Commentary: OU just a warm-up for Buckeyes

COLUMBUS - Ohio State football fans are professional worriers.

If Chris Wells' foot injury hadn't happened, they would have found something else to lose sleep over.

One fear that I heard before the great Wells Watch began was that maybe knocking off two cupcakes like Youngstown State and Ohio University wouldn't prepare the Buckeyes for the challenge of playing at No. 1-ranked Southern California next week.

It's not a bad question. But what does recent history tell us about the effect of playing cupcakes on eventual national champions?

Of the last half-dozen BCS national champions, one has consumed back-to-back cupcakes in its first two games. Several have gone the one-cupcake, one-formidable-opponent route, and others have had two near-cupcakes.

Maybe the toughest two opening games in that group belonged to last year's BCS national champion, LSU, which opened with Mississippi State, a team that finished 8-5, and Virginia Tech.

Not to bring up unpleasant memories for Ohio State fans, but the other team to beat them in a BCS title game, Florida, took just the opposite route in its first two games.

The Gators outscored Southern Mississippi and Central Florida by a combined score of 76-7 on their way to the 2006 national title.

It's not like James Laurinaitis and friends haven't played in a few big games the last four years. The only players on the Buckeyes' rosters without big-game experience are the few freshmen who will see the field.

So, any nervous fans ought to relax and realize they shouldn't be concerned about that next week, much like Ohio State doesn't need to worry about Ohio University this afternoon.

The Buckeyes' players issued the obligatory assurances earlier this week that they wouldn't be looking past the Bobcats this afternoon.

There was absolutely no hint OSU was looking past Youngstown State last Saturday when it beat the Penguins 43-0, and it should be more of the same today. Even without Chris Wells, the Buckeyes should dominate this game.

First of all, Ohio University has never beaten a ranked opponent. The Bobcats are 0-13 against ranked opponents and it doesn't look like this is the year that the streak ends.

Also, the Bobcats are not particularly adept at stopping opponents' running games. They allowed 160 yards rushing in a 21-20 loss to Wyoming in their opener last week, which was not much of an improvement on the almost 170 yards a game they gave up on the ground last season.

Quarterback Theo Scott threw for 224 yards, most of it to wide receiver Taylor Price, who had 14 catches. But Wyoming also limited OU to 39 yards rushing with a defense considerably less imposing that Ohio State's.

Ohio State's huge offensive line outweighs the Bobcats' defensive line by more than 40 pounds a man. And that defensive line did not have a quarterback sack against Wyoming.

It's no problem this week for the Buckeyes. Then they'll find out if back-to-back cupcakes are a problem. 

The prediction: Ohio State 48, Ohio University 6