Reaction to the Reaction

When Urban Meyer was suspended for the first three games of the 2018 season, it was easy to think that the team had potential for a stumble out of the gates. Others, mostly outside of Columbus, were outraged that Meyer wasn't fired. So much so, that it lead to an ESPN First Take segment where it was stated that Ohio State must have been thinking to themselves, "we weren't winning before Urban Meyer got here."

Great stuff, right?

On Ryen Russillo's new podcast with The Ringer called Dual Threat, Colin Cowherd stated that Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Oklahoma and "every other year," Ohio State have separated themselves from the rest of college football. Just as I was audibly yelling, "YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDD-", Russillo corrected him and said he thought that Cowherd needed to include Ohio State as full-time on that list. 

Uh, yeah.

It doesn't really matter which year I pick to go back to, but let's say, 2010. That even takes us back to the Luke Fickell (still love you) 6-7 season, which was the most losses Ohio State has had in a single season since, it's right at the tip of my tongue, um...1897.

Losses since 2010:

Alabama - 12

Ohio State - 16

Oklahoma - 21

Clemson - 22

Georgia - 24

I'll give Colin the benefit of the doubt on this one since he seems like a smart guy, but my overall point is - did the Urban Meyer scandal somehow make people forget Ohio State?

The 2018 College Football Preseason rankings came out showing Ohio State ranked #5 in the country behind familiar Big Ten foe Wisconsin, who Ohio State did beat 9 months ago, but, I digress. Also, while watching some pregame shows that led up to Week 1, there wasn't much talk about the Buckeyes being one of the favorites to make the College Football Playoff. They were the "Right up there in talent, but" team and Penn State, Wisconsin and Michigan were the more popular picks to win the conference. 

After Ohio State's 77-31 victory over Oregon State, some of the other tight wins against lesser teams for the rest of the Big 10 and that heartbreaking yet enjoyable Michigan loss, it seems Ohio State has jumped back into the picture for many and rightfully so. I even heard Paul Finebaum say that he thought Ohio State was a top four team this week! A real 180 for Finebaum, who put the "b" back in bitter so hard he could've been this guy.

Also, was it really a bad spot?

Putting up over 700 yards on offense and the friendly reminder that, "Oh right, they have Nick Bosa, JK Dobbins, Mike Weber and Dwayne Haskins" seems to have put Ohio State back into the spotlight. There are tough tests on the road in the next four weeks, but Ohio State seems ready to answer the call. 

Already looking forward to TCU week to hear all of the out-on-a-limb upset picks against the Buckeyes. 

Go Bucks!