The Red Wolves will be in danger this Saturday when Arkansas State visits Columbus to face the Buckeyes.
Ohio State is off the heels of a top-five win over Notre Dame – an 11-point victory that wasn't flashy but required hard-nosed, tough football to get the job done. That matchup was the talk of the weekend, reeling in 10.5 million viewers as the most-watched college football game in Week 1.
Meanwhile, Arkansas State took care of business against Grambling State, 58-3, behind a four-touchdown performance from quarterback James Blackman. However, don't let the Red Wolves' hot start fool you.
Ohio State has one of the best rosters in the nation, and Ryan Day has preached that his team needs to be skilled, disciplined and tough this week after what he would call an imperfect outing against Notre Dame.
Arkansas State celebrated its win over Grambling State. Ohio State was unsatisfied with (but still thankful for) its win over Notre Dame. The standards are different for the Buckeyes, as they should be. If all goes according to plan, Ryan Day will have his starters out of the game early in the second half, allowing some of the backups to earn much-needed experience.
The Buckeyes will win this one big.
Let's have a good Saturday, shall we?
THE MENU. For whatever reason, I've heard a lot about how the second week of the college football season usually has the least entertaining games. But that doesn't seem like the case in 2022. I think some compelling matchups deserve some attention, which I'll bold in the chart.
Below is the full slate of games for Saturday:
| Matchup | Time (ET) | TV/Mobile |
|---|---|---|
| Missouri at Kansas State | 12:00pm | ESPN2 |
| Thomas More at Duquesne | 12:00pm | NEC Front Row |
| 23 Wake Forest at Vanderbilt | 12:00pm | SECN |
| Western Illinois at Minnesota | 12:00pm | BTN |
| Southern Miss at 15 Miami (FL) | 12:00pm | ACCN |
| Ohio at Penn State | 12:00pm | ABC |
| North Carolina at Georgia State | 12:00pm | ESPNU |
| Duke at Northwestern | 12:00pm | FS1 |
| Arkansas State at 3 Ohio State | 12:00pm | BTN |
| 1 Alabama at Texas | 12:00pm | FOX |
| UTSA at Army | 12:00pm | CBSSN |
| South Carolina at 16 Arkansas | 12:00pm | ESPN |
| Charleston Sou. at 18 NC State | 12:30pm | RSN/ESPN3 |
| Colgate at Maine | 1:00pm | FloSports |
| South Alabama at Central Michigan | 1:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Fordham at Monmouth | 1:00pm | FloSports |
| Post at Stonehill | 1:00pm | NEC Front Row |
| Villanova at LIU | 1:00pm | NEC Front Row |
| Virginia-Lynchburg at Presbyterian | 1:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Southern Utah at 13 Utah | 1:30pm | P12N |
| Bucknell at VMI | 1:30pm | ESPN+ |
| Michigan Tech at St. Thomas | 2:00pm | TommieSports.com |
| Missouri S&T at Drake | 2:00pm | ESPN3 |
| Western Michigan at Ball State | 2:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Dayton at Youngstown State | 2:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Lafayette at Temple | 2:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Marshall at 8 Notre Dame | 2:30pm | NBC/Peacock |
| Morehead State at Montana State | 3:00pm | ESPN+ |
| South Dakota at Montana | 3:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Maryland at Charlotte | 3:30pm | Stadium |
| Washington State at 19 Wisconsin | 3:30pm | FOX |
| 24 Tennessee at 17 Pitt | 3:30pm | ABC |
| Appalachian State at 6 Texas A&M | 3:30pm | ESPN2 |
| Colorado at Air Force | 3:30pm | CBS |
| Furman at 5 Clemson | 3:30pm | ACCN |
| Memphis at Navy | 3:30pm | CBSSN |
| North Carolina A&T at North Dakota State | 3:30pm | ABC ND/ESPN+ |
| Kennesaw State at Cincinnati | 3:30pm | ESPN+ |
| 25 Houston at Texas Tech | 4:00pm | FS1 |
| Virginia at Illinois | 4:00pm | ESPNU |
| Samford at 2 Georgia | 4:00pm | SECN |
| Portland State at Washington | 4:00pm | P12N Washington |
| Northern Iowa at North Dakota | 4:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Northern Colorado at Wyoming | 4:00pm | MWN |
| Middle Tennessee at Colorado State | 4:00pm | MWN |
| Iowa State at Iowa | 4:00pm | BTN |
| Indiana State at Purdue | 4:00pm | BTN |
| Norfolk State at James Madison | 4:00pm | ESPN3 |
| Eastern Kentucky at Bowling Green | 4:00pm | ESPN3 |
| Akron at 14 Michigan State | 4:00pm | BTN |
| MVSU at Austin Peay | 4:00pm | ESPN+ |
| SC State at Bethune-Cookman | 4:00pm | ESPN+ |
| ETSU at The Citadel | 4:00pm | Nexstar |
| Wagner at Rutgers | 4:00pm | BTN |
| UNLV at California | 4:00pm | P12N Bay Area |
| San Diego at Cal Poly | 5:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Lehigh at Georgetown | 5:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Alabama State at UCLA | 5:00pm | P12N |
| UIW at Nevada | 5:30pm | NSN |
| Saint Francis U. at Richmond | 5:30pm | NBCS WA / FloSports |
| Holy Cross at Buffalo | 6:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Rhode Island at Bryant | 6:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Tuskegee at Hampton | 6:00pm | FloSports |
| Campbell at William & Mary | 6:00pm | FloSports |
| UAB at Liberty | 6:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Louisiana Christian at Stetson | 6:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Sacred Heart at CCSU | 6:00pm | ESPN3 |
| Winston-Salem State at NC Central | 6:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Taylor at Butler | 6:00pm | FloSports |
| Old Dominion at East Carolina | 6:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Elon at Wofford | 6:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Kansas at West Virginia | 6:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Southeastern La. at Florida Atlantic | 6:00pm | ESPN3 |
| Albany State at Florida A&M | 6:00pm | HBCU Go |
| Gardner-Webb at Coastal Carolina | 6:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Robert Morris at Miami (Ohio) | 6:00pm | ESPN3 |
| Delaware State at Delaware | 6:00pm | FloSports |
| FIU at Texas State | 7:00pm | ESPN+ |
| North American at UAPB | 7:00pm | UAPB SN |
| New Hampshire at UAlbany | 7:00pm | FloSports |
| Alcorn State at Tulane | 7:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Chattanooga at Eastern Illinois | 7:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Eastern Michigan at Louisiana | 7:00pm | NFLN |
| Southeast Missouri at Southern Illinois | 7:00pm | ESPN3/+ |
| Lamar at SMU | 7:00pm | ESPN+ |
| NIU at Tulsa | 7:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Barton at Davidson | 7:00pm | Davidson All-Access |
| Stephen F. Austin at Louisiana Tech | 7:00pm | ESPN3 |
| UC Davis at South Dakota State | 7:00pm | MidcoSN/ESPN+ |
| UMass at Toledo | 7:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Western Carolina at Georgia Tech | 7:00pm | ACCNX/ESPN+ |
| Assumption at Merrimack | 7:00pm | NEC Front Row |
| Central Arkansas at 22 Ole Miss | 7:00pm | SECN+/ESPN+ |
| UVA Wise at North Alabama | 7:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Howard at USF | 7:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Jackson State vs. Tennessee State (in Memphis, TN) | 7:00pm | TV TBA |
| Weber State at Utah State | 7:00pm | MWN |
| Syracuse at UConn | 7:00pm | CBSSN |
| Lindenwood at Houston Baptist | 7:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Northwestern State vs. Grambling State (in Shreveport, LA) | 7:00pm | HBCULP+ |
| Alabama A&M at Troy | 7:00pm | ESPN3 |
| Kent State at 7 Oklahoma | 7:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Morgan State at Towson | 7:00pm | MPT/FloSports |
| Northern Arizona at Sam Houston | 7:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Jacksonville State at Murray State | 7:00pm | ESPN+ |
| 20 Kentucky at 12 Florida | 7:00pm | ESPN |
| Texas A&M-Commerce at Tennessee Tech | 7:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Valparaiso at Illinois State | 7:30pm | MSN/ESPN+ |
| San Jose State at Auburn | 7:30pm | ESPNU |
| McNeese at Rice | 7:30pm | ESPN3 |
| Georgia Southern at Nebraska | 7:30pm | FS1 |
| Arizona State at 11 Oklahoma State | 7:30pm | ESPN2 |
| Southern at LSU | 7:30pm | SECN |
| 10 USC at Stanford | 7:30pm | ABC |
| Texas Southern at North Texas | 7:30pm | ESPN3 |
| Tarleton State at TCU | 8:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Nicholls at ULM | 8:00pm | ESPN3 |
| Boston College at Virginia Tech | 8:00pm | ACCN |
| Hawaii at 4 Michigan | 8:00pm | BTN |
| Idaho at Indiana | 8:00pm | BTN |
| Prairie View A&M at Abilene Christian | 8:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Idaho State at San Diego State | 8:00pm | MWN |
| Eastern Washington at Oregon | 8:30pm | P12N |
| Chadron State at Utah Tech | 9:00pm | ESPN+ |
| New Mexico State at UTEP | 9:00pm | ESPN+ |
| 9 Baylor at 21 BYU | 10:15pm | ESPN |
| Oregon State at Fresno State | 10:30pm | CBSSN |
| Mississippi State at Arizona | 11:00pm | FS1 |
BACK TO THE BUCKEYES. Ohio State is favored by 43.5 points over Arkansas State on Saturday. According to Odds Shark and Orri Benatar of WDTN in Dayton, that point spread is the ninth to exceed 40 points since 2013.
Ohio State opens as 44-point favorites over Arkansas State. https://t.co/kS5bAQq3Xo
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) September 4, 2022
Here is a look at the eight previous times the Buckeyes have been significant favorites against their opponents (from highest to lowest):
- Ohio State (-52) at Rutgers (Nov. 16, 2019) - Buckeyes won 56-21
- Ohio State (-51) vs. Florida A&M (Sept. 21, 2013) - Buckeyes won 76-0
- Ohio State (-48) vs. Akron (Sept. 25, 2021) - Buckeyes won 59-7
- Ohio State (-42.5) vs. Maryland (Nov. 9, 2019) - Buckeyes won 73-14
- Ohio State (-42.5) vs. Hawaii (Sept. 12, 2015) - Buckeyes won 38-0
- Ohio State (-41) vs. Illinois (Nov. 18, 2017) - Buckeyes won 52-14
- Ohio State (-40.5) vs. UNLV (Sept. 23, 2017) - Buckeyes won 54-21
- Ohio State (-40) vs. Oregon State (Sept. 1, 2018) - Buckeyes won 77-31
The 43.5 points favoring Ohio State is the fourth-highest for the program since 2013. In the previous eight instances of the Buckeyes being favored by more than 40 points, they covered that spread 50 percent of the time, making the team's chances of covering on Saturday a coin flip.
MY PICKS. I've decided to share some of my totally solid insider knowledge on college football with you. Yes, I have studied all the tapes for these teams and all of my predictions will be correct, except when they aren't. 2022 RECORD: 1-2
- No. 10 USC at Stanford (+8.5) - USC has lost a game like this pretty much every season since Pete Carroll left for the Seahawks. Lincoln Riley and Caleb Williams are in Los Angeles now, which means the Trojans could be a force in the Pac-12. However, Stanford has some talent with Tanner McKee and E.J. Smith, son of NFL legend Emmitt Smith, coming out of the backfield. I like the Cardinal to cover here.
- No. 1 Alabama (-20) at Texas - I'll admit that I had high hopes for Quinn Ewers' future as a Buckeye. How could I not? He was a perfectly-rated recruit. Still, I'm afraid the Texan with a mullet is in for a rude awakening this weekend. Will Anderson Jr. is about to put Ewers in the dirt several times on Saturday and the Crimson Tide will win convincingly, leaving Alabama fans with a CFP resume builder to brag about for the rest of 2022.
- Appalachian State (+19) at Texas A&M - Did anyone watch that Appalachian State game last weekend? The Mountaineers scored 40 points in one quarter and cleared 60 points against North Carolina. Meanwhile, the Aggies needed a handful of explosive offensive plays to beat Sam Houston. This game will be close if Texas A&M can't generate offense, which I think is entirely possible. I'll take App State to cover in this one.
ITHE RED WOLVES' DOSSIER. We had a full week of coverage at Eleven Warriors to preview Ohio State's Week 2 matchup with Arkansas State. Here is everything you need to know about how the Buckeyes are preparing for the Red Wolves:
- Five Things to Know About Arkansas State
- JSN's Injury "Not a Long-Term Thing"
- Contingency Plans Made for JSN
- Ohio State Unbothered by Slow Offensive Start
- Real Pod Wednesdays: Biggest Takeaways
- Arkansas State Game Poster
- Mic Check: Arkansas State
- Josh Proctor Still Vital to OSU Defense
- Emeka Egbuka's Time to Shine
- Ryan Day Radio Show
- Across the Field: Arkansas State
- Arkansas State Game Trailer
- Arkansas State Preview
- Eleven Warriors Roundtable: Arkansas State
- Opportunity for Backups Against ASU
SONG OF THE DAY. "We Will Rock You" by Queen.
CUT TO THE CHASE. King Charles III vows "lifelong service" to England in his first address... The MLB approved rule changes for the 2023 season... NASA wants to launch that one rocket they keep delaying in late September... New research finds that consuming artificial sweeteners could raise risk of heart disease or stroke... A squirrel caused 10,000 to lose power in Virginia.
