I think if we sweep non conference it’s likely (although not a guarantee), but if we drop one it’s going to be tough.
It’s probably toughest Big Ten schedule we have ever had.
It’s probably toughest Big Ten schedule we have ever had.
Do you think this team will get to 6 wins?
- Thread starter Steveelement
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Tough schedule yes, but I feel pretty confident that we saw a battle between two bowl level teams in Dublin and not the two 3-9 teams of last year.
6-8 wins should be the expectation for this squad even with a tough conference schedule. We have an outside shot at contending for the division as well.
Need to see more from what our conference foes look like, but a lot of the things that worked in Dublin should work for us here. Of course, being mostly on the road will make things tough as well and there's no easy outs as soon as we hit that Penn State through Purdue stretch.
6-8 wins should be the expectation for this squad even with a tough conference schedule. We have an outside shot at contending for the division as well.
Need to see more from what our conference foes look like, but a lot of the things that worked in Dublin should work for us here. Of course, being mostly on the road will make things tough as well and there's no easy outs as soon as we hit that Penn State through Purdue stretch.
Your assessment of “hardest schedule ever” makes assumptions that our West opponents have improved as much as advertised. We saw how that turned out for Nebraska. I’ll give you that our crossover schedule is tough. But none of them have shown anything yet this year. We’ll have to see.
After one game, at least 6 wins is back in the conversation. But much like the illusion of Hunter Johnson against MSU's secondary in the opener last year, we just don't know yet if Nebraska's front 7 is really that bad.
Regarding preseason assessments of our conference foes, there’s not much frame of reference. Take us and Nebraska.
Everyone was assuming Nebraska to be drastically improved. So when the BTN road show came through, if Thompson was lighting it up in practice they assume he was just doing great, not that the D was bad. Likewise if the D gets a sack it’s because they are awesome and not that the OL is bad.
Flip that to our preseason. Everyone thought we were still horrible and there was very little positive from the BTN. If Hilinski gets picked it’s because he’s inaccurate and not that Can Mitchell is awesome. If Hull is getting big chunks it’s because our DL and LB are still so weak and not that Hull is stronger.
Everyone was assuming Nebraska to be drastically improved. So when the BTN road show came through, if Thompson was lighting it up in practice they assume he was just doing great, not that the D was bad. Likewise if the D gets a sack it’s because they are awesome and not that the OL is bad.
Flip that to our preseason. Everyone thought we were still horrible and there was very little positive from the BTN. If Hilinski gets picked it’s because he’s inaccurate and not that Can Mitchell is awesome. If Hull is getting big chunks it’s because our DL and LB are still so weak and not that Hull is stronger.
Small sample size of play this year, but if I had to offer a magic 8 ball response right now, I'd toss out "All signs point to yes"
PSU, Iowa, and Wisconsin are definitely going to be tough games.
OSU is an impossible game.
Maryland, Minny, and Illinois are supposed to be good this year.
Anyone here on the board has been watching this team for a while, so most of us probably wouldn't rule out a loss to Miami and then a win at Penn State...because...Northwestern.
That being said, I really believe last weekend showed me enough to comfortably expect at least six wins and a bowl game this year. Beyond six I believe is absolutely possible, but too early to say.
That being said, I really believe last weekend showed me enough to comfortably expect at least six wins and a bowl game this year. Beyond six I believe is absolutely possible, but too early to say.
Much more confident now than before the start of the season. If they stay healthy and don't dick trip in the OOC games (lord knows we're overdue to beat Duke), the team we saw Saturday should be able to pick up at least 2 more B1G wins, maybe significantly more.
Duke is a really good barometer for this team -- frankly, they've owned us in a way Nebraska never has. I hope someone sent Cutcliffe a fruit basket.
Problem is Duke hasn't been a barometer in the past though I think we've claimed that it would be before the past 3 games.
They've played their best game of the season the past 3 times they've played us and we've played one of our worst.
Last year they looked like Alabama for the first half against us before we changed things to try to come back.
In 2017 we got arguably Daniel Jones' career best game as a QB... then went on to win 10 games with our only 2 other losses to top 10 teams.
2018, Jones started hot and we were having line problems early on that season while Thorson came back. Still won the division and 9 games.
Just hard to take it as a barometer of anything other than they played their best game and got their best win each of those 3 seasons.
The West division games are no different than they ever are. Besides OSU, we should be capable of playing and winning these games. I said before the year that anything below 6 is a fail. Still feel that way.
I think it's going to be really tough to win a half a game, yet alone do that twice!!
The team we saw on Saturday looked like it knows how to handle rock fights. That's what the West is about.
Every year there is one team that Ohio State craps the bed against like their games against Purdue, Iowa, and Oregon. Even Maryland nearly beat them once. Hopefully the Northwestern game will be that game.
I think 2018 is a good example of what we don’t know. That team started 1-3 including losses to Duke and Akron. They then went on to beat every team in the west and easily won the conference. So even a loss or win against Duke next week would not tell us enough. I think we just do not have the information to say anything at this point. The only thing we know is we beat Nebraska, which is a talented team. Whether Neb is a good team remains to be seen.
Reality check. We had a month to get ready for Nebraska. Can we adjust in game? Do we (as always) play down to lesser schools and allow them to hang around. Glad we won but we need to ask this around our 4th game. For Southern and Miami-OH this is the game they have circled. Are we ready? The 2018 loss to Akron ruined our chances at a NYD bowl.
21 point loss is the closest Maryland came in seven tries. We've had three closer games in that span and we are still plenty far away from beating the Buckeyes
Wasn't that the year we opened up with a big win at Purdue? We do have a way of messing up these non-conference games no matter how good we are.
This is an even year, which means we'll win the division.
In 2018 Maryland took Ohio State into overtime and went for the two point conversion but failed on the attempt.
Actually, Duke probably has it circled, too. We're often their best win.
The Akron loss was ultimately OK in my book; the Holiday Bowl trip was great.
The Cats get an extra week to prep for Duke.
8 wins is the floor barring injuries. If we can avoid serious injuries we can get double digit wins. The only probable losses are PSU and OSU, but I think we could take out PSU with the effort I saw in Dublin. That game is a toss up. I am just worried about getting injuries during the first part of the season. Illinois could be a surprise at the end as well. If we are relatively injury free, we are in good shape for a very nice bowl. Winning the West isn't far fetched at all. One game at a time and we should be fine. We better not play down to our out of conference opponents either. In this case I don't really think we will. The team has a lot to prove.
I really do think Cutcliffe used Northwestern as a benchmark much as we've viewed Iowa and Wisconsin as benchmarks.
For us those losses didn't have that significant of an effect, can debate bowl order but we got 2 tough and quality bowl wins even when we lost to Duke.
His wins against our 2017 and 2018 squads are easily among his highest quality wins.
That was one of the best all-time wins I saw in person including Iowa in '95.
