Ohio State Buckeyes v Minnesota Golden Gophers

Ohio State travels this weekend to Minnesota to play for the first time in TFC Bank Stadium. The Buckeyes enter the game rated the 10th best in the country while the Gophers are playing with an interim head coach after a terrible start to their season. Ohio State is expected to crush Minnesota in a similar way to the way they stuffed and ran over Purdue last weekend at home.

By Steve Patterson

Minnesota lost last to Penn State 33-21 and are now 1-7 overall while being 0-4 in the Big Ten. Jeff Horton became the interim head coach after Tim Brewster was let go half way through the season. He was previously the offensive coordinator and has a coaching record of 21-55.

The Gophers have a quality quarterback in Adam Weber who has already put up 1,925 yards and passed for 17 touchdowns. Da’Jon McKnight is his favorite receiver and has 542 yards with 9 touchdowns. Marqueis Gray, a converted quarterback, has also been a good target for Weber this season with 432 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Ohio State has kept the ball in their hands this season and rank 3rd in turnover margin. Their aggressive defense creates turnovers on a regular basis while their conservative offense will run the ball with senior tailbacks down the stretch of a game that they lead. The have good return specialists in Jamaal Berry and Jordan Hall but have failed on defending kick-offs this season allowing teams to score easily.

Terrelle Pryor is still focusing on his passing more than his running and therefore could pass early to Dane Sanzenbacher and DeVier Posey, his two leading receivers. Look for starting tailback Daniel Boom Herron to get the rock a good number of times early to establish a lead and late to secure the victory. When the two teams met in 2009 Ohio State came out on top 38-7.