Scarlet Sunrise: Can Ohio State put it all together against Minnesota?

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Buckeyes go Gopher hunting

For a team that’s 6-0, it sure does feel like angsty times in Columbus right now. Fans are (perhaps rightly) concerned about the defense, and Urban Meyer showed up to his Wednesday press conference looking like he hadn’t slept in weeks.

With that being said, I wouldn’t read too much into last week’s game. The last two seasons featured a post-Penn State hangover of sorts, and I think it’s possible that was in play again. Though last year’s crazy Iowa loss was more of a freak occurrence, last week’s showing did resemble the 24-20 win over Northwestern in 2016 one week after playing Penn State on the road.

Ohio State has a chance the next few weeks to get itself right before the final three games of the regular season. The defense and running game don’t have to be perfect yet, but with a week to regroup it would be nice to see at least the start of some improvement.

Ohio State-Minnesota picks

Raph Russo, Associated Press: OSU 45, Minnesota 20

Tim May, Columbus Dispatch: OSU 49, Minnesota 10

SB Nation: OSU 39, Minnesota 16

Bill Landis, Cleveland.com: OSU 48, Minnesota 7

Doug Lesmerises, Cleveland.com: OSU 52, Minnesota 17

Place your bets

Betting B1G is back for another installment, with Lettermen Row senior writer Austin Ward and contributor Tim Shoemaker making their picks against the spread for the week’s biggest games. Here are the six games discussed in this week’s video and story:

• Minnesota at No. 3 Ohio State
• No. 2 Georgia at No. 13 LSU
• No. 7 Washington at No. 17 Oregon
• Michigan State at No. 8 Penn State
• No. 15 Wisconsin at No. 12 Michigan
• Iowa at Indiana

If you need some last-minute advice, check it out!

K.J. Hill’s work ethic

K.J. Hill has blossomed into one of Ohio State’s most lethal playmakers, and he’s the subject of this week’s recruiting rewind. Lettermen Row contributor John Brice spoke with Hill’s high school coach Brad Bolding about why Hill has been so successful.

“Obviously a lot of kids and players want to be like K.J., but a lot of players want to avoid the process required to be good,” Bolding said. “K.J. took what was given to him and took it to another level. Kids on our team recognized that hard work. They saw the work he put in around the team and the work he did with J.J. Meadors, who was a starting wide receiver at Arkansas and who has helped train and develop a lot of great receivers.

“When you see that from a guy like K.J., your team can really benefit from that. He’s always had a blue collar, lunchpail-hardhat mentality.”

What if?

Ohio State is still considered the favorite to land 5-star defensive end Zach Harrison… but what if the Buckeyes don’t? Should they chase another defensive end or stay put? That question is the subject of this week’s 3 for 3 debate, featuring analysis from Lettermen Row recruiting czar Birm as well as Marc Givler of BuckeyeGrove.com and Andrew Ellis of Eleven Warriors.

Counting down

• Ohio State vs. Minnesota: Today
• The Game: 42 days

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