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Monday, September 29, 2008
Wounded Badgers await Buckeyes
It’s tough to gauge what effect Wisconsin’s second-half meltdown at Michigan will have on Saturday night’s UW-Ohio State game in Madison.
No doubt Buckeye fans were disappointed for two reasons: 1) Had Wisconsin won, the Buckeyes would’ve had a shot to knock off a top-10 team; 2) Michigan won a game, which is bound to help the Wolverines’ confidence.
The Saturday night showdown in Madison is the only Big Ten game this week featuring two ranked teams. OSU is No. 14, Wisconsin is No. 18. Penn State is the conference’s other ranked team, checking in at No. 6.
The Buckeyes will be making their first trip to Madison since 2003. That was the infamous Robert Reynolds-chokes-Jim Sorgi game. OSU was ranked No. 3 going in, but came back to Ohio with a 17-10 loss.
Jim Tressel has pretty much owned the Big Ten since taking over the OSU program in 2001. Everyone except Wisconsin. Tressel is 2-3 vs. the Badgers.
IN THE BOOTH: Saturday’s game is an ABC prime-time production. In the booth: Mike Patrick and Todd Blackledge. Your sideline reporter is Holly Rowe.
ON TO WISCONSIN: Here’s what WR Brian Robiskie had to say about playing at Wisconsin this week:
“Having the chance to play against them last year at our place was a good experience, but I think it’s going to be a whole new thing to go up there and go into that environment because we’ve been hearing a lot about it.
“Obviously we know this is going to be a big week of just preparation for us and doing a lot of the little things to make sure when we get up there, we’ll be able to handle the environment and the crowd and be ready for them.”
REWIND: A few items from Saturday’s 34-21 victory over Minnesota at Ohio Stadium:
— OSU linebacker Ross Homan (Coldwater) had a career-high 10 tackles and recovered a fumble.
— The Shoe was packed again. The students were back and attendance was 105,175 — the 45th straight time OSU has played in front of more than 100,000 fans at home.
— OSU’s all-time record as a top-25 team is 416-127-14.
KICKOFF SET: Game time for the OSU-Purdue game on Oct. 11 at Ohio Stadium is 3:30 p.m., OSU announced today. The game will be televised by ABC.
NUMBERS GAME: Penn State has scored 249 points in five games this season, averaging an extra point under 50. Ohio State and Michigan have combined to score 217 points.
