COLUMBUS, Ohio — The actual competition was completely overmatched. The teams that most everybody else around the nation would be judging Ohio State against weren’t even on the same field.
So, in some respects, that left little for the Buckeyes to do but play against themselves and their own high standards.
+ EnlargeAP Photo/Michael ConroyThough coach Urban Meyer’s Buckeyes don’t play this weekend, the national title game picture could become clearer with a few big games across the country.That may have added a bit more entertainment than might otherwise be expected in a 56-0 thrashing of Purdue over the weekend as the Buckeyes seemingly took turns trying to top each other. But there was only so much that could actually be gained by what amounted to a back-and-forth battle between defensive and offensive units that weren’t even facing each other, and it turns out the same thing will be on the line this week when Ohio State doesn’t even have to play. As impressive as Ohio State has been lately, the only thing that will ultimately allow it to climb higher than No. 4 in the BCS standings and potentially into position to play for a national title is a couple teams dropping from the ranks of the unbeaten. And while the Buckeyes won’t be in the spotlight themselves during their second bye of the season, the marquee matchups elsewhere this week certainly have the potential to thrust them directly on to center stage when they do return to action.
“I’ve got to make sure that’s not something we discuss,” Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer said. “We talk about playing for championships in November, and that’s what we’re doing. The goal for this team is to come back faster and stronger than they went into the bye week.
“We’ve got to make sure we’re not worried about anything like that. That’s the unfortunate thing about bye weeks. You let guys go for the weekends and they start hearing, with all due respect, stuff like that.”
As long as the Buckeyes keep winning, that conversation is only going to get louder. And the volume could be cranked up to the highest level of Meyer’s tenure with the program depending on what happens in a pair of primetime games on Thursday and another on Saturday.
Baylor, currently trailing the Buckeyes in the BCS equation, faces its first stiff test of the year against Oklahoma with a chance to potentially start leaping teams ahead of it or drift out of the title picture.
Oregon and Stanford, currently making a Pac-12 sandwich with Ohio State providing the protein, battle each other with massive national implications. The Ducks are unbeaten, but like the rest of the perfect teams considering the logjam at the top, can’t afford to drop a game. Stanford has already lost once, and another would dash what is left of its hopes of raising the crystal football.
And then on Saturday, two-time defending champion Alabama will take on LSU in what promises to be a physical affair that should reveal plenty about whether or not its capable of playing for a third title in a row.
Meanwhile, the Buckeyes can do little but watch and wait.
This week, there’s not even a chance for them to to try to gauge how their defense stacks up against their offense, like it did when they staged an unannounced, unofficial battle to see which unit could score quicker against Purdue…
Continue reading this article at ESPN: Bye week filled with opportunities for OSU
