Ohio State football: 5 reasons the Buckeyes will demolish Tulane
By Alec Hartman
3. The Buckeyes won’t look passed Tulane at home
Returning home to play after winning a big road game is great and all but it’s not something the Buckeyes can lean back on just yet. The heat of the season has just begun. The landscape is more mountainous in this part of the season rather than like a desert though. The competition will come in waves from now on.
What is meant from that landscape perspective is that there will be uphill battles against solid opponents and also downhill battles against opponents who are clearly inferior. The Buckeyes come into this sandwich type game against Tulane who is a far inferior non-conference opponent. This takes place between the recent big win on the road against ranked opponent TCU and ranked Penn State waiting next weekend.
The Buckeyes must be vigilant to not fall asleep at the wheel against the Green Wave as that will get them into big trouble. They may not end up losing the game but it could get them out of rhythm before their big match up at Penn State. Ohio State needs to use this as an opportunity to get better and carry that momentum from last weekend into this one by playing just as hard.
The great efforts of the defense didn’t come without a cost though. The defensive MVP for the Buckeyes so far this season, Bosa, suffered an abdominal injury in this game and had to leave early. He will be inactive this week against the Green Wave as he recovers from the injury he sustained. Hopefully, he will be active once again for the big match up looming next weekend at Penn State.
Tulane is very average in terms of offensive and defensive ranking. The Green Wave rank 67th in yards per game on offense and 113th in yards given up per game on defense. This won’t give the Buckeyes a challenge nor will it inspire them to play their best but they will still need to respect the Green Wave’s motivation.
There’s no doubt the Green Wave will be coming in looking to make their year by upsetting the Buckeyes on the road on the biggest stage. It may be hard to get excited for a midday game against Tulane but Ohio State could easily make things interesting by putting on a show of their own. Expect the Buckeyes to take care of business against the Green Wave in preparation to take on the Nittany Lions next weekend.