The stakes from here on out continue to climb for the Ohio State football team. A win over Penn State last Saturday kept the astronomical goals and trajectory on track, but the path doesn’t end there. The Buckeyes now hit the road for a what should be a physical rock fight against Wisconsin after it just finished dodging boulders against the Nittany Lions.
When we looked down the schedule at the beginning of the year, this game was circled as one of the toughest tests. After all, it’s never a walk in the park through the daisies to hit the road and play in Camp Randall at night.
However, Wisconsin has not been the formidable foe in the West division we all thought under new head coach Luke Fickell. The Badgers have dropped two games (one at home to an Iowa team that has less offense than a third world military) on the season, and also lost their starting quarterback, Tanner Mordecai, to injury a couple of weeks ago.
Still, the Wisconsin program is a proud one that still has plenty to play for, including a West division crown and spot in Indy. It would love nothing more than to knock off a top-five opponent in front of the home fans.
But we like Ohio State in this one for several reasons. Here are five things we think lead the Buckeyes to a victory on Saturday night among the cheese and beer up in Wisconsin.