Ohio State football: Three keys to beating Wisconsin
By Ryan Stano
The Ohio State football team is taking on the Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday night. Even though the Badgers lost at home as 17-point favorites to Washington State already, they are still going to be one of the hardest teams that Ohio State faces in the regular season.
This will be the first Big Ten opponent that the Buckeyes have faced this season. It is also the third night home game that they have played already. It will be another great atmosphere for a game that won’t be an easy victory. The coaches have been preaching that all week.
There are three keys that I have identified that will help the Buckeyes win. If they are able to do all of these things, they should walk out of the Shoe with another win on their resume. If they fail to do these three things, then we might have a close game that the Badgers could win.
The first key has to do with what Ohio State needs to do on defense.
1. The Ohio State football team needs to make Wisconsin beat them through the air.
We all know that Wisconsin wants to run the ball. That’s what their bread and butter. It’s what they have been known to do for the last 30 years. The Badgers are at their best when they can run the ball and control the clock. That’s how they beat more talented teams.
Ohio State needs to make Graham Mertz beat them through the air instead. Mertz has been up-and-down in his Wisconsin career at quarterback. If the Buckeyes can keep the Wisconsin running game bottled up and force Mertz to beat them, they will be in good shape.
I don’t think Mertz is good enough to beat the Buckeyes. He’s yet to show that he can be consistent against a good opponent. That will continue on Saturday night as long as the Buckeyes don’t give him the option to use play-action against them.
Even though the secondary has had some rough stretches this season, I expect them to be up to the task on Saturday night. The second key I have for the Buckeyes has to do with their own offense.