Ohio State Football Bye Blues: What To Watch In The Big Ten

No Ohio State football this weekend, so Factory of Sadness writer Joe Russo takes a look at two must-see Big Ten games.

It’s a sad weekend when there’s no Buckeye football to watch. It’s made worse when you can’t even take refuge in watching the Cleveland Browns. There is still plenty of great college football being played sans Ohio State, especially in the Big Ten.

These two big time match ups to keep Buckeye fans occupied during the idle week.

Wisconsin at Michigan State

Any trip to East Lansing is a tough one. Mark D’Antonio has proven himself to be one of the best coaches not just in the Big Ten, but in the country. His Spartans play host to the Badgers. Wisconsin is 3-0 and defeated LSU when the Tigers were in the top 10.

Of all of the Big Ten match ups this Saturday, this contest has the biggest implications for the Buckeyes.

Wisconsin needs to show the nation they’re for real. LSU certainly has shown some warts in 2016 and Les Miles, despite last year’s outpouring of support, is back on the hot seat after another season of a vanilla offense and an overhyped preseason. Is the Badger defense as good as they looked in the first three weeks of the year? Can they overcome injuries to Cory Clement and a redshirt freshman at quarterback?

Michigan State is stuck in their own offensive malaise. Can they snap out of it? After nearly pulling an Iowa and losing to an FCS team, Sparty has gotten back on track by beating Notre Dame.

Despite their best efforts to blow a huge lead, Michigan State controlled the field for three quarters of the game against the Fighting Irish. The question is which team will show up? The first-half team against Notre Dame or the one that almost let Brian Kelley’s squad back in it?

This No. 9 vs No. 11 tilt will help answer the question of who is the best Big Ten team not based in Columbus. Michigan–who we’ll get to in a bit–is solidly the second best team in the country’s best conference. It’s not as if Wisconsin and Michigan State are a distant third or fourth.

A Wisconsin win sets up an epic showdown in Madison when the Buckeyes arrive on Oct. 15. A Michigan State win exposes Wisconsin and gets D’Antonio’s team back on track to where the preseason voters felt they could be. Either way, the team that clears the hurdle this weekend in East Lansing puts themselves in control of their own destiny to take their best shot against Ohio State.

Penn State at No. 4 Michigan

The Wolverines have looked good all season while Penn State foolishly celebrated the legacy of Joe Paterno. The wounds in Happy Valley are still fresh enough for it to be a poorly timed event. It may not be out there publicly, but Big Ten fans have to believe that James Franklin is on the hot seat.

Franklin was a successful, scrappy underdog at Penn State. Yet, he’s accomplished nothing Penn State, a nationally known program. He recruited well early in his tenure, but the results just haven’t shown on the field yet. He won’t get fired this season, but beating Michigan will go a long way to keeping the early grumblings at bay.

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For Jim Harbaugh’s club, this is a chance to start the conference slate with a bang. No matter how well they perform against Penn State and other Big Ten teams, they will need every ounce of momentum they can to shake loose of the Buckeyes. In what might be the best rivalry in college football, Harbaugh is likely to try to make a statement directed at Urban Meyer that he won’t go down without a fight in 2016. Michigan easily has their best team in a long time and has their best chance to knock off Ohio State in Columbus the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It all starts with a win against Penn State

More importantly, these two games give Urban Meyer a chance to more actively scout the top threats to the Iron Throne of the Big Ten. With the Badgers right around the corner, it will be helpful to let master tactician Mark D’Antonio find where Wisconsin is weakest. If Meyer is the best game planner in the country, D’Antonio isn’t far behind. Just roll back the tape of their win in Columbus last year.

Speaking of Sparty, Meyer wants revenge. J.T. Barrett wants revenge. Heck, all of Buckeye Nation wants revenge. Wisconsin will play physical football. The Badgers have done it for decades.

While Michigan State has talent, they have not been playing like the No. 11 team in the nation. This game will show Meyer exactly what Michigan State is made of in the trenches, where the young Buckeyes have surprised people this season in the face of the inexperience along both lines.

In Michigan, how will they fare against their first conference opponent of the season? Will Penn State come out swinging and catch the over ranked Wolverines off guard?

It’s happened before with Jim Harbaugh teams.

Remember, Harbaugh was barely a .500 coach at Stanford prior to jumping to the NFL. Can Harbaugh really coach or is Michigan just taking advantage of early polls to appear better than they are on paper?

Next: Ohio State: 3 Things We Learned From Crushing Oklahoma

Conference games are always tougher than the chalk indicates. The real Michigan will begin to stand up in this game and you better believe Urban Meyer will be watching closely.