Ohio State went out and walloped the Akron Zips 59-7 with a backup quarterback and so everything is obviously fixed and there are no issues whatsoever with the team now because that’s how it works, right? RIGHT?! OK, perhaps not, but even a normal group of Buckeyes would likely have won this game with a similar score, give or take a touchdown. Chip Minnich and I talked about (what else?) the defense and how that side of the ball looked at the start of the game. We discussed Kyle McCord’s performance in his first start and Jack Miller’s mop-up duty, as well as the emergence of Steele Chambers as a viable candidate to become a breakout player, and go through this week’s champions and players of the week. We also checked our predictions and picks to click to see how we did this week.
Greg Patuto from On the Banks joined us this week to help us prepare for what to expect when the Buckeyes head to Piscataway, NJ to take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Big thanks to Greg for his Rutgers expertise and after seeing the Scarlet Knights shut down the Michigan run game this past Saturday, there could be some nervy moments throughout this road match-up for Ryan Day’s team.
One of the trouble spots this season so far has been finding the right combination of linebackers to provide both playmaking ability and chemistry with the other position groups on defense. This week didn’t help matters (or did it?) with Dallas Gant entering the transfer portal and the dismissal of K’Vaughan Pope in a bizarre mid-game tantrum when his frustration got the better of him. We touched on those departures and what they mean.
We took our usual walk through the Big Ten results from the weekend and some patterns are starting to emerge, particularly Graham Mertz not looking too good for Wisconsin, Indiana still not looking like the Hoosiers did last year, Illinois continuing to be bad, and Scott Frost continuing to lose close games. We also talked about some of the surprises and upsets nationally.
Finally, we took our final look at Rutgers, made our picks to click and our score predictions for this Saturday.
If you’ve got something you’d like to ask us in our mailbag section, hit us up on Twitter at @Mike36fan and @ChipMinnich and answers will be provided on the next episode.
Enjoy this week’s show. Thanks for listening.
