Arrogant, uninformed, and over-confident.

I was listening to part of “The Big Show” on 97.1 The Fan with Bruce Hooley. Hooley was trying to stir up interest in his show by asking what team on the remainder of Ohio State’s schedule represents the biggest road block to the Buckeyes getting to the Rose Bowl. In a typical Buckeye fan fashion, he quickly dismissed just about every team remaining on the schedule with the exception of Penn State. Of course he qualified that by stating that Penn State would need to get by Illinois and Michigan on the road. If they failed to pull that off, he felt they weren’t much of a threat.

And just like any Buckeye fan, he took for a given that Ohio State would mop all of its remaining opponents at home because those games were at home. Naturally, Ohio State wins all of its games at home. It’s just a given.

Unlike Mr. Whooley, I think the Buckeyes only have two passes remaining – New Mexico State and Purdue. Beyond those two games, any of the other six games could go either way.

The Buckeyes finish with a difficult three week stretch beginning at Penn State, followed by Iowa at home, and finishing with Michigan on the road. Michigan has got to love that set up. You expect the game at Beaver Stadium to be hard fought. Iowa will probably play Ohio State just as tough if not tougher than Penn State does. If Ohio State gets by both of those teams then they have to get up for Michigan. It won’t be difficult for the Buckeyes to get up for Michigan but will they run out of gas in Ann Arbor? What if they lose to either Iowa or Penn State? I think that three week stretch will prove to be the undoing of the Buckeyes in terms of not losing another game. They may still make it to the Rose Bowl but with at least two losses and maybe three.

So far Indiana, Wisconsin and Minnesota have looked very impressive this year. OSU only plays Indiana on the road of the three. Indiana looked very dangerous against Michigan. I doubt they will be able to pull out anything new from the playbook against the Buckeyes as they threw out everything and the kitchen sink against Michigan.

Why is Indiana dangerous? Its two defensive ends – Jammie Kirlew and Greg Middleton. OSU’s offensive line will get a big test with those two. On offense, Tandon Doss is a weapon. I was also impressed with the play of their quarterback, Ben Chappell. He appears very poised in the pocket and is able to make accurate throws. Darius Willis ran for 152 yards against Michigan and Ohio State’s had trouble defending against the run. I will watch with keen interest how Ohio State defends the pistol offense especially when it assumes its wildcat formation.

If Ohio State gets past Indiana, Wisconsin should prove to be an even bigger test. More will be revealed about Wisconsin after they play on Saturday at Minnesota.

A lot of “ifs” remain for the Buckeyes, I see at least one more loss with the possibility of maybe even three more. Brace yourselves, Buckeye fans.

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