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Wow, this one's a dandy...

http://www.cleveland.com/livingston/index.ssf/2017/10/ohio_state-penn_state_big_ten.html

This is the defining game for this years Buckeye team, I hope they are ready!  

I think this cannot be overstated.  If the Buckeyes lose then it would be highly unlikely for them to get to Indianapolis and thus probable that they will not play another high-end team this year except perhaps in a bowl.  Even if they beat all of the others, they'll be remembered as a team that couldn't compete with the big dogs.  If they win, the sky is the limit.  

don't let penn st score a TD in the last 2 minutes of the half, they seem to have a bit of a knack at getting that late 2nd quarter TD.

I don't know, this Ohio State team is pretty good, but in the grand scheme of things other than the defensive line, the other positions aren't dominant. I still think last year's defense was better than the current version. that secondary was the best I've ever seen at Ohio State and the D line was virtually the same. I also think the LB play this year has been just ok.

offensively I like our RB's better this year, and I think JT is playing more comfortably the last few weeks, but it's pretty easy to be comfortable when your playing outmatched opponents.

Penn St is explosive, I wasn't sure after watching the Iowa game, but maybe that was just their 1 fluke game of the year. Barkley will run for 125 minimum, although I will admit I have no idea how that guy only got 12 carries on us last year, that doesn't make sense to me. The Penn St TE's and WR's are better than our secondary guys, so can the defense get pressure on Mcsorely to help them out? When they did against Baker Mayfield he killed us with his legs and hit a bunch of passes that our LB's were unable to cover.

I had more confidence playing Clemson last year than I do in this game, and that's because our defense was better. Don't be fooled by that 31-0 score, the defense played it's heart out until they realized somewhere late in the 3rd quarter that it was over.

I don't believe our offense or defense can "win" a game by itself this year, not against a top 5 squad anyways.

I sort of expect Penn St to have a 10 point lead, somewhere middle of the second quarter and then hold on. The Bucks won't quit at home, not with their backs against the wall, but they just don't have the individual playmakers that Penn St does this year.

Urban's obviously won BIG games, but he's not the invincible man anymore. 0-for-2 against Dabo, Dantonio has rung him up twice, James Franklin got him last year. The Aura is slowly fading. Not that I want another coach, but all good things come to an end eventually.

I think Penn St wins 31-17.

My gut says this game will play out like Clemson/OU and OSU is going to get embarrassed (again.)

Me too,Urbans refusal to work in Burrow/Haskins to supplement JT's short comings is a head scratcher.Hope Barrett shakes the bogies on the Big Stage

the game vs the defenseless blackshirts in Lincoln inflated Barrett's stats

JT threw the ball very well in Lincoln, and from what I can tell, that was a fairly windy/cold night.

what Ohio St can't do, which is what we've seemed to do lately in big games is try to throw the ball sideline to sideline, sure you might catch it, but it's a 1-3 yard gain, and when you got JK and Weber in the backfield it makes a helluva lot more sense to me to give it to one of those studs.

JT gets hate for the BIG games he's lost, well, I gotta tell you, I don't know too many QB that go undefeated against BIG time competition. JT had a phenomenal game against MSU in 2014, was playing well against UM b/f he got his ankle snapped off. he played well at Oklahoma, at Penn St and at Wisconsin last year. they might not have been the greatest performances ever but all were good enough to win. so he looked bad against Clemson and against Oklahoma, both of those teams are "playoff" type teams, it happens.

Mcsorely threw some bad picks in the Rose Bowl, Mayfield threw a couple picks against Ohio St last year, Deshaun Watson threw like 17 picks in 2017. QB is a tough position, and sometimes the people around you can make you look better or worse. Do I think JT is the best QB in the nation? No. Do I think he's good enough to win a BIG title with? Yes. He's talented enough, I just hope all the hate he's received hasn't killed his confidence, which I do think was a problem for him at times earlier this season, we'll see if he's over it on Sat.

But it'd also help if Urban doesn't abandon the run in the 2nd half like he has so many times in big games for some reason.  

JT threw the ball very well in Lincoln, and from what I can tell, that was a fairly windy/cold night.

what Ohio St can't do, which is what we've seemed to do lately in big games is try to throw the ball sideline to sideline, sure you might catch it, but it's a 1-3 yard gain, and when you got JK and Weber in the backfield it makes a helluva lot more sense to me to give it to one of those studs.

JT gets hate for the BIG games he's lost, well, I gotta tell you, I don't know too many QB that go undefeated against BIG time competition. JT had a phenomenal game against MSU in 2014, was playing well against UM b/f he got his ankle snapped off. he played well at Oklahoma, at Penn St and at Wisconsin last year. they might not have been the greatest performances ever but all were good enough to win. so he looked bad against Clemson and against Oklahoma, both of those teams are "playoff" type teams, it happens.

Mcsorely threw some bad picks in the Rose Bowl, Mayfield threw a couple picks against Ohio St last year, Deshaun Watson threw like 17 picks in 2017. QB is a tough position, and sometimes the people around you can make you look better or worse. Do I think JT is the best QB in the nation? No. Do I think he's good enough to win a BIG title with? Yes. He's talented enough, I just hope all the hate he's received hasn't killed his confidence, which I do think was a problem for him at times earlier this season, we'll see if he's over it on Sat.

But it'd also help if Urban doesn't abandon the run in the 2nd half like he has so many times in big games for some reason.  

Great post.  JT has won many huge games.  Lost a few, but how do you blame him when the offense 
Has no structure and can't protect him (last season). Even with that, he won some big games, like UM. 
We ( at least I ) openly discussed the challenge both Indian and Oklahoma would present.  Breaking in 4 new starters at DB, plus an entirely different group at LB, if you consider they are playing different positions, and mostly, no experienced WRs.
And still, it was a dead heat deep into third Q.   
The offense has a identity and some rhythm -  not going to look great versus any great defense, but whose does consistently?