The Eleven Warriors Web Report comes to you weekly from the Spectrum Sports studios in downtown Columbus, featuring our own Beau Bishop, Dan Hope and former Buckeye wide receiver Evan Spencer.
Although Ohio State has an open date this week, there was still plenty to discuss on this week's show, especially in regards to the Big Ten, as Ohio State's top two competitors in the conference – Penn State and Michigan – are set to play each other this week.
While Penn State is favored to win Saturday's game, which comes one week before the Nittany Lions' trip to play the Buckeyes in Columbus, the panel agreed that this is the type of game Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh needs to prove he can win.
"We saw what Urban Meyer came in and did at Ohio State, how quickly he was able to take that program to a championship," Hope said. "Harbaugh's going to carry those same expectations, and if you don't get a big win at some point this year, there's going to be a lot of questions."
Our panel also discussed where Ohio State fits into the national conversation right now, and came to the conclusion that the Buckeyes – from an eye-test standpoint – have made their case for being one of college football's two or three best teams.
"Ohio State would be favored over every team in college football except Alabama on a neutral field," Bishop said. "That's where we are right now in college football."
The panel also looked back on the Buckeyes' dominant, 56-14 win at Nebraska, highlighted by J.T. Barrett's award-worthy performance. Spencer said he is seeing many of the same traits from the Buckeyes' senior quarterback this season that he saw when he played with Barrett during the 2014 national championships season.
"His comfort level is just outstanding," Spencer said. "He's being really effective with the ball. You can just sense his comfort level. After the game, press conference, you can see that he's just comfortable, smiling, messing around with the reporters a little bit because he knows that he's got that confidence level within the team, the offense and be able to go out and put a good product on the field."
The Eleven Warriors Report airs Tuesday at 7 p.m. on Spectrum Sports Mid-Ohio.
