Where: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
TV/Radio: Big Ten Network/1410
Series history: Ohio State leads 1-0, and the Buckeyes are 37-1 all-time against teams in the Mid-American Conference.
Last meeting: Top-ranked Ohio State beat the Broncos 38-12 in September 2015. Cardale Jones threw for 288 yards and two touchdowns while Ezekiel Elliott ran for 124 yards on 16 caries for the defending national champion Buckeyes.
Coaches: Ohio State’s Ryan Day is 57-8 in six seasons. Lance Taylor is 4-9 in his third year as head coach of the Broncos.
Ohio State notes: Kansas State transfer Will Howard surpassed 6,000 career passing yards last week when he threw for 228 yards in his first game as Ohio State quarterback… CB Aaron Scott Jr. (Springfield), C Joshua Padilla (Wayne) and OG Austin Siereveld (Lakota East) were among 14 Buckeyes who played in a college game for the first time last week… Siereveld was one of seven to make his first Ohio State start… Senior WR Emeka Egbuka is five catches from passing Springfield native Dee Miller for 13th on Ohio State’s career receptions list. Miller caught 132 passes for 2,090 yards from 1994-98.
Western Michigan notes: The Broncos roster has seven players from Ohio, including Dalton Gustweiler, a redshirt freshman from Fairmont High School who played in two games last season and saw action in their season opener last week… WMU allowed no plays of more than 20 yards last week against Wisconsin, the first time the Broncos did that against a power-conferee foe since 2000… Sophomore RB Jalen Buckley is one of 27 returning players in college football who ran for over 1,000 yards last season… The reigning MAC Freshman of the Year, Buckley is one of eight returning starters on offense while the defense also returns eight starters… Taylor added 19 transfers in the offseason, including players from the FBS, FCS, Division II, community colleges and NAIA.
Quoted: Taylor on the Buckeyes: “Ohio State is really good, really talented on all three levels on all three phases… I was really impressed when I watched these guys on film how disciplined they played. Not only are they really good players, but they are a disciplined football team. They don’t beat themselves. They’re where they should be and they make the plays they should. Really good football teams do that, so it will be a great challenge for us, and it starts with our week of preparations.”
Next week: Ohio State has the week off before playing host to Marshall on Sept. 21. The Broncos will play their first home game of the season next Saturday night against Bethune-Cookman.
Prediction: Ohio State 38, Western Michigan 10
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