“B1G Things to Know” is your weekly gathering of the 10 most important things you’ll want to know about this week’s Ohio State game. These 10 facts will help you be the most knowledgeable fan at your Game Day activity, no matter where you gather across Buckeye Nation to cheer on the Men of the Scarlet & Gray.
On Saturday Night, Ohio State will two-step into Texas and face the TCU Horned Frogs at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. With ABC coverage starting at 8:00 PM Eastern, you’ll have plenty of time to feast on these 10 notes and factoids before kickoff:
- TCU head coach Gary Patterson (162-57, 18th season) is the only active college football head coach to have coached a Pro Football Hall of Famer (LaDainian Tomlinson) at his current school.
- TCU has won 10 games or more 11 times in Gary Patterson’s 17 seasons. Prior to Patterson being named Head Coach in 1998, TCU had just four 10-win seasons in its history.
- Since 2008, TCU’s Gary Patterson is third nationally among head coaches in most AP Top-10 finishes, having six such finishes. Ohio State’s Urban Meyer ranks second on list with seven.
- TCU senior wide receiver KaVontae Turpin returned an SMU punt 78 yards for a touchdown last week. This made him TCU’s career leader in punt returns for a score (4) as well as special teams touchdowns (5).
- TCU sophomore quarterback Shawn Robinson is the first TCU quarterback to win his first three starts since Jeff Ballard won his first 11 straight games from 2005-06.
- Ohio State running back Mike Weber is still chasing Buckeye history. Weber had amassed 1,939 yards rushing, leaving him just 61 yards shy of becoming OSU’s 26th player with 2,000 career rushing yards.
- This Saturday’s game will be the 7th meeting between Ohio State and TCU in a series dating back to 1937 (Ohio State leads, 4-1-1). The last meeting came in 1973, a 37-3 victory for the Buckeyes at Ohio Stadium. All of the previous five games have been played in Columbus.
- Saturday’s matchup will be TCU’s 5th game at AT&T Stadium. The Horned Frogs are 2-2. Ohio State is playing its 3rd game at AT&T Stadium in the last four years. The Buckeyes are 2-0 in their two previous trips to “Jerry’s World”.
- There are two players from Ohio on the TCU roster in 2018: Andrew David (Massillon/Washington) and Ryan Martin (Hudson/Hudson). Seven Buckeyes will be returning to their home state of Texas on Saturday: Jeffrey Okudah (Grand Prairie/South H.S.), J.K. Dobbins (La Grange/LaGrange), Baron Browning (Fort Worth/Kennedale), Kendall Sheffield (Missouri City/Thurgood Marshall), Matthew Baldwin (Austin/ Lake Travis), Demetrius Knox (Fort Worth/All Saints Episcopal) and Ellijah Gardiner (Kemp/Kemp)
- TCU and Ohio State are conference rivals. The schools are conference mates in rifle, competing in the Patriot Rifle Conference, along with other members Air Force, Alaska, Nevada and UTEP.
And there you have it. You are now officially ready to begin your Game Day activities. You can now lay claim to the title of “Smartest Buckeye Fan at your Tailgate/Watch Party”. If you are joining me in Arlington, feel free to give me a hearty O-H! Go Bucks!
Each week, Mike Meals scours through the Media Guides of Ohio State and that week’s opponent to find you the 10 most fascinating, important, and/or crazy facts to prepare you for that week’s game. You can also catch Mike along with Hayes & Cannon Content Manager/Writer Brandon Zimmerman on the weekly episodes of “The Sons of Schmidt” podcast on the Ozone Radio Network. Follow Mike on twitter (@mmeals)