A good friend of mine is a huge Buckeye fan and he writes a weekly email "blast" about the Buckeye's to his friends as a hobby.
He always finds some good nugget of information while researching. As an example - I had no idea about the grass at Ryan!
And the weather could, indeed, be a (big?) factor tomorrow.
Go Cats!
The games in November are the ones you remember, it is said, but the old scribbler thought October went out with a blast last weekend.
JT Tuimoloau's performance was a once in a lifetime thing, in your correspondent's opinion, and it reminded me of Trey Sermon's 331 yard rushing game the last time our favs took on Northwestern. That was December, 2020, in the B1G title game, and our Buckeyes were favored by about 16 or so. The Fitzcats led at the half, 10-6, but they kept feeding Sermon the ball and he kept running and running and running.
He had 29 carries for an OSU single game mark of 331 yards and two TDs as the Buckeyes won, 22-10.
The wise guys make OSU a 38-point favorite in tomorrow's tilt in Evanston, with an over/under of 55 1/2 points. The money line is familiar, OSU -10000, which implies a 99+% chance of a Buckeye victory. The felines have had a tough season. They beat Nebraska over in Dublin, Ireland, to start the season, but have now lost seven straight. A victory this weekend against all odds would be the biggest in Northwestern history.
ABC will televise the game with the kickoff shortly after noon, eastern. The OSU Alumni Club of the CSRA will host a watch party at The Carolina Ale House in Augusta, and all Buckeye fans are invited to join the festivities. You need not be a member.
The last time the scarlet and gray visited Ryan Field they walked away with a 52-3 win in 2019. Pat Fitzgerald, in his 17th year at the helm, has never beaten Ohio State, but he has some help on the way in the form of the weather.
As we go to press around midday Friday, the forecast is for gale warnings on Lake Michigan most of tomorrow. They are forecasting overnight rains that will soak the natural grass turf in Evanston, but the rain should abate about game time. The winds, though, will be something else. They may force the Buckeyes to run a lot more, and there are those who think we have problems running the rock. Beware. Miyan Williams should be back. The injury he sustained last week was to his hand, which apparently got caught in the yardage chains when he was tackled along the sideline.
Tre Henderson is ready, too. This could become a great opportunity for the O line to get into harness for a real snot knocker. JSN11 will not be there, but we've done fine without him. If the wind is howling, there won't be many long bombs attempted, and that's to Northwestern's advantage. Their DBs just can't stay with our WRs consistently, but CJ Stroud can opt for shorter routes.
Northwestern apparently has enough money to build beautiful new athletic facilities, but nothing for lawn mowers. The grass on the field is the longest in the nation and is kept that way for a reason. To slow down opponents.
Former Buckeye Josh Perry, now an analyst with BTN, says its the longest grass he ever played on, high school, college or pro.
The grass is so long that if was a golf course, we'd call it "heavy rough."
The Bucks will have to deal with the elements, but so will the Cats. If past is a forecaster, though, the crowd will be a decided edge for Ohio State. Your correspondent looked on line Thursday and there were plenty of ducats available for as low as $23. That means we'll see a large turnout of Buckeye fans.
The last time Northwestern beat our boys was in 2004 in Evanston. It was a night game and it went to OT and your reporter was there to see it all. The crowd was largely scarlet and gray and overwhelmed the facilities. All the concession stands were out of stuff to sell by halftime, and there were long, long lines at for the "facilities."
A note of interest: Buckeye OC Kevin Wilson was the OC at Northwestern from 99-01. He was with the late Randy Walker when he went from our Miami to Northwestern. Together, they put together a team that was B1G co- champs in 2000.
Buckeyes are on the verge of setting a couple of records, according to the folks at BTN. OSU has scored 20+ points in 69 straight games, tying a record set by Oklahoma. Oddly, the last time our boys were held under 20 points was the 30-16 loss to the Sooners in Ohio Stadium in 2017, and guess who was there for that one, too? Yep. This old scribe. The OK streak was stopped last season at WVU.
The Bucks also have scored 44+ points in seven straight games, tying a B1G record set by the stinkers 123 years ago. I wonder if Ryan Day cares? Who keeps upo with all these numbers?
This will be the 80th meeting between the two. Ohio State holds a strong advantage, 64-14-1. The largest margin of victory was in 81 when Earle's Buckeyes beat the Cats, 70-6.
Statwise this game pits Ohio State's B1G leader in scoring O against Northwestern, which has the worst scoring O in the loop. In scoring D, Ohio State ranks 5th in the conference, while Northwestern is ranked 12th.
The Cats gave Penn State a heck of a game five weeks ago during a monsoon that spun off Hurricane Ian, The final was 17-7, PSU, but it was a "comedy or tragedy" of turnovers. Penn State fumbled four times and had one pass picked, whilst Northwestern fumbled twice and also got intercepted.
The turnover margin between Saturday's foes is glaring: OSU +9, Northwestern -9.
Our pick: Ohio State 56, Northwestern 14.
In other B1G games this weekend:
Maryland visits Wisconsin (-4 1/2); Minnesota (-15 1/2) is at Nebraska; Iowa goes to Purdue (-3 1/2); Penn State (-13 1/2) is at Indiana; Sparty visits Illinois (-17 1/2) and the skunkbears (-25 1/2) go to Rutgers.
This weekend is void of MACtion, as they have moved to weeknights for television exposure, so we have those scores. Ball State upset Kent State, 27-20; Our OU is bidding for a division title with a 45-24 win over Buffalo; Central outhouse beat Northern Illinois, 35-22 and BG edged Western outhouse, 13-9.
National games of interest:
Top ranked Tennessee visits third ranked Georgia (-8 1/2); Bama (-13 1/2) plays Saturday night at LSU; Clemson (-3 1/2) is at Notre Dame; Oregon (-31.5) is at Colorado; Texas Tek visits TCU (-8 1/2); UCLA (-10 1/2) goes to AZ State; Cal is at SoCal (-21 1/2) and Navy is at Cincy (-18.5).
He always finds some good nugget of information while researching. As an example - I had no idea about the grass at Ryan!
And the weather could, indeed, be a (big?) factor tomorrow.
Go Cats!
The games in November are the ones you remember, it is said, but the old scribbler thought October went out with a blast last weekend.
JT Tuimoloau's performance was a once in a lifetime thing, in your correspondent's opinion, and it reminded me of Trey Sermon's 331 yard rushing game the last time our favs took on Northwestern. That was December, 2020, in the B1G title game, and our Buckeyes were favored by about 16 or so. The Fitzcats led at the half, 10-6, but they kept feeding Sermon the ball and he kept running and running and running.
He had 29 carries for an OSU single game mark of 331 yards and two TDs as the Buckeyes won, 22-10.
The wise guys make OSU a 38-point favorite in tomorrow's tilt in Evanston, with an over/under of 55 1/2 points. The money line is familiar, OSU -10000, which implies a 99+% chance of a Buckeye victory. The felines have had a tough season. They beat Nebraska over in Dublin, Ireland, to start the season, but have now lost seven straight. A victory this weekend against all odds would be the biggest in Northwestern history.
ABC will televise the game with the kickoff shortly after noon, eastern. The OSU Alumni Club of the CSRA will host a watch party at The Carolina Ale House in Augusta, and all Buckeye fans are invited to join the festivities. You need not be a member.
The last time the scarlet and gray visited Ryan Field they walked away with a 52-3 win in 2019. Pat Fitzgerald, in his 17th year at the helm, has never beaten Ohio State, but he has some help on the way in the form of the weather.
As we go to press around midday Friday, the forecast is for gale warnings on Lake Michigan most of tomorrow. They are forecasting overnight rains that will soak the natural grass turf in Evanston, but the rain should abate about game time. The winds, though, will be something else. They may force the Buckeyes to run a lot more, and there are those who think we have problems running the rock. Beware. Miyan Williams should be back. The injury he sustained last week was to his hand, which apparently got caught in the yardage chains when he was tackled along the sideline.
Tre Henderson is ready, too. This could become a great opportunity for the O line to get into harness for a real snot knocker. JSN11 will not be there, but we've done fine without him. If the wind is howling, there won't be many long bombs attempted, and that's to Northwestern's advantage. Their DBs just can't stay with our WRs consistently, but CJ Stroud can opt for shorter routes.
Northwestern apparently has enough money to build beautiful new athletic facilities, but nothing for lawn mowers. The grass on the field is the longest in the nation and is kept that way for a reason. To slow down opponents.
Former Buckeye Josh Perry, now an analyst with BTN, says its the longest grass he ever played on, high school, college or pro.
The grass is so long that if was a golf course, we'd call it "heavy rough."
The Bucks will have to deal with the elements, but so will the Cats. If past is a forecaster, though, the crowd will be a decided edge for Ohio State. Your correspondent looked on line Thursday and there were plenty of ducats available for as low as $23. That means we'll see a large turnout of Buckeye fans.
The last time Northwestern beat our boys was in 2004 in Evanston. It was a night game and it went to OT and your reporter was there to see it all. The crowd was largely scarlet and gray and overwhelmed the facilities. All the concession stands were out of stuff to sell by halftime, and there were long, long lines at for the "facilities."
A note of interest: Buckeye OC Kevin Wilson was the OC at Northwestern from 99-01. He was with the late Randy Walker when he went from our Miami to Northwestern. Together, they put together a team that was B1G co- champs in 2000.
Buckeyes are on the verge of setting a couple of records, according to the folks at BTN. OSU has scored 20+ points in 69 straight games, tying a record set by Oklahoma. Oddly, the last time our boys were held under 20 points was the 30-16 loss to the Sooners in Ohio Stadium in 2017, and guess who was there for that one, too? Yep. This old scribe. The OK streak was stopped last season at WVU.
The Bucks also have scored 44+ points in seven straight games, tying a B1G record set by the stinkers 123 years ago. I wonder if Ryan Day cares? Who keeps upo with all these numbers?
This will be the 80th meeting between the two. Ohio State holds a strong advantage, 64-14-1. The largest margin of victory was in 81 when Earle's Buckeyes beat the Cats, 70-6.
Statwise this game pits Ohio State's B1G leader in scoring O against Northwestern, which has the worst scoring O in the loop. In scoring D, Ohio State ranks 5th in the conference, while Northwestern is ranked 12th.
The Cats gave Penn State a heck of a game five weeks ago during a monsoon that spun off Hurricane Ian, The final was 17-7, PSU, but it was a "comedy or tragedy" of turnovers. Penn State fumbled four times and had one pass picked, whilst Northwestern fumbled twice and also got intercepted.
The turnover margin between Saturday's foes is glaring: OSU +9, Northwestern -9.
Our pick: Ohio State 56, Northwestern 14.
In other B1G games this weekend:
Maryland visits Wisconsin (-4 1/2); Minnesota (-15 1/2) is at Nebraska; Iowa goes to Purdue (-3 1/2); Penn State (-13 1/2) is at Indiana; Sparty visits Illinois (-17 1/2) and the skunkbears (-25 1/2) go to Rutgers.
This weekend is void of MACtion, as they have moved to weeknights for television exposure, so we have those scores. Ball State upset Kent State, 27-20; Our OU is bidding for a division title with a 45-24 win over Buffalo; Central outhouse beat Northern Illinois, 35-22 and BG edged Western outhouse, 13-9.
National games of interest:
Top ranked Tennessee visits third ranked Georgia (-8 1/2); Bama (-13 1/2) plays Saturday night at LSU; Clemson (-3 1/2) is at Notre Dame; Oregon (-31.5) is at Colorado; Texas Tek visits TCU (-8 1/2); UCLA (-10 1/2) goes to AZ State; Cal is at SoCal (-21 1/2) and Navy is at Cincy (-18.5).
