Why is this news?: A look inside creating Ohio State's football schedules

"I don't know what I'll feel on game day. A lot of times you're so locked into the moment that you don't spend a lot of time thinking about it. I'll probably think about it after the game. Seeing those kids for the first time will be a little unusual."

- Ohio State assistant coach Kerry Coombs

Not like it is possible for Kerry Coombs to get more pumped up for a game than usual, but that should be the case on Saturday night when Ohio State takes on Cincinnati. After spending 16 years coaching at Colerain high school, and then five years as a Cincinnati assistant, Urban Meyer was able to lure Coombs to Columbus when assembling a coaching staff in early 2012. While at first Coombs was going to turn down the offer from Meyer, his wife Holly was a major reason why Kerry ultimately accepted the position.

While Coombs did help to recruit a number of players that currently play for the Bearcats, he'll be hoping to his his current team exploit some of the weaknesses that might be out there. With the criticism of the defensive backs last year, Coombs is hoping that he and co-defensive coordinator Chris Ash can come up with a gameplan that'll be able to slow down Gunner Kiel and the Cincinnati offense. This will be the first true test for the Ohio State secondary on the year, and with the extra week to prepare the Bearcats, it's hard to imagine that the Buckeyes won't be ready. No matter the result there'll be no question that fans will see Coombs bouncing around the sidelines with his trademark enthusiasm on Saturday night.

"At the time, when I first got the offer (from UC), Brian Kelly was there. I heard he was a good coach. Then Butch Jones took over. Me and him had a good relationship but once coach Meyer came in I kind of knew that's who I wanted to play for."

- Ohio State defensive lineman Adolphus Washington

Kerry Coombs won't be the only one on Saturday night hoping to deal a loss to Cincinnati. The first college offer that Adolphus Washington received in high school was from the University of Cincinnati. At first Washington was more interested in basketball, but once he started receiving offers to play football in college his attitude changed. Cincinnati was high on the list, with Coombs trying to persuade Washington to stay local, but in the end the Buckeyes won out.

Now a junior for the Buckeyes, Washington looks to have made the right choice. Not only was he a key part of the undefeated 2012 team, but he has had a big impact so far in this young season. While Joey Bosa took over his spot as a defensive end while Washington was injured last year, the Cincinnati native has moved to the interior of the defensive line. This gives the Buckeyes a tremendous edge by having two lineman that are so strong and athletically trying to create pressure for opposing offenses. Don't be surprised if Washington is playing with a little extra motivation on Saturday night inside Ohio Stadium.

"The way we do it is from a competitive standpoint. I look at data from the last five years. I try to look at teams, schools, how they've done, their coaching, their philosophy, their offense, their defense and that kind of thing."

- Ohio State executive associate athletic director Martin Jarmond on scheduling

Over the last few years Ohio State has gotten a lot of flak for their non-conference scheduling, but it isn't due to lack of trying by Martin Jarmond and athletic director Gene Smith. In the coming. With college football schedules being finalized so far in advance, it makes trying to schedules games with non-conference schools a real guessing game. When the Buckeyes scheduled series with California and Viriginia Tech, at the time the two schools were enjoying plenty of success. When the time came around for the matchups though, the games weren't quite as high-profile as many were hoping they'd be.

In the future Ohio State is scheduled to play teams such as Oklahoma, TCU, Oregon, Texas, and Notre Dame. While it remains to be seen where those programs might be at when they actually meet the Buckeyes on the field, Jarmond is doing his best to try and finalize the best games for the Buckeyes. Starting with the 2016 season, Jarmond and the Buckeyes won't have to schedule quite as much out of conference with the Big Ten going to a nine-game conference season. While it might not show dividends right now, the strong non-conference schedules that Jarmond is trying to put together could be a deciding factor in the quest of the Buckeyes to make the newly-created College Football Playoff down the road.

STICK TO SPORTS

• White Castle is going to test out a "veggie slider" in six of their restaurants. If you happen to see it at one be sure to kill it with fire.
• Remember the guy that raised $55K for his potato salad via Kickstarter? Well PotatoStock 2K14 is this Saturday at Columbus Commons.
• If you used your credit card in-store at a Jimmy John's between June 16th and September 5th your credit card information could've been compromised due to a security breach.
• At least the UC president didn't send Skyline
• It didn't actually happen, but you can't tell me this isn't hilarious/hypnotizing to look at.