Buckeye Bye Week Breakdown: Looking Ahead

The Next Four

After the first Buckeye bye week, Ohio State has four Big Ten opponents lined up, starting with Washington. The Huskies have started the season 2-0 in Jedd Fisch’s second year at the helm. Thus far, dual-threat quarterback Demond Williams Jr. has been the leader of the offense, accumulating 480 yards passing and 132 yards rushing, with three total touchdowns and no interceptions. On the ground, however, Jonah Coleman is a force. The fourth-year former Arizona Wildcat leads the nation with seven rushing touchdowns. The Buckeyes hold a 9-3 record all-time against Washington. This week, Washington travels to Pullman for the 117th Apple Cup against Washington State.

After that, the Buckeyes return home to face Minnesota. The Golden Gophers are 2-1 with a narrow win over Buffalo, a blowout of Northwestern State (FCS), and a loss to California last week. Minnesota is also off this week and will play host to Rutgers next week. This year might not bring much success for P.J. Fleck’s team.

The following week is a trip to Champaign, Illinois, to face the Fighting Illini. Illinois has been building itself up to be in that second tier of Big Ten programs. This weekend, the Illini face Indiana in a battle to see who the best non-Ohio State/Oregon/Penn State team is this year. Brett Bielema has his team looking good to this point. Ohio State will do well to not overlook the Illini. We don’t want a repeat of 2007, do we?

Then, another sneaky trip to Camp Randall awaits. Wisconsin does not look great this year. While the Badgers may be 2-1, they struggled against Miami (OH) and were trounced by Alabama. Luke Fickell might be on the hot seat. Despite his history with the program, the Buckeyes could make that seat significantly warmer with a strong performance.

The Final Five

The second Buckeye bye week comes at a perfect time. Ohio State gets two weeks to prepare for another expected top-five matchup. Penn State is currently ranked second, behind the Buckeyes, and has looked every bit as worthy of the ranking. The Nittany Lions are also off this weekend as they get to prepare for Oregon. If Penn State can avenge the loss to the Ducks from last year’s Big Ten championship, it will undoubtedly roll into Columbus 7-0.

Then, Ohio State can run through three of the bottom-feeders of the conference. Purdue is still Purdue. While the Boilermakers are currently 2-1, they lost badly to USC last week. The Spoilermakers could certainly return, but as of this moment, it seems unlikely. Saying that UCLA has looked bad to this point would be a massive understatement. The Bruins have started 0-3, fired their head coach, and are wondering if that massive investment in a quarterback who tried to extort his former team was worth it. Suffice it to say, better financial decisions could have been made.

In the penultimate week, the Buckeyes will take on Rutgers. The same Rutgers team that struggled and very nearly lost to Ohio. The Scarlet Knights are currently 3-0 thanks to two wins over the MAC and one against an FCS team.

Finally, Michigan. The Buckeyes have dropped each of the last four matchups against That Team Up North. Once again, on paper, Ohio State appears to be the favorite. As we’ve seen, The Game is not played on paper. We will reassess Michigan at the next Buckeye bye week, but as of now, it doesn’t look like this Wolverines team is on the same level. Of course, neither was last year’s team… Main Photo: Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images