Football season is back! If you’re feeling a little bit out of the loop on all things Ohio State football, here is everything you need to know.
As all college football fans know, Urban Meyer was suspended for the first three games of the season for mishandling domestic abuse allegations against former receiver coach, Zach Smith. Therefore, offensive coordinator, Ryan Day, has had to step up and become the acting head coach during Meyer’s absence. The first two games of the season were… SNOOZERS. As expected, the Buckeyes blew out Oregon State (77-31) in the season home opener. New quarterback, Dwayne Haskins Jr., took the keys straight from JT Barrett and compiled the most throwing yards and touchdown passes by an OSU quarterback in his first start. Week two also finished as expected with an easy win over Rutgers (52-3). The Buckeyes used this game as a final tune-up before facing a real challenge: the Horned Frogs.
The Buckeyes had their first real test last Saturday when they played in a non-conference matchup against a ranked TCU in a neutral setting. Despite a rough start, Ohio State was able to pull off a win by using their momentum to score three touchdowns in the span of three minutes in the third quarter. Despite not having defensive end Nick Bosa (due to injury) and Coach Urban Meyer, the Buckeyes prevailed and now must look forward to the weeks ahead.
So, Urban Meyer is back. Now what?
Well, the team has proved its resilience against a highly ranked team—arguably the most impressive non-conference game of the season. The playoff selection committee will take note of this past game, especially since the game wasn’t played at home in our beloved ‘Shoe. Even though Ohio State did not move up in the ranks and is still seated at number four in the AP rankings, it’s safe to say that we could be watching the Buckeyes in the playoffs—knock on wood. However, there are still some very important games to be won such as against ranked teams Penn State, Michigan State and TTUN. Not to mention we can’t slip and allow a major upset to occur by an unranked team like we did last year when Iowa took us out of the playoffs in a major loss of 55-24. Now the Buckeyes have to finish what they started without Meyer if they want a shot at the playoffs.