This week’s game against Grambling State feels like a world away from the season opener against Texas.
For starters, Grambling State is an FCS school, while Texas was No. 1 in the AP Preseason Top 25. However, the last thing the Buckeyes can afford to do is stub their toe against Grambling State after beating No. 1 Texas.
That may sound obvious, but it’s worth saying. After all, we all saw what That Team Up North did on Sept. 1, 2007. If you know, you know…
This is what makes games against FCS opponents
for blue-blood schools like Ohio State almost pointless. They’re meaningful because they’re on the schedule and they count just the same as every other one of the 12 games in the regular season. They’re pointless, though, because winning is expected.
The opposite result, though? That can be devastating. Personally, as a fan, I’d rather have the team I root for lose to a Group of Five or lower-tiered Power Four school than an FCS school. No blue blood program should lose to an FCS school, especially Ohio State and all of its talent.
Even though this is not the most exciting matchup on the schedule, there are some interesting numbers to consider going into Saturday’s game, as well as some notable statistics from the Buckeyes’ win over Texas this past Saturday.
11-3-2
That’s Ohio State’s all-time record against current FCS schools. The last time the Buckeyes lost to a current FCS school was in 1940, when they fell 21-7 to Cornell.
9
Ohio State has played nine current FCS schools in program history. They are:
- Colgate
- Columbia
- Cornell
- Drake
- Florida A&M
- Grambling State
- Penn
- Princeton
- Youngstown State.
4
Interestingly, Ohio State has played just four games against current FCS schools in the last 87 years. Those games include two matchups against Youngstown State in 2007 and 2008, as well as against Florida A&M in 2013 and this year against Grambling State.
14
Fourteen of the 18 Big Ten teams will play FCS teams this weekend.
55
Grambling State was led by head coach Eddie Robinson for 55 years. That’s a long time for one head coach.
Robinson won 408 games in his career, third-most all-time in all levels of college football.
For his lengthy coaching stint, the Football Writers Association of America’s Coach of the Year award is presented in Robinson’s name. Jim Tressel won the award in 2002, the year he led the Buckeyes to a national championship.
7
The Buckeyes have won seven-straight games against top 10 teams, dating back to last year’s win at No. 3 Penn State.
25
Ohio State now has 25 straight season-opening wins, the longest such streak in the country.
55 (again)
The Buckeyes, as of Monday, will have 55 players getting ready to play on 25 different NFL teams this weekend.
Notable Grambling State Alumni
Willis Reed: Best known for hobbling out onto the court for Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden, where the New York Knicks would beat the Los Angeles Lakers, Reed was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982 and was named to the NBA’s 50th and 75th Anniversary Teams.
Doug Williams: A member of the College Football Hall of Fame, Williams led Washington to a win in Super Bowl XXII, where he was named the game’s MVP. He is currently a senior advisor for the Washington Commanders.
