It's not like Ohio State doesn't know what's coming.
But the problem for the Buckeyes — as it was for the other 12 teams that have tried before — might be in stopping it.
Wisconsin's Heisman Trophy candidate Melvin Gordon is the nation's best running back. And the 13th-ranked Badgers certainly aren't shy about feeding their horse.
Gordon has carried the ball 283 times this season for an NCAA-leading 2,260 yards and 26 touchdowns. He averages a ridiculous eight yards per carry and has run for 200-plus yards five times this year. Gordon also has a 408-yard performance on the ground this season against Nebraska. He's been held under 100 yards only once, way back in Week 2.
“He does look really solid on film, he looks pretty angry sometimes when he has the ball in hands just the way he runs," Ohio State linebacker Joshua Perry said of Gordon. "It’ll just be one of those things where we’ve got to get guys to the ball and we’ve got to keep hitting him as long as they give him the ball.”
Easier said than done, though.
Stopping the run has been a bit of a challenge for the Buckeyes over recent weeks. They've faced some good running backs, sure, but the numbers put up by those backs are cause for concern.
Michigan State's Jeremy Langford carried the ball 18 times for 145 yards and three touchdowns, Minnesota's David Cobb had 27 carries for 147 yards and three scores and Indiana's Tevin Coleman toted the rock 27 times for 228 yards and three TDs. Even Michigan's Drake Johnson — a far less talented back than the previous three — gained 76 yards on 15 carries and scored twice against Ohio State before exiting the game in the third quarter with a knee injury.
But in a conference with such tremendous backs, Gordon has been the best.
"You can contain him, contain him, and then bam — 90 yards," head coach Urban Meyer said.
Gordon runs behind a mammoth offensive line, too. Up front, the Badgers average 6-foot-6 inches and 321 pounds. It's obviously been a huge reason for Gordon's success this year.
“That speaks a lot to him, but also the team that’s around him. That line must have been pounding guys to be able to do that," Perry said. "Like I said, we’ll have our work cut out for us but we’re going to prepare really hard. We’re going to look at film, we’re going to make sure we know what they do and that we can be very sound in it.”
Being sound in gap assignment will be the key for the Buckeyes. They don't necessarily have to stop Gordon, just have to contain him. If they are able to do that, winning a Big Ten title is certainly a possibility. And that is something Ohio State has wanted since last season when it lost 34-24 to Michigan State.
"I still have a dirty taste in my mouth about last year," senior linebacker Curtis Grant said. "I don't want that feeling again."
