What the Ohio State football team should expect from Western Michigan
The Ohio State football team is taking on Western Michigan in Week 2. For some reason, this is a night game at the Shoe. It’ll be the second time that Will Howard gets to run the offense and Quinshon Judkins is running the ball in the backfield. We get to see more of Jeremiah Smith.
While Ohio State ran through the Akron Zips 52-6 in Week 1, Western Michigan will provide a bit more of a challenge, The Broncos are actually playing a Big Ten team for the second week in a row. They took on Wisconsin last week and gave Luke Fickell and the Badgers some problems.
In fact, Wisconsin only won that game 28-14. The Broncos aren’t a complete dud of a team. So what should the Ohio State Buckeyes expect from the Broncos in this game? First off, they should expect more pushback than what Akron was able to provide in the opener.
The Ohio State football team should expect more resistance against Western Michigan
According to DraftKings, the Buckeyes are currently favored by 38 points. The over/under for the game is set at 54. If you can recall, Ohio State was favored by 48.5 last week against Akron, so the oddsmakers are already giving Western Michigan more respect.
Ohio State should as well. The Broncos ran for 120 yards against the Badgers and scored both of their touchdowns on the ground. Defensively, they only allowed 192 passing yards. Granted, Wisconsin is not a great passing team, but that’s still impressive.
The Buckeyes need more push in the running game. Wisconsin ran for 192 yards against them, so they can be had on the ground. With TreVeyon Henderson and Judkins in the backfield, there’s no reason they shouldn’t be able to gain yards at will on the ground.
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The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Ohio State’s 52-6 win over Akron
After a sleepy first half to begin the season, Ohio State came alive in the second half to defeat Akron 52-6 in the opener. The Buckeyes led just 17-3 at the break, but were able to shake off the cobwebs in a 21-point third quarter and get the backups in there late as they coasted to an easy win in Week 1.
Here is the good, the bad and the ugly from Ohio State’s victory over Akron.
In an otherwise clunky first half offensively for Ohio State, five-star freshman phenom Jeremiah Smith introduced himself the college football world with authority. He, like the rest of the team, had to get himself acclimated to the game, dropping his first target on a screen pass. Smith responded shortly thereafter by hauling in the first touchdown of the season for the Buckeyes on a 16-yard pass from Will Howard — the transfer QB’s first TD pass in scarlet and gray.
That would not be all for Smith, who also scored the second touchdown of the game for Ohio State on a 9-yard slant route to make it 17-3 in the second quarter. Not done just yet, Smith made the longest play of the afternoon by either team with a 45-yard one-hand grab down to the 2-yard line to set up a Quinshon Judkins touchdown run to begin the third quarter.
All in all, Smith finished with a game-high six catches for 92 yards and the two scores. The freshman looked every bit the player he has been hyped up to be this offseason, and it will be a treat to watch him in Columbus for the next three years.
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