I Got 5 on It: Ohio State’s final tune up before things get real

The toughest part of writing about a game like Ohio State versus Miami (Oh) is not just saying, “Yeah, so this one’s going to get out of hand from the first snap; hopefully Ohio State scores about 60, keeps everyone healthy, and the freshmen get a chance to shine,” and calling it a wrap.

That’s really all you can hope for in games like this. Of course there are things the Buckeyes can clean up before their primetime trip to Nebraska next week, but it’s painfully obvious what’s going to happen tomorrow. The Redhawks are probably the most overmatched team on Ohio State’s schedule, lost by 22 last week to a team the Buckeyes shut out, and have an offense that hasn’t moved the ball against the two FBS teams they’ve played so far.

That’s the long way of me saying Ohio State’s going to win this game by a lot, and I’m struggling to find 1000 words to write about this game. With that being said, let’s get to five things I’m thinking about as the Buckeyes take on the Redhawks tomorrow:

Remember this?

The last time these teams played, it was Urban Meyer’s first game at Ohio State. Doesn’t that seem so long ago? There’s really only one lasting memory from that game, but it’s a pretty good one:

85 picks

I still can’t get over how funny this is:

98 percent of college football coaches say nothing in every press conference, so I appreciate the honesty. It made a couple people upset, and I can see why his players wouldn’t appreciate it, but thank you to Chuck Martin for keeping it a buck before his team gets destroyed.

Wilson time

Still waiting for that breakout Garrett Wilson game? This might be it. Wilson has just 3 catches for 17 yards so far —including this sweet touchdown— but he’s seen meaningful playing time the last two weeks, and this game should provide even more. He was almost everyone’s choice to be Ohio State’s breakout freshman this season, and I think we’ll start to see that really come to fruition tomorrow.

Who’s redshirting, who’s not?

Besides Wilson, we know freshmen like Zach Harrison, Harry Miller, and Marcus Crowley are going to play for the rest of the season, but what about the rest? Ryan Day mentioned Jameson Williams, Steele Chambers, Cade Stover, and Craig Young as players who are ready to go, but outside of that is there anyone who can break into a rotation?

It doesn’t seem likely at this point. This is conceivably the last game —OK, maybe Rutgers, too— where garbage time is going to take up a significant chunk of the game. The rest of the freshmen that haven’t already played probably aren’t going to moving forward, so it would be nice to see the above group get plenty of snaps in the second half tomorrow.

The rest of the country

The best part about games like this is that you can focus a little more on what’s going on around the rest of college football. This is the perfect week to do that:

• Michigan at Wisconsin: A great start to Saturday morning, and it sounds like UM’s new offense is going to have to play in rainy conditions.
• USC at Utah: I’m here for the Urban-Meyer-to-USC speculation, and it might ramp up big-time tonight.
• Auburn at Texas A&M: Freshman QB playing at Kyle Field - What could go wrong?
• Oklahoma State at Texas: The Cowboys have won their last three in Austin, and I think they’re gonna do it again.
• Notre Dame at Georgia: Either Notre Dame or Georgia loses. We all win.

There’s a host of other great mid-card games on too, and hopefully the Tulane-Houston ending was an omen for a wild Saturday with a couple off-the-radar upsets.