Buckeyes Primed for October Run

Ohio State moves into October at 5-0 and the number one ranked team in the country. A good start to say the least, but the second half of the schedule could and should be gravy.

After dealing with a tough early season schedule that included Texas, Penn State and Iowa, the Buckeyes find themselves staring into the upcoming winter with a six-game set that features Bowling Green, Michigan State, Illinois, Indiana, Northwestern and Minnesota.

The combined record of the six teams is 14-16 and this past weekend they were 2-10. Only Bowling Green and a faltering Spartan club have a winning record. Both are 3-2. In comparison, the first five OSU opponents have a 16-9 mark.

The Buckeye offense is loaded with Trent Smith (84-128-1,070-12-2) at quarterback, Antonio Pittman (96-567-5) at tailback and Ted Ginn, Jr. (23-337-5) and Anthony Gonzalez (24-373-4) at wide receiver.

Defense has been the biggest and most pleasant surprise for coach Jim Tressel. Ohio State lost nine starters on defense from a year ago but haven't lost a step. Interior lineman Quinn Pitcock and David Patterson have been phenomenal, while Jim Laurinaitis, Marcus Freeman and John Kerr have played outstanding at linebacker.

This unit is ranked fifth in the country in scoring defense (9.8) and is third in the Big Ten in total defense (293.0), trailing only Michigan (238.2) and the Nittany Lions (259.4).

Keeping his players motivated for the likes of Bowling Green and Illinois will be the toughest part for Tressel and his coaching staff. Yes they're undefeated and ranked first and yes they want to play for a national championship, but these are still 19 and 20-year old men who know they'll be playing inferior competition. A letdown could be possible. It happened for one half against Cincinnati before the offense woke up and rolled, 37-7.

The more likely scenario is the Buckeyes will be 11-0 heading into their November 18 showdown with the Wolverines. The Horseshoe should be rockin' and the nation transfixed. What a surprise. An Ohio State-Michigan game with national and Big Ten championship implications. Who would of thought?

But in order for that to happen, the Buckeyes need to focus on one game at a time and not be looking ahead to Michigan. Concentration on the task at hand is something Tressel understands his team must do.

"Now I guess the question at hand is just how good would we like to get?" Tressel said at his weekly press conference. "There's no way that you can keep getting better if you don't make sure that you're focusing on what's happening right now, right this second. (That is) maybe one of the most difficult things for human beings to do, but that's what we have to make sure that we do."

Ohio State has been through this before in the Tressel era. In 2004, the Buckeyes were undefeated at 4-0 and ranked seventh in the nation, only to be upset 33-27 in overtime against Northwestern.

That shouldn't happen to this Buckeye squad. The message of focusing on one game at a time seems to be getting through.

"Everyone is going to pat us on the back and say, 'Well, you made it through September. You beat three ranked teams. Now you can just go on cruise control into Michigan," said safety Brandon Mitchell. "But we know that you can't do that. As soon as you start getting full of yourself and feeling like you don't have to prepare for a team, that's when you get in trouble."

I don't know about you, but I can't wait for November 18th.


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