Ohio State Football: Weather to be a factor for OSU-UW
The Ohio State football team and Wisconsin Badgers are set to collide for an epic showdown in Columbus Saturday. However, weather will be a factor all day.
It’s the biggest game of the 2019 season so far and everything was falling right into place until the Badgers stumbles against Illinois last week. The Badgers will now enter the game angered wanting to stay in the CFP hunt. To make things even more interesting for Ohio State, the weather forecast is now calling for downpours in Columbus during the game.
This showdown went from Game of the Year expectations to “please don’t repeat Michigan State in 2015” in a hurry. That late November day is one those of Buckeye lore would like back. Sheets of rain fell from the dark Columbus skies while questionable play calling also played a factor.
That day now has to be resurfacing in some of the minds of Buckeye fans as they’ll now face a ball control offense with a stout defense in the pouring rain. The Weather Channel is forecasting anywhere between a 90-100% chance of rain throughout game hours with light to moderate winds blowing out of the east then shifting to east-south-east by late in the second quarter.
At first glance this screams advantage Wisconsin because they’re the team coming in who needs to find a way to get an upper hand on the road against a better opponent. But Ohio State can run the football and play defense just as well. In fact, the statistics show these two titans are virtually even in both areas.
Jonathan Taylor and JK Dobbins are ranked first and second respectively in total rushing yards. The defenses alternate between the two rankings in multiple categories while both managing to give up in the neighborhood of a mere eight points per game.
Weather is certainly going to play a factor in this game and will likely make it more low scoring. You can pretty much anticipate the deep vertical passing game being affected due to the conditions, but the real story will be the turnover battle. Whichever team wins the game will likely also have won the turnover battle especially in weather as forecasted.
Ohio State’s speed in space and wide receivers are typically its biggest advantages when competing against Wisconsin. This year, Ryan Day will have to find creative ways to showcase that talent in wet weather.
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One advantage Ohio State will surely have is the threat of two potent rushers being on the field at the same time with Justin Fields and JK Dobbins. Judging by the looks of Saturday, Fields’ legs just might be the difference maker in the game.