Ad Disclosure
Who is Ohio State’s biggest remaining obstacle? ESPN’s CFB crew weighs in
Published:
On ESPN’s College Football Playoff Top 25 preview show Tuesday evening, the panelists touched a lot on Ohio State and if there’s one big obstacle in the way for them the rest of this season.
Jesse Palmer was asked about it, but he believes it is hard to find a team strong enough on the remaining schedule:
“It’s tough to look at their schedule and say okay, who here can beat Ohio State because of all the talent you guys are talking about,” explained Palmer. “Wisconsin maybe could get them in the Big Ten title game, I’m just not sure they’re going to get six games to qualify. I guess I look at Indiana. Indiana has skill at wide receiver and tight end. I think because of personnel and scheme, that to me is really the only team that I think has a legit shot on the field of beating Ohio State.”
David Pollack was also on the panel and when he was asked about their biggest obstacle:
“I’m not kidding when I say this, I’m really interested to watch them play Maryland this weekend because Maryland can score,” explained Pollack. He doesn’t expect any team to be able to shut down Ohio State’s offense, so it will come down to teams that can score at a high rate against the Buckeyes.
Joey Galloway had a more interesting answer:
“Ohio State’s biggest obstacle is Ohio State,” Galloway admitted. “If they play their B or C game they’ll go undefeated in the Big Ten, but then that next step and the real issue happens. When you get to the Playoff, you will not have seen a team even close to the athleticism, the explosiveness of a Clemson, an Alabama, a Notre Dame. Any of those teams would also go undefeated in the Big Ten right now because of the huge gap between Ohio State and everybody else.”
Kirk Herbstreit added that the biggest obstacle is Ohio State just simply trying to improve on the early season results:
“I think just continuing to improve,” Herbstreit explained. “The way they played against Nebraska and Rutgers, it’s kept Ryan Day up. I know they won, the numbers look great, but if you really watch the film, there’s plenty to work on. There’s enough there to make you want to get out on the practice, get in the film room, and just continue to grow.”
The next team to try and slow down the Buckeyes is Maryland. Saturday’s kickoff is set for 3:30 pm EST on BTN.