA | WASH (-11.5) | FS1 |
| 7:00 | #22 NC STATE @ SYRACUSE | NC STATE (-2) | ESPN2 |
| 7:00 | #16 TEXAS A&M @ MISSISSIPPI STATE | MISS. ST. (-1.5) | ESPN |
| 7:00 | #14 WASHINGTON ST. @ #24 STANFORD | STAN (-2.5) | PACN |
| 8:00 | #6 TEXAS @ OKLAHOMA STATE | TEX (-3.5) | ABC |
| 8:00 | #3 NOTRE DAME @ NAVY | ND (-24) | NBC |
| 10:30 | #19 OREGON @ ARIZONA | ORE (-9.5) | ESPN |
Word of the Day: Respite.
DIXON OF THE CORN. The black uniforms are back, and the Buckeyes are teasing them with a creepy as hell video of Johnnie Dixon running through a cornfield at night.
XI.III.XVIII #GoBucks #WinTheMoment pic.twitter.com/ntgp4wEVx6
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) October 26, 2018
That's some weird lighting for noon, to be honest. I've lived in Ohio for some time and it's never once looked like that around lunchtime.
In any case, real Johnnie is far less intimidating than what you see after the Hollywood magic from Ohio State's video team.
.@YoungKing_JD5: not actually a scary corn monster pic.twitter.com/iYBA8T20nG
— Zach Swartz (@zswartz) October 26, 2018
I'm pumped for these uniforms, but I'm not pumped to see what they look like at noon against a team with one win in front of a half-ass blackout crowd.
I guess we'll take what Nike's giving us.
STAYING BUSY ON THE BYE WEEK. As you're undoubtably aware, the Buckeyes do not have a football game this week. But instead of using that as time off, some footballers took it as a chance to help out in the community, along with some other student athletes.
200,000+ meals packed!
— Ohio State Buckeyes (@OhioStAthletics) October 25, 2018
Great work by everyone tonight at Pack Shack for an amazing cause #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/BJJsNQilv2
Ohio State teamed up Ohio University to bring meals to Athens County.
Were working with @OHIOStuAffairs and @KindColumbus to deliver the thousands of meals packed last night to food pantries throughout Athens County, where food insecurity affects Ohioans every day. #KindColumbus pic.twitter.com/zdeXI7CS5m
— Student Life at Ohio State (@StudentLifeOSU) October 26, 2018
I love seeing guys so eager to help out. It makes me want to get out from behind my keyboard and do something myself.
THIS IS WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT. Being extremely online gives me instant and relatively constant access to some of the worst, most unbearable college football fans in existence, Buckeye fans or otherwise.
That extremely vocal minority makes it easy to forget that most college football fans are actually pretty awesome. Here's proof:
As we were leaving, @theTylerTrents Mom @Kat9798 pulled out a stack of cards and said, We got a huge stack of cards yesterday, and 90% of them are from Ohio State fans. Way to go @OhioStAthletics @OhioStateFB @BarstoolOSU @Landgrant33 pic.twitter.com/Kb1Zv0DpQZ
— Trevor Peters (@TrevorPetersTV) October 26, 2018
Hell yeah, Buckeyes.
I'm nearly certain Tyler has never stumbled across my Internet words, so I may just have to put the pen to paper and send him one myself – especially after his Boilermakers drub Sparty this weekend.
FIVE QUICK WINNERS. Entering last week, I was on the brink of cracking .500 for the year, and then I blew it on Saturday.
Oregon couldn't keep it close against Washington State, Wisconsin and Illinois combined for 69 points (nice) in a blizzard with 20 mph winds thanks to seven total turnovers, USC went up early on Utah and then two quarterbacks got hurt, and how could we forget the debacle in West Lafayette.
If not for Michigan and Michigan State playing a football game that belonged in 1957, we would have gone winless.
So we're now 18-22 – still a sweep away from positive on the year. And here's that 5-0:
Texas A&M +2.5 against Mississippi State
I'm always nervous about ranked teams going on the road against quality conference opponents, but I just think the wrong team is favored here. Mississippi State is averaging less than 10 points per game against SEC opponents. It's a bad, bad offense, particularly through the air, and Texas A&M has a top-20 run defense. Mississippi State's defense is good, I just don't think the Bulldogs are going to be able to score enough points to win this game. Especially against a team that's lost two games all season, both coming against the nation's top-two teams, and one of those losses was by two points.
Purdue +1 against Michigan State
I have a secret: I don't think Michigan State is very good. The Spartans managed less than 100 yards against Michigan last week and the only touchdown they scored was on a touchdown pass to the quarterback when the Wolverines spotted them the ball inside the 10. And it's not like that was an extreme aberration, this team just hasn't looked good, besides an extremely ugly win over Penn State. Meanwhile Purdue is looking like a completely different team from their three losses to start the season – all of which it lost by one score. Purdue is winning this game outright.
Texas and Oklahoma State Under 62
This total is just too high, and I think it's because everyone is assuming two historically high-scoring Big XII teams are going to be in a shootout again. The problem is, it's not 2009. Oklahoma State has averaged almost 40 points a game the past three seasons, but is averaging less than 30 this season and Texas – outside of its 48 points against Oklahoma, which resulted in the Sooners firing their defensive coordinator – have not been terribly explosive either, and now they're dealing with a banged-up Sam Ehlinger. I could see this game finishing in the 31-21 range.
Washington State +3 against Stanford
You all have been here long enough to know that there's at least one pick a week that I'm all but certain I'm going to hate myself for making, but make anyway. Folks, this is the one. Everything about this screams letdown game for Washington State, yet here I am, picking the Cougs. The reason is, they're just the better football team, even on the road. I think Washington State wins outright, but I'll take the points if you'll give them to me.
Oregon -9.5 against Arizona
I think this is a bit of an overreaction to Oregon's lackluster performance against Washington State last week, because Arizona is just straight up not a good football team. I don't really think this one is even close, even with the game at Arizona. I think the Ducks cruise in the late game.
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