Buckeyes Look Like Who We Thought They Were Against Purdue, and Michigan State Awaits

On last week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays, we were asked if the defense could become Ohio State’s strength this season. On Saturday against Purdue, it became clear that it isn’t.The Buckeyes looked like who we thought they were against the Boilermakers, as they re-emerged as an offensive juggernaut by putting up 59 points and 624 yards but looked vulnerable on defense as they gave up 31 points on 481 yards, including 390 yards through the air.We begin the show by discussing Ohio State’s return to offensive greatness, including C.J. Stroud’s emergence as the potential Heisman frontrunner and Garrett Wilson’s spectacular four-touchdown performance. Coming off of historically great performances by Wilson and Jaxon Smith-Njigba in back-to-back weeks and Chris Olave being named a Biletnikoff Award semifinalist, we also have a discussion about which of Ohio State’s three star receivers is best (4:55).Of course, we also had to talk about what didn’t go as well for the Buckeyes on defense (10:41) – including an almost complete lack of pass-rush against the Boilermakers – and why that could be concerning but also why you probably shouldn’t panic too much about how the defense played in a game that was never in doubt for the final three quarters.At the 20:20 mark of the show, we turn our attention ahead to this week’s top-10 matchup with Michigan State. What makes this one of the toughest tests of the season for the Buckeyes, where should Ohio State have an edge over the Spartans and how do we ultimately see it playing out? We spend about 13 minutes discussing all of that.We also discuss who is and isn’t participating in Senior Day and what that could mean for next season (33:25), discuss our takeaways from the first three games of the Ohio State basketball season and the impact of Justice Sueing’s injury (42:00) and break down why Sonny Styles is such a big addition to Ohio State’s recruiting class of 2023 (50:50).