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Game Thread tOSU vs. Western M*ch*g*n, Sep 26 2015 @ 3:30 ET, ABC/ESPN2

Some pre-game notes:

1) Ezekiel Elliott now has 2,471 career rushing yards, good for 15th place at Ohio State. Zeke needs 72 yards to move into 14th place (Jim Otis); 106 yards to move into 13th place (Cal Murray); and 209 yards to move into 12th place (Raymont Harris).

2) On his first carry of the season, Elliott went 80 yards for a touchdown. Since that time, Zeke has 60 carries for 251 yards (4.2 ypc; long run of 13 yards) and 3 touchdowns. Has Zeke suddenly turned into Lydell Ross or is something else going on here? Does the offensive line need to pick up its game? Are opposing defenses realizing that the key to stopping Ohio State is to stuff the run? Or is this just a normal adjustment period after an historic output from Elliott?

3) More on that historic output.... Ohio State's championship run began in the fourth quarter of last year's Michigan game and continued on through Wisconsin, Alabama, and Oregon. During that run, Zeke had 746 yards and 9 TDs. Add in the 80-yard run to open the 2015 season, which was the first salvo in the Buckeyes' battle to repeat as champions, and here are Zeke's numbers during that span:

OpponentRush AttsRush YdsRush AvgRush TDs30+ Yds
Michigan35016.67144
Wisconsin2022011.00260, 81
Alabama2023011.50254, 85
Oregon362466.83433
Virginia Tech18080.00180
Totals8082610.33107 runs
It's only natural that things would balance out over time, as no running back in the history of college football could maintain a 10.33 yards per carry average over an entire season. Add in the remainder of Virginia Tech plus Hawaii and Northern Illinois, and here are Zeke's numbers over his last 140 carries: 1,077 yards, 7.69 ypc, 13 TDs. Not a bad season for most running backs, but that represents just that last 6.25 games for Zeke.

4) This game will be the perfect opportunity for Elliott to re-establish himself as a Heisman frontrunner. Western Michigan is 92nd in total defense (out of 127 FBS teams), giving up 413 yards per game, 6.56 yards per play, and 13 touchdowns. The Broncos are even worse when it comes to run defense, placing 109th in FBS after surrendering 224 yards rushing per game, 5.95 yards per rush, and 10 rushing touchdowns.

5) Cardale Jones now has 1,197 career passing yards. He needs 64 yards to move into 25th place at Ohio State (Pandel Savic); 77 yards to move into 24th place (Rod Gerald); and 142 yards to move into 23rd place (Greg Hare).

6) Michael Thomas needs just 21 receiving yards to reach the 1,000-yard mark for his Buckeye career.

7) Joey Bosa has 21.5 career sacks, good for 7th place at Ohio State. He needs 0.5 sacks to tie for 6th place; 1.0 sacks to tie for 5th place; and 1.5 sacks to tie for 4th place.

8) Joey Bosa has 37.0 career TFLs, good for 14th place at Ohio State. He needs 0.5 TFLs to tie for 13th place; 2.0 TFLs to tie for 11th place; and 4.0 TFLs to tie for 10th place.

9) Ohio State now has a record of 33-1-0 against teams currently in the MAC, with the only lost coming to Akron back in 1894 (which was 53 years before the MAC came into existence).​
 
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So, will the offense finally find rhythm today or are we in for another long week? I can't help but think the coaches are treating these games like scrimmages, or is the goal to play like shit for the first 10 weeks so they can throw off msu?
 
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So, will the offense finally find rhythm today or are we in for another long week? I can't help but think the coaches are treating these games like scrimmages, or is the goal to play like [Mark May] for the first 10 weeks so they can throw off msu?
Urban is a very shrewd character IMO. A lot of us thought that we would see JT Barrett, but here we are getting another look at Cardale again. Oh well, we will just have to wait and see. I think Coach Meyer has a couple of aces up his sleeve and he hasn't shown any so far. After the Va-Tech game and what we witnessed, i was convinced that we were headed for another great season. But now, I don't know what to expect. It's a guessing game from now on ................I guess.
 
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I think the Defense does the damn thang again today and puts up a goose egg. 31-0 for the Buckeyes. Zeke gets going but there's still a QB "controversy" going into BiG play.

I have to say though that the slow start is my fault. I just realized this morning that I changed up too much of my end of the season routine from last year. There is a new restaurant in our little town that I was trying to support and got my wings from there against Hawaii. Not a terrible outcome but last week I went for the breakfast omelet instead of my usual and from my usual. Back to the old Pizza and Wings standby today so we may very well see a 63-0 drubbing. Guess we'll find out.
 
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Leaving for the game.....

PADDICHLKDCHOGKF.jpg
 
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I think the Defense does the damn thang again today and puts up a goose egg. 31-0 for the Buckeyes. Zeke gets going but there's still a QB "controversy" going into BiG play.

I have to say though that the slow start is my fault. I just realized this morning that I changed up too much of my end of the season routine from last year. There is a new restaurant in our little town that I was trying to support and got my wings from there against Hawaii. Not a terrible outcome but last week I went for the breakfast omelet instead of my usual and from my usual. Back to the old Pizza and Wings standby today so we may very well see a 63-0 drubbing. Guess we'll find out.
That's about what I expect as well. Good defense but a offense that still has a lot of trouble but obviously I'm hoping for a big score. I'm calling 38 to 13 with 10 of their points coming from turnovers from us.
 
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