Staff Picks: Buckeyes Take On One Of The Other Teams Up North

The No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes will welcome Western Michigan into Ohio Stadium on Saturday. OSU is 1-0 after a 52-6 win over Akron last Saturday. The Broncos are 0-1 after a closer-than-expected 28-14 loss to Luke Fickell and the Wisconsin Badgers up in Madison.

The forecast for the game is just about perfect football weather, with temperatures expected in the mid-60s at kickoff, and dipping into the low 50s by the time the game ends.

How will that game play out? Here’s what our staff members think.

Ross Fulton

OSU will look to get off to a quicker start with some of the first game jitters and development out of the way. Look for Chip Kelly to run the ball downhill with inside zone early while continuing to develop the Buckeyes’ gap run schemes to increase the run game diversity. I expect a bit less of a vanilla game plan from Jim Knowles, that seems to limit teams knowing they can target the boundary flats against Knowles’ cover scheme.

Ohio State 53, Western Michigan 8

Tony Gerdeman

I expect the Ohio State offense to start fast. The focus has been on avoiding a slow start, so Chip Kelly and Ryan Day will have designed a plan that works well for Will Howard. The drops last week should be a thing of the past. Howard will have a higher completion percentage this week, but that won’t be the only area of the offense that is more consistent. The running game should look more like the second half of the Akron game. Western Michigan running back Jalen Buckley is good but he can’t do it alone. The Buckeye defense will look just like it did last week. Wisconsin got a fight out of Western Michigan last week, and the Buckeyes saw it. They will be prepared. 

Ohio State 52, Western Michigan 10

Kevin Noon

It is another name-your-score game as the Buckeyes stay in the MAC with their opponents, moving up a little to Western Michigan.

The Broncos hung around for three quarters against Wisconsin, but it opens the question if that is a case of WMU being so good or Wisconsin not really being great. After watching that game, I strongly believe that Wisconsin has a way to go.

Back to WMU, there is a steadier rushing attack with Jalen Buckley, a 1,000-yard runner. Quarterback Hayden Wolff has not shown a deep ball in his attack and the Broncos will be in trouble if Kenneth Womack is held out again with a broken hand.

On Ohio State’s side, there is a lot of growth from game one to game two. The Buckeyes have to get out to a better start than they did against Akron (17-3 at halftime). Will Jeremiah Smith continue to add to his numbers or will WMU take an “anyone but him” approach?

Ohio State doesn’t lose these “buy games” where the Buckeyes write a big check, bring the team in, bludgeon them for three-plus hours and send them on their way with a pizza in-hand. I expect Ohio State to be sharper but not nearly sharp enough for November. The good news is that it is still September, last I checked, and things are progressing naturally, if not fast enough. 

Ohio State 49, Western Michigan 10

Tom Orr

After starting off the season on JV mode against the MAC cellar-dwellers from Akron, the Buckeyes will take a slight bump up in difficulty against what should be a decent-to-good MAC opponent from WMU.

The Broncos were efficient, but not particularly explosive last weekend in Madison, and figure to try to follow the same game plan on Saturday; control the ball, run the clock, and keep the Buckeyes’ offense off of the field.

The biggest factor that will determine the final score is how efficient the Broncos are on third downs. If they can stay on schedule and convert more than 50 percent of their chances, it probably keeps the Buckeyes’ final score somewhere in the 30s. If not, it could push up into the 40s or even 50s with a few three-and-outs or turnovers.

Don’t expect Ohio State to really turn on the afterburners. They know this is much more of a stepping stone than a statement game. If they’re efficient and mistake-free, it’s a good outcome.

Ohio State 42, Western Michigan 6