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After hitting the road with a chip on their shoulders and taking down Michigan State, the Ohio State Buckeyes have proven to be the best team in the Big Ten this year. However, they will face yet another solid test against a 7-2 Minnesota Golden Gophers team on the road. The path to the conference title game won’t be that easy for the Buckeyes this season.
Following a week two loss, the Buckeyes have been nearly untouchable, winning seven games in a row and putting up at least 49 points in all but one of those contests. Freshman quarterback J.T. Barrett may very well be better than Braxton Miller and he showed that in a huge win a week ago. On the year, Barrett has passed for 2,156 yards, 26 touchdowns and seven interceptions while running for another 582 yards and eight touchdowns. His favorite target has been senior Devin Smith who leads the team with 564 yards and eight touchdowns on 22 catches while sophomore Michael Thomas has 31 receptions for 538 yards and seven scores. Ezekiel Elliott has done a solid job taking over for Carlos Hyde in the run game, rushing for 863 yards and seven touchdowns on 5.8 yards per touch.
Minnesota’s offense doesn’t exactly strike fear into the hearts of opponents, but the Golden Gophers’ run game does rank 27th in the country. Minnesota is the not-so-proud owner of the 122nd-ranked passing attack in the country behind the arm of Mitch Leidner who has just 1,225 yards and 10 touchdowns with six interceptions. This is clearly an offense that relies more on the run than the pass. Leidner is second on the team in rushing yards, however, with 241 for six touchdowns. David Cobb is the real offensive threat on this team as the senior running back now has a career-high in rushing yards with 1,205 and rushing touchdowns with eight this season. Sophomore tight end Maxx Williams is the only receiver with more than 11 catches as he has 22 for 326 yards and seven scores.
Defensively, the Golden Gophers will need their best effort of the season to slow down the potent Ohio State offense. Minnesota ranks a solid 24th in scoring defense while owning the 21st-best total defense in the country as well. Ohio State has also been effective on this side of the ball, ranking 26th in points allowed and 17th in yards allowed per game. This could still end up being a real barn burner.
Ohio State will travel to Minnesota to take on the Golden Gophers at 12 p.m. EST on Saturday, Nov. 15. The game will be broadcasted on ABC.
PREDICTION: Ohio State 40, Minnesota 31
Connor Muldowney is a columnist for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @Connormuldowney, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google. You can also reach him at [email protected].
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