Road Not Taken

The following squads have not played a true road game yet. Road games are tougher for a number of reasons. Traveling, time changes, raucous host crowds, and officials from different conferences all create a hostile atmosphere that raises the degree of difficulty for visiting teams.

8. Oklahoma 2-1

OU kicks off the road slate this weekend with a trip to Dolphin Stadium to face a mad Miami team. Fill-In QB Landry Jones has been pretty good in a couple home blowouts but as a first time starter facing the athletic Canes, the Sooners could be in for a fight. It doesn’t get any easier for Bob Stoops and his boys as they face a Texas team they lost to a year ago at the Cotton Bowl October 17. The Sooners also have road test at Kansas, Nebraska, and Texas Tech. Bradford can’t get healthy soon enough.

9. Ohio State 3-1

A trip up 71 to the Dawg Pound for a “road” game with Toledo does not count. The Bucks have been tested with tough games with USC and Navy, but each of their four contests this season have been in friendly confines. Their road trips get progressively harder with stops in Bloomington, West Lafayette, Happy Valley and “The Game” at the Big House in Ann Arbor.

12. Oklahoma State 3-1

The Cowboys make their first move out of town in two weeks as they face undefeated Texas A&M. They have a bye week to prepare and the offense continues to click. The road schedule is pretty favorable with Big XII game at Baylor, Iowa State, and of course Bedlam in Norman.

13. Penn State 3-1

Penn State got manhandled at home by Iowa and their offensive line is clearing something for Joe-Pa to worry about. This is not a good sign for a team with visits to Illinois, Michigan, Northwestern, and Michigan State still on the schedule.

20. Michigan 4-0

Thanks to some late game heroics in the IU and ND games, the Wolverines are off to a great start. With two freshmen Quarterbacks and a porous defense, there are plenty of concerns. Rich-Rod takes the spread up to East Lansing to face rival Michigan State, up to unbeatens Iowa and Wisconsin, and an Illini squad that torched them last year.

Wisconsin 4-0

Bret Bielema’s Badgers have yet to taste the bitterness of defeat despite playing three fairly close games. The rowdy Camp Randall crowd has easily had a hand in Wisconsin’s success. The Badgers will fight for Paul Bunyan’s Axe this weekend in Minnesota’s new stadium, then head to the Shoe to face the Buckeyes. Road trips to Indiana and Northwestern should yield wins but a season finale at the Pro Bowl in Hawaii could spell disaster for the Badgers.

Texas A&M 3-0

The Aggies have taken care of business against cupcakes at home, so they make the list. It could get ugly quick though. A&M has Arkansas, OK State, and Texas at home and road battles with K-State, Texas Tech, Colorado, and Oklahoma. This bunch will have to fight for bowl eligibility.

Auburn 4-0

Auburn looks really strong with convincing home wins over Louisiana Tech, Mississippi State, West Virginia, and Ball State. The SEC schedule will be quite a burden for the Tigers.They set out to conquer the Vols, Razorbacks, LSU and Georgia all on the road. Quite a gauntlet for Gene Chizik’s first year on the job. At least Auburn hosts the Iron Bowl to close the regular season.