Ohio State Football: Why the Bye Will Help the Buckeyes the Rest of the Season

For Ohio State football, the bye week couldn't have come at a better time.

Even after a good win versus Illinois last week, the Buckeyes are mostly a young team struggling with confidence and coaching issues which must be resolved and evaluated immediately.

And going into the lighter part of the schedule, sans the big home game against Big Ten favorite Wisconsin, confidence is imperative.

From multiple suspension announcements on the days before big games, to poor offensive performance and an unexpected defensive collapse, Ohio State has hit rock bottom multiple times this year.

And the worst may still be to come, when the NCAA decides to finally announce its sanctions on the Buckeyes football program.

But for the Buckeye players, they can hopefully start looking at the final five games of the season as an opportunity to try to build towards 2012, where most fans hope Urban Meyer will take the reins as head coach.

The week is an opportunity for Ohio State to craft at least the framework of a passing game which only saw only four pass attempts against last week versus the Illini. 

In fact, Miller didn't throw his first pass until midway through the second quarter, not making a completion before the 17-yard touchdown to Jake Stoneburner with 13:06 left in the game.

Braxton Miller has had problems throwing tight spirals and needs to learn how and when to get out of danger.

That is what a week of film study can really do for the young QB.

It will also help him continue to recover from an ankle sprain suffered in the loss versus Nebraska.

Ohio State's best hope this Saturday is for the Michigan State Spartans to play a tough, physically punishing game versus the visiting Badgers, regardless of outcome. However, that won't be as easy with William Gholston serving a one-game suspension.

Defensively for the Buckeyes, they have the experience against running QBs, as they have practiced against the likes of Troy Smith, Terrelle Pryor and, now, Braxton Miller week in and week out.

But defending Wisconsin QB Russell Wilson is tougher than usual, as OSU will have to respect Wisconsin's run game and leave their corners in man coverage for most of the game.

To put it bluntly, the Ohio State linebacking corps has been among the biggest disappointments of the season.

The game against Wisconsin is very much a crossroads situation for the Buckeyes, even if its chance of winning is about 10-15 percent at best right now.

If Ohio State shows up and gives Wisconsin a game like some think they are capable of, they have an opportunity to get to the eight-win mark for the season.

If they lay an egg at home under the lights and on national television, things will go back to the way they were after the Nebraska loss.

The bye is about relearning how to win and about maintaining the confidence from the Buckeyes' win over Illinois.

And more than anything, it's about the direction they will go after the Wisconsin matchup.

It's about 2012, and a fresh start and life after Tattoo-gate, where anyone who was around during the scandal might be out of work come December.

This time off will tell quite a bit about how long it will take for the program to rebuild.

Follow me on Twitter @bielik_tim for more updates in the college football world.