Heads were hanging low after the loss to Iowa as they should have been, but now it’s time for the Ohio State Buckeyes to play with pride and conviction.
When the Buckeyes finally left Kinnick Stadium’s turf, after four equally gruesome quarters, their championship run ended. That wasn’t a secret, as the week two loss to Oklahoma tagged Ohio State with a one-loss-and-out burden.
Now, in what has been an emotional rollercoaster for nine games, the Buckeyes get a chance to go home and get right against No. 12 Michigan State. Instead of No. 6 in the playoff rankings, the Buckeyes are a fine, but not championship-contending No. 13.
Last weekend, one team held their heads high, capturing a huge win. The other is looking at their shoes at the moment.
The Michigan State Spartans will come into Columbus playing very good football, beating No. 7 Penn State 27-24 Saturday afternoon. They are 7-2 with losses to Notre Dame and Northwestern.
Is Ohio State a more physically talented football team than Michigan State? It’s hard to argue on the side of the green.
Getting a win against the Spartans is how Urban Meyer’s Buckeyes can rally together something promising the last three regular season games. The Big Ten Championship (if they get that far) and their bowl game is still on the line.
From this day forward, the remaining games are all about pride
Pride is something Ohio State played with when they rattled-off six consecutive wins after their loss to Oklahoma. Pride is what we saw during the fourth quarter of the Penn State game; the Buckeyes were all but down and out, but never lost their vision.
JT Barrett can’t feel good about his aimless performance against Iowa. To have your Heisman-level moment on the final drive against Penn State, then to turn around and throw a pick-six on the opening drive against a three-loss opponent is a dreadful irony. But it’s his reality.
There was plenty of talk about the strong Ohio State defense prior to Saturday’s game, and then it got pushed around for four quarters. Iowa’s offense totaled 487 yards; the secondary allowed a sophomore quarterback to throw 226 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Simply put, if Ohio State gives the same effort for the rest of the season, they won’t win a game.
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There’s a fairly respectable path for the rest of the season, as long as the Buckeyes are willing. This path offers plenty of redemption for their ugly loss to the Hawkeyes.
The schedule is tough. It starts with No. 12 Michigan State in Columbus this weekend, then a very beatable Illinois team the following week before closing on the road against TTUN.
If the Buckeyes win all remaining regular season games, they’ll go to the Big Ten Championship where they’ll probably play an undefeated Wisconsin club. While a win over the Badgers likely seals the fate of the Big Ten in this year’s College Football Playoff, it would slot the Buckeyes into a nice bowl game.
So, if we’re looking for a landmark to determine whether the Buckeyes had a good season or not we can analyze the bowl game. If it’s one of the New Year’s Six, the Bucks did well; anything else means the Iowa loss made the season extremely disappointing for a very good bunch of kids.
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I expect the Buckeyes to finish the season strong. After all, this is JT Barrett’s senior season and it’s hard to imagine he’ll leave Ohio State without redemption.