UPDATED: OSU preview: the Mike Bohn Memorial Fire Dan Hawkins Road Trip, sponsored by Cinch Jeans

When the Buffs inked this game last season, without the guaranteed return trip befitting a program of CU's stature, I couldn't help but think of all the 1-AA schools who travel the country looking for ass-kickings and a quick paycheck.  Sure, the Buffs are getting a massive non-con appearance fee, but it's still football prostitution at its finest (with Mike Bohn as the pimp).  It's an awkward situation, being hamstrung by not only the typical CU budgetary woes, but also paying-off a disastrous failure of a coach and not receiving any TV money to boot.  While CU seems to have caught OSU at the perfect time, with the Buckeyes hurting more than they have in a decade, it's still a massive challenge to walk into the Horseshoe, and the whole scenario boils down to a cash grab.

Mike, you gotta keep that pimp hand strong!

The long and the short of it is we needed the cash.  Desperate times call for desperate measures, and all that.

So bring on OSU with their deep pockets, and bring on whatever horrors await in the shadows of the Horseshoe.  Things will not always be this way, but, for one weekend at least, we are the Little Sisters of the Poor.  However the game goes on Saturday, I'll be humming "Take the Money and Run" all day long.

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The final non-conference test of the season kicks off at 1:30 MT.  Since you probably aren't going to Columbus for this one, I suggest tuning into ABC (or ESPN2 if it's blacked out in your area) to catch the 5th all-time matchup between the Bucks and the Buffs.

Click below for the preview...


Ephemera - 


Usually, this section comes farther down the list in my previews, but this week it belongs at the top.  That's because Ohio State has just emerged on the other side of a wide-ranging and painful scandal that involved multiple players trading memorabilia for tattoos.  It was a scandal that shook the program to its core, and brought down one of the most powerful and beloved coaches in the nation.

The story itself, that Terrelle Pryor, Dan Herron, DeVier Posey, Mike Adams, and Solomon Thomas traded memorabilia for improper benefits, is not all that shocking.  The part that really got OSU in trouble is when legendary sweater-vest/head coach Jim Tressel decided to cover-up the actions of his players.  Not only did he allow the players to play in the 2011 Sugar Bowl, but it was later uncovered that Tressel knew as many as 8 months prior to the scandal breaking that the players were rule breakers.  Instead of turning them in, he buried the story in the hopes that it would go away.

(cue sad trombone)

The end result was that Coach Tressel, who was essentially the most important man in the State of Ohio after LeBron James "took his talents to South Beach," was pushed out (losing any shred of dignity and moral righteousness he once had in the process), and 5 bona fide stars from the 2011 Sugar Bowl champions were suspended for 5 games.  The scandal even forced Pryor to leave school entirely and join the Oakland Raiders, which many in Denver consider a fate worse than death.

Pryor, far and away the program's best player, took his talents to Oakland.

It's interesting the level that this scandal reached.  Considering the litany of ways you can run afoul of the NCAA's Banhammer, the whole thing strikes me as kind of lame.  Free tattoos?  Really?  For all the shit OSU went through this offseason, I would've at least expected a no-show job, or something really cool like someone buying a mom a house.  Had Tressel not ruined his career and reputation covering up for violators, this thing would've been forgotten in a day.  Now it has essentially ruined a program that had always been filled with promise.


Opponents season so far - 


THE Ohio State University, in their quest to prove to all the world that they were more than a sweater vest, has looked, shall I say, interesting so far this season.  While CU has gotten demonstrably better each game this year, the Buckeyes have gotten worse as each game passes them by.

In their season opening win over Akron, the vastly superior Bucks walloped the visiting Zips 42-0.  The hapless Zips could only manage a meager 90 yard of total offense, and could only come up with 5 first downs.  Absolutely no one was surprised by this, as not only are the Zips a terrible team, but the Bucks haven't lost to a team from Ohio since the Harding Administration (Oberlin College in 1921).

It was all fun and games against the hapless Zips.

OSU followed up their pasting of Akron with a narrow victory over yet another weak Ohio opponent, the Toledo Rockets.  This game came down to the wire as the Rockets had the ball with a chance to score the winning touchdown.  It was not to be, however, as Toledo, who had out-gained the Bucks on the day, couldn't convert from the OSU 16 yard line late in the 4th quarter; tantalizingly close to a program defining victory. 

If the Toledo scare exposed a few cracks in the Buckeye foundation, the following week's debacle in Miami shined a light on the fault lines tearing the team apart.  The Hurricanes, dealing with their own scandal issues, dealt OSU an embarrassing 24-6 defeat, holding the Bucks to barely over 200 total yards and a paltry 35 passing yards passing in the process.  Starting OSU QB Joe Bauserman, who is the poor sap provided the reins in the wake of Pryor's departure, had an extremely forgettable day, as he regurgitated a 2-14, 13-yard performance onto the field.

Miami had a field day at the expense of the woeful Buckeye offense.

The offensive performance (or lack thereof) is notable, as Miami was coming into the game fresh off giving the Maryland Terrapins near 500-yards of offense (348 through the air).  While 3 Miami defensive stars were out for the Maryland game, it still doesn't explain how abysmal OSU played last weekend.  They should've been more than capable of passing for at least a few yards against the Hurricanes.  Regardless, Buckeye Nation is in disarray headed into this weekend's matchup.


Offense & Defense - 

Considering how pitiful the passing game was last weekend, it should come as no surprise that this OSU team wants to run the football.  This has been the way of OSU since before former coach Tressel showed up, and it looks to still be the way of things now that Luke Fickell is at the helm.  Through 3 games, the Bucks are averaging 170 yards per contest on the ground.  They also use a good kick return squad to give the 'ground-and-pound' offense a short field to work with.

OSU runs the football.  As men do.

If this unit could find a QB to rise out of last weeks disaster, they could be something.  But, for now at least, the offense in Columbus is a net negative on the team's overall performance.

Defensively, they are as strong and fast as ever; if there is one group who has been able to shrug off the scandal-induced departures, it's the Buckeyes defense.  This is a typically strong group that holds opponents under 300 yards per game, and has only given up 6 total TDs on the year. They've grabbed 4 picks so far on the season, and hold opposing QB's to just over 150 yards per game.   8 Buckeyes have recorded a sack so far, and the whole unit does a great job getting to the quarterback; it'll be interesting to see if CU's improving pass block holds up this week.

Outside of a rough first two drives against the Hurricanes, the Buckeye D had a pretty good game in Miami, and, should the offense allow them a breather on the bench, will be a tough nut to crack (pun intended).


Star Players - 


Offensively, with Joe Bauserman playing a disastrous form of QB, many have been clamoring for the emergence of freshman Braxton Miller as the OSU starter.  Bauserman is still a co-starter, for now (UPDATE: apparently Braxton Miller has been named the starter for Saturday), and he will look to have a big game to earn back the confidence of Buckeye Nation.  Carlos Hyde and Jordan Hall will split the rock out of the backfield; they're talented ball carriers who should give the Buffs developing 3-4 defense all they can handle.  TE Jake Stoneburner, despite a paucity of quality service, has already recorded 4 touchdown grabs, and is a deadly threat when in the red zone for whoever emerges as the QB.

Bauserman (14), has the unenviable task of replacing the great Pryor (foreground).

The Buckeye special teams is highlighted by punt return specialists Chris Fields and Corey Brown.  Fields already has one punt returned for a score on the young season, and is deadly when kicked to.  Kicker Drew Basil is a little shaky, having missed each of his 2 kicks from outside the 40, one in each of the 2 home games.

On Defense, watch out for senior LB Andrew Sweat, who leads the team in tackles and has 3.5 tackles for loss and a pick to boot.  Sweat shares the LB spotlight with Etienne Sabino, who's recorded 19 tackles and 2 sacks on the season.

Sabino is a playmaker.

Coaching - 


Poor Luke Fickell.

He was essentially thrown to the wolves when he took over as coach following the departure of the disgraced Jim Tressel.  Fickell is a Buckeye Alum (it has become a trend in college sports to look towards a native son to save the program) and Columbus native, but I'm not sure this was the scenario in which he envisioned taking over his beloved Buckeyes. 

Fickell steps into an unenviable position in Columbus.

Picked to helm the Buckeyes in the wake of the Tats-for-memrobilia scandal, he was tasked with expunging the stain left on the OSU brand while learning on the job in his first head coaching gig.  It's not that he's un-qualified; this is his 10th season in the program, and he was named the FBS assistant coach of the year in 2010 by the AFCA.

Can you both heal a program and win at the same time?

I have to give Fickell credit, he's run headlong into the task, but I'm not sure there's any upside to this position for him.  If he wins this year, it was Tressel who set it up for him (even with the depth chart evisceration from the scandal).  If he loses, it's because he just wasn't good enough.  Either way, his prospects for continuing to run the OSU program can't be too promising.  I look for OSU to back up the proverbial 'Brinks Truck' to a series of high-profile candidates the second the season concludes.


Prediction -  

I'd like to say, right off the bat, that I think CU is capable of staying in this game for longer than it should.  Realistically, a rebuilding CU program with road issues shouldn't be able to walk into the 'Shoe and compete,  but these aren't your slightly-older-brother's Buckeyes.  OSU seemed completely out of sorts when faced with willing competition over the past two weeks, and, considering all that's gone on over the past couple of months, THE Ohio State University is as vulnerable as possible.

CU even looks primed to start firing a bit.  I really like the fact that Speedy got going last week with a near 100/100 performance, and the O-line looked dominate in that final drive against 'little brother' last weekend; in fact, the O-line (the "hog-mollies" are only getting healthier), and the team as a whole, has improved each week, which is a good sign for the future. Hell, even the supposedly weak Colorado secondary has looked good (with the possible exception of Parker Orms), and won't be tested too much by the slap-stick Buckeye QB situation.  CU is, by all reckoning, in as good a spot to pull the upset as can be expected headed into Saturday.

But, I don't buy that OSU is that vulnerable.  This is a Buckeye home game, afterall, and home environs can cure a whole bunch of ailments.

I look for CU to hold their own early, maybe even showcasing their first "quick-start" of the season, but the offense will show an inability to stay on the field that will eventually lead to a tired and vulnerable defense come the second half.  By the time the 4th Quarter rolls around, the Buckeyes will be able to salt away the win by pounding the exhausted CU D-line, thereby keeping the ball out of their own QB's hands as much as possible and securing the win.  Additionally, since Ringo felt the squad needed a turnover jinx thrown in on top of the road losing streak and our difficulty in eastern road trips, I can almost guarantee at least one CU turnover.

Penalties and kick-offs continue to bubble with problems, but not as many as the past 3 weeks.  Combine that with a decent showing in the 1st quarter, and Buff Nation can at least claim a 3rd straight week of improvement.

For the score, I'll just take the average of my eastern road trip research:

THE OSU 24.78 - CU 15.41


GO BUFFS!  PROVE ME WRONG AND BEAT THE BUCKEYES!