Ohio State enjoyed its second bye week — or “improvement week,” if you like — over the weekend, while most of the rest of the conference kept playing. We took the opportunity to get a look at some of the remaining competition, but what seemed like a strong slate of games was a bit disappointing in the end.

Before we went around the Big Ten to see how other teams made out, we discussed the tragic and untimely passing of former Ohio State center Nick Mangold, who lost his battle with kidney disease at far too young an age. Mangold was a monster in the middle of the OSU offensive line during his time in Columbus and enjoyed a productive NFL career as well. He also seemed to be well liked by just about everyone he interacted with. We pay our respects to the fallen Buckeye legend.

After that, we looked around the B1G to see how the other teams made out. Reality set in for UCLA in the Hoosier State, with Indian taking the Bruins to the woodshed. Oregon surprisingly struggled against Wisconsin but did enough to get the win. The Wolverines won the Paul Bunyan Trophy in the battle of the Mitten State, and Rutgers picked up a vital win late after a wild Purdue turnover to stay in the hunt for a bowl berth. We didn’t expect Iowa to spank Minnesota, but that’s what happened. Nebraska also outlasted Northwestern as both teams tried to throw the game away late, but only one team could pull that off.

We also looked ahead to the schedule that lies ahead on Saturday. There are always some intriguing matchups and this week is no exception.

Finally, we previewed the big meeting with Penn State. It’s fair to say the season hasn’t gone according to plan for the Nittany Lions, but there’s no animal more dangerous than one that is wounded and cornered. Ohio State cannot take the Nitts for granted. Saturday’s visitors are talented, even if they haven’t had their way of things this season and their visit to Columbus will be seen as an early bowl game and a potential springboard for a decent finish to the season and an actual bowl game. We selected our picks to click in the game for the Buckeyes and tried our hand at predicting the final score.

We would love to hear from you, so please reach out with your feedback and questions below in the comments section or ⁠send us an email⁠ at [email protected]. Any questions directed toward us will be answered on our next show.Be sure to subscribe, rate, review, share, and follow the show over on Twitter at ⁠@SilvrBulletsPod⁠.

As always, thanks for listening!

0:20 - We remember the late Nick Mangold and take a tour around the rest of the Big Ten.

23:10 - It isn’t the Ohio State-Penn State game we envisioned, but it’s the one we have. We try to get you ready for one of the biggest games on the remaining OSU schedule.

Ohio State went on the road for the second straight week and the Buckeyes did their job again, bringing home a 34-0 shutout victory over the Wisconsin Badgers. There was a time not too long ago when a win by that score on the road would have been considered an amazing accomplishment, but with the Badgers’ fortunes the last couple of years, it left some OSU fans wanting more.

A shutout in college football against a power conference team on the road isn’t easy, so kudos to Matt Patricia’s defense. Ohio State’s offense stopped itself a few times, and Wisconsin hung tough for a while against the run, but ultimately the game ended up being a comfortable road victory for the men of the Scarlet & Gray.

We discussed the key moments, plays, and players in the game, checked on our final score predictions, and perused the stats page to see if we picked the right players to click on Saturday. We went a combined three out of four, so not too bad.

Following our Wisconsin rewind, we looked around the rest of the Big Ten to see how other teams made out in Week 8. Penn State lost a tight one at Iowa in the Nittany Lions’ first game in the post-James Franklin era. It was not an aerial battle, with both teams doing damage on the ground. Minnesota, Indiana, Oregon, and Northwestern had comfortable wins. Michigan pulled away from Washington in the second half, UCLA nipped Maryland to keep the Bruins’ resurgent run going, and USC lost on the road to a non-conference rival.

We also looked ahead to a great slate of games during Ohio State’s second bye week of the 2025 season. There is plenty of intrigue in Illinois at Washington and Minnesota at Iowa, while the two teams from the Mitten State play for the Paul Bunyan Trophy. Nebraska looks to bounce back against Northwestern. Rutgers faces a must-win situation to keep bowl eligibility on the table, while Wisconsin seems primed to suffer another beatdown. UCLA is going to have to raise its level to get past Indiana on the road.

Without an Ohio State game to preview, that’s our show. We spent a little more time on the other games around the Big Ten this week, so you’re definitely not getting short-changed. We’ll be back next week to preview Penn State and check on the bye week Big Ten fallout.

We would love to hear from you, so please reach out with your feedback and questions below in the comments section or ⁠send us an email⁠ at [email protected] Any questions directed toward us will be answered on our next show.

Be sure to subscribe, rate, review, share, and follow the show over on Twitter at ⁠@SilvrBulletsPod⁠.

As always, thanks for listening!

0:20 - The Buckeyes were better than the Badgers, and Julian Sayin continues to be good at football.

22:07 - The Big Ten was full of interesting games, especially that Penn State-Iowa tussle at Kinnick Stadium. We also have a lot of intriguing games that will have us flipping between multiple channels on Saturday.

Ohio State went to Champaign and posted a comfortable win that never really seemed in doubt, although a conservative game plan on the offensive side and some OSU red zone struggles allowed the Fighting Illini to tighten things up early in the third quarter. The Buckeyes pulled away, worked on some things, and even got some backups into the game on the road, handling the No. 17 team in the nation, 34-16.

We discussed all the key moments, plays, and players in the game, checked on our picks to click to see how our chosen Buckeyes performed at Illinois, and compared notes on our score predictions, which were both extremely close to the actual final score. 

After our Ohio State-Illinois rewind, we discussed Penn State firing James Franklin after a second consecutive shocking loss — this time at home to Northwestern at Homecoming. The Nittany Lions also lost quarterback Drew Allar for the season, so it has been a rough few weeks for a Penn State team that is now 0-3 in Big Ten play. 

Following our Franklin discussion, we looked around the rest of the Big Ten to see how other teams made out in Week 7. It wasn’t just a bad week for Penn State, as Wisconsin got throttled at home by Iowa, Michigan State got blasted at home by UCLA, and Michigan was mauled at USC. Nebraska won a tight battle over Maryland, and Minnesota squeaked past Purdue. Indiana got the marquee win at Oregon. Oh, and the Huskies beat Rutgers on Friday. 

We also looked ahead to the matchups coming up this weekend. Washington at Michigan might be the best game to keep an eye on, while USC has a huge non-conference rivalry game at Notre Dame. Also, we think Purdue might win. 

Finally, we previewed the Ohio State game at Wisconsin. Camp Randall is always a great atmosphere, but it doesn’t seem like the Badgers are likely to hang around in this one without some unbelievable defensive play, a few turnovers, and maybe even a big special teams play or two. But that doesn’t mean the Buckeyes can take Wisconsin lightly. Nothing is certain in this sport. 

We would love to hear from you, so please reach out with your feedback and questions below in the comments section or send us an email at [email protected]. Any questions directed toward us will be answered on our next show. 

Be sure to subscribe, rate, review, share, and follow the show over on Twitter at @SilvrBulletsPod.
 
As always, thanks for listening! 

0:20 - The Buckeyes got the job done and brought the Illibuck Trophy back to Columbus, where it belongs. 

28:22 - The James Franklin era is over in Happy Valley. We discuss Franklin’s firing before going around the Big Ten to see how everyone else made out. We also previewed the upcoming matchups this weekend. 

1:03:30 - The Wisconsin Badgers of 2025 are not like many of the pr

Minnesota came out swinging, but once Ohio State’s defense locked things down in the red zone, the rest of Saturday night belonged to the Buckeyes. The defense was stifling; Carnell Tate and Julian Sayin went off; and Jeremiah Smith, Max Klare, and Bo Jackson all had solid games. Ryan Day was also able to get plenty of depth players a few snaps in the fourth quarter. We look back at the big plays, moments, and players from Ohio State’s 42-3 win over the Golden Gophers, check on our picks to click to see how they performed, and review our game predictions from last week to see how close we were. (We were pretty close!)

After our Ohio State-Minnesota rewind, we looked around the rest of the Big Ten to see how other teams made out in Week 6. Penn State had a bad weekend and Washington nearly did as well, having to come a long way back in the fourth quarter to win at Maryland. Illinois won big, Wisconsin put up a fight for a while but simply couldn’t score points in Ann Arbor. Michigan State couldn’t get stops in Lincoln, and the Spartans had a Sparty No! moment. We also looked ahead to the matchups this weekend, and aside from Ohio State’s trip to Champaign, we’ll be keeping an eye on Oregon-Indiana.

Finally, we previewed the Illibuck game coming up Saturday at noon. The Fighting Illini are a formidable opponent, especially at home, and they have an offense that can test Matt Patricia’s defense. We gave you the Illini players to watch and discussed the matchup. We also selected our picks to click for the Buckeyes at Illinois and made our predictions for what the final score will be after a hard-fought game at Memorial Stadium this weekend.

We would love to hear from you, so please send us an email⁠ at [email protected]. Any questions directed toward us will be answered on our next show.

Be sure to subscribe, rate, review, share, and follow the show over on Twitter at ⁠@SilvrBulletsPod⁠.

As always, thanks for listening!

0:20 - The Buckeyes returned home to face a scrappy Golden Gophers squad. Minnesota came out of the gate hot but couldn’t sustain anything after its opening drive. The Buckeyes cruised.

24:34 - UCLA stunned Penn State with an offensive explosion against Jim Knowles’ defense. Michigan, Illinois, Washington, Nebraska, and Northwestern (the latter in non-conference play) joined the Buckeyes as winners over the weekend.

52:28 - We look ahead to Luke Altmyer and his command of a versatile Illinois offense, as the Buckeye secondary will be put to the test on the road Saturday.

Ohio State passed its first major road test of the 2025 season by traveling to the Pacific Northwest and ending the Washington Huskies’ long home winning streak. The Buckeyes employed a conservative game plan, made some early mistakes, and still won comfortably on the road against a good Huskies team. How good Washington is remains to be seen, but the environment was top notch and a good proving ground for redshirt freshman quarterback Julian Sayin.

We look back at the big plays, moments, and players (we see you, Caden Curry, Kayden McDonald, and Bo Jackson!) in the game, check on our picks to click to see how they performed, and review our game predictions from last week to see how close we were.

After our Ohio State-Washington rewind, we took our weekly lap around the B1G to see how other teams made out in Week 5. There as an unexpected nailbiter in Iowa City as the Hawkeyes gave Indiana a scare. Illinois bounced back from its 53-point loss to the Hoosiers by beating USC at home, despite getting jobbed at the end of the first half. The Oregon-Penn State game was worth they hype. Other results were about what we expected. We also looked ahead to the matchups this weekend.

Finally, we previewed the Buckeyes’ upcoming home game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. P.J. Fleck’s team doesn’t usually make things easy on the opposition, and we’re expecting this game to be annoyingly close for at least the first half. Ohio State has the talent to pull away later in the game, but the Buckeyes will have to take care of the ball and finish drives to have a good showing against Minnesota.

We selected our picks to click for the Buckeyes on Saturday, and made our predictions for what the Ohio Stadium scoreboard will show at the end of Saturday night’s game.

We would love to hear from you, so please reach out with your feedback and questions below in the comments section or ⁠send us an email⁠ at [email protected]. Any questions directed toward us will be answered on our next show.

Be sure to subscribe, rate, review, share, and follow the show over on Twitter at ⁠@SilvrBulletsPod⁠.

As always, thanks for listening!

0:20 - The Buckeyes got a big road win, and Caden Curry was a big reason why. Ohio State waited a while to score, but then took control of the game.

35:24 - Illinois, Indiana, Northwestern, Minnesota, and Oregon joined the Buckeyes as winners on Saturday. More big B1G games are coming up this weekend.

55:33 - We look ahead to Drake Lindsey, Minnesota’s committee of tailbacks, and the rest of the Golden Gophers looking to compete with the Buckeyes under the lights at the Shoe on Saturday.

With Ohio State off over the weekend, there was nothing for Buckeye fans to do but check out the other games around the country. Whether it was watching Clemson lose again, checking in on Michigan at Nebraska, or staying up late to see if Sparty could take down the men of Troy, there was plenty to watch on Saturday.

We start this week’s show with a look at the latest Ohio State players to lose their black helmet stripes over the last couple of weeks, becoming “official” members of the team. We also discussed Ross Bjork’s efforts to get Ohio State’s vacated wins from 2010 reinstated. If the NCAA suddenly doesn’t think it’s fair to punish players for the actions of their coaches, there should be no issue overturning those vacated wins, as Jim Tressel lying to the NCAA was the most serious offense of the bunch. The players themselves wouldn’t have had to trade/sell their own belongings to get tattoos in the era of NIL, so it sucks for them that they parted with keepsakes they might regret getting rid of with the benefit of hindsight. 

After touching on the recent OSU news, we took our weekly lap around the B1G to see how other teams made out in Week 4 . Nebraska turned down some early points and it came back to bite the Huskers. Washington, Oregon, and Indiana look formidable, while Illinois and Wisconsin came out of Saturday not looking so hot.  We also looked ahead to the matchups this weekend, although many teams around the conference are having their bye weeks. The Oregon-Penn State game and Ohio State at Washington are the marquee matchups on Saturday, so get your snacks ready.
 
Finally, we previewed the Buckeyes’ trip to the Pacific Northwest to take on Washington at Husky Stadium. There are few environments in college football as hostile for visitors, and it will be Julian Sayin’s first road start. We’re eager to see if the young signal caller continues to play calmly and throw accurately in the face of adversity. We also made our picks to click, selecting the players we think will shine for Ohio State on Saturday, and made our predictions on what the final score will be when the game concludes. 

We would love to hear from you, so please reach out with your feedback and questions below in the comments section or send us an email at [email protected]. Any questions directed toward us will be answered on our next show. 

Be sure to subscribe, rate, review, share, and follow the show over on Twitter at @SilvrBulletsPod.
 
As always, thanks for listening! 

0:20 - More Ohio State players lost their black stripes from their helmets, the Buckeyes could get their Sugar Bowl win over Arkansas back, and we tour the Big Ten’s other games to see who came out on top. 

31:05 - The Washington Huskies present a difficult challenge on Saturday, and they’ll have perhaps the best offense the Buckeyes will face all season. We preview the matchup.

It’s the 200th episode of the Silver Bullets Podcast and we get to celebrate it by talking about Ohio State’s 37-9 win over the Ohio Bobcats. As we predicted, it was an annoyingly close game for a while, but the Buckeyes eventually stopped stepping on rakes in the red zone by bypassing the red zone completely and just chucking up bombs to their playmaking wide receivers. The defense was lights out with the exception of one single play early in the third quarter, and even that was pretty much covered. It merely lacked execution on the back end.

We looked back at our score predictions to see how well we prognosticated the game, checked our picks to click to see if they…err…clicked (three out of four got the job done), and discussed the key moments, players, and stats from the game.

After that, we took our weekly lap around the B1G to see how other teams made out in Week 3 and looked at the matchups coming up this weekend. There are some enticing games on the schedule, so Ohio State’s bye week comes at a good time for us to play voyeur around the rest of the conference.

There is no preview this week, as the next game comes a week from Saturday and it’s a doozy. The Buckeyes will perhaps face no tougher environment than Husky Stadium when they take on Washington. We’ll have our preview for that game next week.

We would love to hear from you, so please reach out with your feedback and questions below in the comments section or ⁠send us an email⁠ at [email protected]. Any questions directed toward us will be answered on our next show.

Be sure to subscribe, rate, review, share, and follow the show over on Twitter at ⁠@SilvrBulletsPod⁠.

As always, thanks for listening!

0:20 - Ohio played the role of annoying little brother for just over 30 minutes and then the Buckeyes flexed on them. That’s a good MAC team and should do well in conference play. Meanwhile, Ryan Day has some things he can work on.

27:38 - A look around the other results from Week 3 in the Big Ten and a look ahead to Week 4.

Ohio State was not expected to struggle against Grambling and the Buckeyes did not. Julian Sayin especially did not struggle, going 18-for-19 for more than 300 yards and four scores. Sure, he threw his first interception, but nobody’s perfect. The defense pitched a shutout thanks to a missed field goal by the Tigers. It was exactly what you want against an overmatched opponent — a comprehensive win, the team stayed healthy, and lots of backups got extended playing time.

We looked back at all seven touchdowns and other key points from the game and checked back on our score predictions and the players we picked to click.

After that, we went around the B1G to see how other teams made out in Week 2 and looked at the matchups coming up this weekend.

The Buckeyes can expect more resistance from the Bobcats of Ohio University than they got from the Grambling Tigers. We’re expecting one of those games that is annoyingly close for a while before the Buckeyes take over and wear down Ohio. We discussed the players to watch, made our picks to click for the game, and tried our hand at predicting the final score.

We would love to hear from you, so please reach out with your feedback and questions below in the comments section or ⁠send us an email at [email protected]⁠. Any questions directed toward us will be answered on our next show.

Be sure to subscribe, rate, review, share, and follow the show over on Twitter at ⁠@SilvrBulletsPod⁠.As always, thanks for listening!

0:20 - Grambling has a great band and their quarterback played hard, but ultimately, the Buckeyes simply overpowered an opponent they should overpower.

39:14 - A look around the other results from Week 2 in the Big Ten.

1:04:45 - The Bobcats visit Columbus to close out Ohio State’s non-conference schedule, and they won’t be intimidated by the Buckeyes.

Ohio State won the marquee battle of Week 1 of the 2025 college football season after a hard-fought defensive struggle with the Texas Longhorns. Julian Sayin’s first college start was more successful than the first road start of his more hyped opposite number, Arch Manning. Sayin likely could have done more than he was asked to do, but the Buckeyes didn’t need it, thanks to the defense helping a conservative offensive game plan and the Alabama transfer’s poise and accuracy when called upon. It wasn’t a perfect performance, but most importantly, Sayin didn’t put the ball in harm’s way.

We broke down the game, which came just a few minutes shy of a shutout for the defense in Matt Patricia’s first game as OSU defensive coordinator, checked back on our score predictions and our picks to click, and went over all of the important stats from Ohio State’s victory over the No. 1 Longhorns.

As we usually do, we discussed the other games around the Big Ten, with Northwestern, UCLA, and Wisconsin not looking great, although the Badgers at least got themselves a W. Indiana wasn’t as sharp as expected, but the Hoosiers got the job done. Everything else went pretty much according to plan, although had Cincinnati played at home instead of in Kansas City, the Bearcats might have given Nebraska even more of a fight.

We also looked ahead at the games coming up around the conference this weekend.One of those games is a curious matchup between the Buckeyes and the Tigers of Grambling State. This game was a scramble drill for the schedule makers after a previously scheduled game fell through. It’s not likely to tell us much about the 2025 Buckeyes one week after a win over Texas, but it will provide valuable reps for the new Buckeye starters and should provide playing time for plenty of backups.

We made our picks to click for the game, selecting the offensive and defensive Buckeyes we think will shine on Saturday afternoon, and we made similar predictions for the final score.

We would love to hear from you, so please reach out with your feedback and questions below in the comments section or ⁠send us an email⁠ at [email protected]. Any questions directed toward us will be answered on our next show.

Be sure to subscribe, rate, review, share, and follow the show over on Twitter at ⁠@SilvrBulletsPod⁠.As always, thanks for listening!

0:20 - There was no revenge for Texas from last year’s Cotton Bowl, as the Buckeye defense came to play!

33:01 - A look around the other results from Week 1 in the Big Ten.

48:03 - Grambling is coming to Columbus. The Buckeyes should feel no obligation to make the Tigers welcome in the Horseshoe, and they probably won’t.

It’s game week! The Ohio State Buckeyes will renew acquaintances with the Texas Longhorns Saturday at Ohio Stadium at noon. It’s a brand new OSU football season and there is a lot going on, a lot we don’t know (yet), and a lot of the kinds of ups and downs that are part of every year of college football. We can’t wait to get it started, but we know that it will come and go before we know it.

This week’s show opens with a discussion of Ryan Day naming Julian Sayin starting quarterback for the Buckeyes ahead of the season. The race with Lincoln Kienholz was reportedly close, and both signal callers will need to continue to improve and develop, because one will need to keep his lead, while the other will try to close the gap and stay ready in case he’s needed.

We discussed the three Ohio State players who made the Associated Press preseason All-American list and the Buckeyes who had their black helmet stripes removed since our last show, becoming “official” members of the squad. 

Ahead of Big Ten teams starting to take the field Thursday night, we looked ahead to every school’s Week 1 matchup to see how the rest of the conference will start the season. As usual, the first week doesn’t provide many intriguing games, but there are a couple of interesting contests to keep an eye out this weekend — just none with the luster of Texas at Ohio State.

Finally, we looked at the Buckeyes vs. the Longhorns. Ohio State went on to win a national championship one game after the teams last met, but Texas has had this rematch circled on the calendar for months. Both teams have experienced a ton of turnover, and we can’t wait to see how they match up with so many new starters on both sides. We made our picks to click for Week 1, selecting the offensive and defensive Buckeyes we think will shine on Saturday, and we made our predictions for the final score.

We would love to hear from you, so please reach out with your feedback and questions below in the comments section or ⁠send us an email⁠ at [email protected] Any questions directed toward us will be answered on our next show.

Be sure to subscribe, rate, review, share, and follow the show over on Twitter at ⁠@SilvrBulletsPod⁠.

As always, thanks for listening!

0:21 - Julian Sayin has won the starting quarterback battle, but can he keep it? Plus, other news and notes from preseason camp.

17:48 - A look at the first week of the 2025 season around the entire Big Ten.

34:30 - The Texas Longhorns are visiting the Horseshoe on Saturday, and this game will tell us a lot about where both teams are now and where they need to be.