OSU-Wisconsin Preview: Buckeyes face former Ohio State hero Luke Fickell on Saturday

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — Ohio State makes its first trip to rowdy Camp Randall Stadium since it escaped with a narrow victory over Wisconsin in 2016, a 30-23 overtime thriller in Madison.

Unlike previous meetings, the Buckeyes will be competing against a friendly face leading the team on the far sideline. Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell played high school football in Columbus and was a star defensive lineman at Ohio State. He also was the OSU interim head coach in 2011 and the defensive coordinator of the 2014 national championship team.

He moved on to Cincinnati in 2016, where he led the Bearcats to the College Football Playoff in 2021. Under Fickell, the Bearcats became the first Group of Five team to make the CFP.

The Badgers were ranked No. 19 in the AP preseason poll, but at 5-2 (3-1 Big Ten), Wisconsin is no longer among the Top 25. Bucky has a manageable schedule the rest of the season following the OSU game, but having already lost to Iowa, it’s unlikely the Badgers will win the West Division.

OSU running back TreVeyon Henderson, struggling with injuries for a second straight season, is expected to play Saturday. Fellow running back Chip Trayanum and wide receiver Emeka Egbuka also are expected to play despite suffering injuries in recent games, OSU coach Ryan Day said during his weekly media availability Tuesday. Backup quarterback Devin Brown injured his ankle in the win over Penn State on Saturday and is expected to miss a couple of weeks.

statistical standpoint, but OSU fans are still worried about his consistency. He missed a few targets during the Penn State game, but McCord remains unbeaten in eight career starts, and is the only QB in college football with wins over two top-10 teams this season.

Ohio State continues to impress defensively. Penn State had the higher ranking among defensive units heading into last week’s slugfest, but the Buckeyes limited their guests to just 49 rushing yards, and turned back the Nittany Lions’ first 15 third-down conversion attempts.

Cornerback Denzel Burke, who many think has been OSU’s best defensive player this year, was dinged during the Purdue game two weeks ago and missed the Penn State game, but is expected to play at Wisconsin.

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Bucknuts was in attendance Friday night to see one of the top 2025 Ohio players the Buckeyes have offered a scholarship, tight end Luka Gilbert from West Chester (Ohio) Lakota West as well as Gilbert’s teammate, 2026 linebacker/athlete Cam Thomas who is on the Buckeyes’ radar screen too. Thomas will be at the Ohio State – Michigan State game Nov. 11, his second Ohio State game-day visit this season.

Lakota West defeated Cincinnati (Ohio) Western Hills 69-0 in a first-round playoff match-up. WIth his team leading 49-0 at halftime, Thomas did not play in the second half. But he played well in the first half and made a number of tackles, mostly lining up as a defensive end.

After the game Thomas talked about how he projects himself playing in college in terms of position, his scholarship offers, being on the Buckeyes’ radar screen and his upcoming second game-day visit to Ohio State, Jim Knowles and James Laurinaitis, the Buckeyes’ defense this season, his other college visits, what he is looking for in a college and more.

With the Ohio State men’s basketball season set to begin on Monday against Oakland University at Value City Arena, it looks like the Buckeyes will be leaning on sophomore Felix Okpara at the center position.

The 6-11, 235-pound Okpara is a native of Lagos, Nigeria. He has spent the last five years in America pursuing his dream of playing basketball at the highest level. Okpara grew up as a soccer player in Nigeria, a nation on the Atlantic Ocean coast on the continent of Africa. He came to the U.S. and has lived with a host family, the Levitt family, in Tennessee. He prepped at Hamilton Heights Academy in Chattanooga, Tenn., before transferring to Link Academy in Branson, Mo., for his senior year in 2021-22.

Along the way, Okpara had offers from Ole Miss, Tennessee and others. He verbaled to Ohio State in June 2021. He arrived at Ohio State in the summer of 2022 along with his fellow freshmen Bruce Thornton, Roddy Gayle Jr., Brice Sensabaugh and Bowen Hardman. He was ranked as the nation’s No. 56 prospect overall, No. 11 center and No. 4 overall in Missouri for 2022, according to the 247Sports Composite.