10/16 OHIO STATE @ Wisconsin 7:15pm on ESPN -GAME THREAD-

[mjp28]

Sat, Oct 16  THE OHIO STATE BUCKEYES vs Wisconsin *   at Madison, Wis.    7:15 p.m.  on ESPN/ESPN2

The big test is here then a few "easier" teams to follow:

Sat, Oct 23   Purdue *  -  -  Columbus, Ohio    12:00 p.m.   Big Ten Network
Sat, Oct 30   Minnesota *  -  -  at Minneapolis, Minn.    8:00 p.m.   ABC/ESPN/ESPN2
Sat, Nov 13   Penn State *  -  -  Columbus, Ohio    TBA 
Sat, Nov 20   Iowa *  -  -  at Iowa City, Iowa    TBA 
Sat, Nov 27   Michigan *  -  -  Columbus, Ohio    TBA 

*all Big Ten games

[mjp28]

Sat, Oct 16
Arkansas State 34 Final
Indiana 36
  
Illinois 6 Final
13 Michigan State 26 ......great for the BUCKS
  
Minnesota 17 Final
Purdue 28
  
15 Iowa 21 Halftime ...........also great so far
Michigan 7
  
1 Ohio State  7pm
Wisc

[ScarletBlooded]

A lot of crazy football games going on today. My upset pick of the week in Texas is doing quite nicely, as long as they can hold off Nebraska they'll be just fine.

I'm expecting the Buckeyes to perform just as well, if not perhaps a bit better. Wisconsin is definitely gonna be competitive.

[mjp28]

A lot of crazy football games going on today. My upset pick of the week in Texas is doing quite nicely, as long as they can hold off Nebraska they'll be just fine.

I'm expecting the Buckeyes to perform just as well, if not perhaps a bit better. Wisconsin is definitely gonna be competitive.

That's the truth, with today's NCAA parity no team is safe.

SoCarolina beats #1 Alabama, loses to unranked KY today.

Tough game for the BUCKEYES tonight, BUT 5 games plus 1 bowl game left, 12-1 and another B10 Championship wouldn't be too bad at all!

[ScarletBlooded]

Tough loss but I'm not too worried. You don't have to necessarily be undefeated to make it to the big game, all we gotta do now is focus on the rest of our games, hope that Michigan State loses at least one and we'll be set.

[AutoModGod]

Very tough loss.  Dispappointing performances all over the field.  One of my friends called it a team loss.  He was right on.

Special teeams dug a huge hole right out of the gate.  The defense couldn't get off most of the first half, which dug the hole deeper.

The offense couldn't score from the 3 and came away with 0 after a turnover, digging the hole deeper.

Both the offense and defense got it going in the 3rd quarter.  We controlled both lines of scrimmage in the 3rd quarter to get back in it early in the 4th closing to 21-18.  At that point, I thought we had Wisconsin figured out.

Boy was I wrong.  Wisconsin again shredded our D to put the game away with a TD and our offense responded with nothing.  Very disappointing.  Hopefully, we go on to turn the season around now, but I think there is no chance we can back in the NC hunt.

[Buckeyes1]

Yep, I saw the game pretty much the same as Auto did.

Beyond what he said, it seems to me that Ohio State has 1 or 2 games each year they just don't seem to get up for. Last year it was Purdue and this year it seems like it's been Ill and Wisc. Pryor practically carried us to a win over the Illini but the Badgers were playing at a much higher level which we never matched as a team.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not calling for any coaches to be fired or anything drastic like that and God knows other teams do the same thing (Hello, USC?) but it seems to me Tressell spoke about this very issue after the Nat'l Championship debacle against Florida a few years ago.

He seemed to realize that his team came out flat and by the time they realized they had a fight on their hands they were already a couple of TD's down. Last Saturday nights game against the Badgers had that same feel to it.....

[AutoModGod]

Buckeye1, the game did have that flat feeling didn't it?

That opening kick-off for a TD was a killer as it set the pace for the entire game.  At the time, I thought back to Ginn's opening kickoff return for a TD in the NC game, and wondered what would be worse, getting one or giving one?  Neither work for us.

We've bounced back well from BigTen losses over the years, but I am beginning to think, particularly with the injuries we've seen on D this year, that finishing the Big Ten with only the 1 loss is going to be a challenge.

[mjp28]

That opening kick-off for a TD was a killer as it set the pace for the entire game.  At the time, I thought back to Ginn's opening kickoff return for a TD in the NC game, and wondered what would be worse, getting one or giving one?  Neither work for us.

And we BUCKEYE fans didn't know until later that Ginn broke his ankle during the TD celebration....bad omen.

Jim Tressel always stressed the kicking game, as he said the "hidden yardage" during the game. Sure burned the BUCKEYES in Wisconsin, oh well.