#4 Ohio State (4-0) vs. Tulane (1-3) Post Game

[MaximumSam]

Nick Bosa is OUT
Urban Meyer is IN

[Brutus Buckeye]

Tulane is gonna be focused all week in practice, so that they can execute with laser like precision on Saturday.

[Roaddawg]

Nick Bosa is OUT
Urban Meyer is IN

The way this team seems to be responding, I think I would like Bosa instead.  I hope the play calling does not change with Urban being back, I love the show we are seeing.  Bosa should not be missed as long as no other injuries pop up.  Hopefully this game will be over by the half and guys can rest up for PSU.  Young team, coming off a big win, could be ugly, but I think with Urban returning, the emotion will be higher than had he been on the sidelines all along. 

[TyphonInc]

I know nothing about Tulane so my prediction is going to go off what I've seen with the Bucks.

Offense will click to the tune of 52 points.
Defense will dominate but make two major screw ups allowing Tulane to get to 17.

52 - 17 my final answer. 

[ELA]

Tulane Green Wave (1-2) at #4 Ohio State Buckeyes (1-0, 3-0)

3:30 - Columbus, OH - BTN

Getting punched in the mouth was exactly what this Ohio State team needed.  They are frighteningly athletic, but rolling into that game against Penn State wasn't going to be good for them.  They got tested, and survived.  That momentum tsunami they threw at TCU in the 3rd quarter, right when the Horned Frogs seemed to be gaining control, was something to behold.  It also answered any lingering doubts about whether Haskins was what he appeared to be, or just an athletic freak who could post gaudy numbers against overmatched opponents.  Completing 73% of his passes, for 344 yards against a Gary Patterson defense should put those doubts to rest.  The Frogs sold out to stop the run, and wanted to see what Haskins could do, and he responded.  The flip side is that while it's not as though the Buckeyes were shut down on the ground, TCU's attack did do a pretty good job holding the running game, particularly Mike Weber, in check.  The line needs to do better against a team like Michigan, more equipped to play that same style, with far better players in the secondary in one on one coverage.  But this isn't Michigan week.  It's Tulane week.  The Green Wave were a team I picked in the preseason to take a huge step forward.  I had them reaching the AAC Conference Championship Game.  While obviously that's still on the table, there are some issues.  An overtime loss Wake Forest, after how we saw the Deacons play Boston College last week, is nothing to be ashamed of, losing at UAB last weekend dinged them.  The hope was that Jonathan Banks was getting things ironed out at the end of 2017, with his two highest passing totals of the season coming in the final two weeks.  But thus far in 2018, he looks like the inconstant passer we saw for much of 2017.  Take away the FCS game, and against Wake Forest and UAB, he's completing only 40% of his passes.  He was 7-24 in the UAB loss.  He somehow still threw for 180 yards on a crazy 25.7 ypc rate.  His 7 completions were for 44, 21, 44, 24, 6, 11, 30.  But in addition to his interception, he had two fumbles, one returned for a touchdown, and the Green Wave were outgained by nearly 100 yards.  It's actually surprising they only lost by 7.  Not only is he not passing, but he's in there for his rushing, and after rushing for over 40 yards in 8 of the 10 games he finished last year, he has 29 rushing yards TOTAL through three games this year.  This version of Jonathan Banks isn't good enough to get Tulane bowl eligible, let alone win a division or push the Buckeyes in the Horseshoe.  To start they need to get Terren Encalade involved.  The 5th year senior was Tulane's leading receiver each of the past two seasons, and after catching 8 balls for 189 yards and 2 touchdowns, along with a 38 yard run, in the opener against Wake Forest, he's only had 3 touches for 59 yards over the past two weeks.  After seeing Wake Forest on Thursday night last week, maybe their defense is just that bad though.  Probably not even going to risk playing Bosa in this one.

OHIO STATE 51, TULANE 10

[Brutus Buckeye]

Personally I prefer to keep the G5 game in-State. 

Nobody in Ohio gives a crap about Tulane.

[ELA]

Personally I prefer to keep the G5 game in-State.

Nobody in Ohio gives a crap about Tulane.

There are generally two though for most teams.  For MSU I agree, one better be against CMU, EMU or WMU.

[Cincydawg]

I enjoy the coach speak from the pastry coach in such games often as not.

They look forward to the challenge etc.

And the paycheck.

[Cincydawg]

And I agree that it would be better to schedule Akron or Miami or YSU even.  This may have been a simple scheduling outage and no one else was available.

[ELA]

For some reason it feels like OSU and Miami never play.

[Anonymous Coward]

I didn't know Bosa was getting an operation. Groin?

[Brutus Buckeye]

For some reason it feels like OSU and Miami never play.

OSU has played all of the Ohio Mac teams exactly thrice (in the modern era) with the exception of BG, who they have played 5 times. 
They've played the Bearcats 5 times (again, in the modern era) and the Penguins twice. 
They didn't play any Ohio teams from the 30s until the 90s. 

[Brutus Buckeye]

Next year OSU plays Miami and Cincinnati. 

[Brutus Buckeye]

Also from the Mac during that time frame, they've played Marshal (twice), Buffalo, Eastern and Western Michigans, and N Illinois (twice). 

No games against Central Michigan or Ball State.