COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State football is in a weird spot. Sandwiched between games against TCU and Penn State. Maybe a little distracted by a big win last week and what's coming next Saturday. We're not thinking trap game. The Buckeyes are going to win. Trap cover? Is that a thing? The spread in this game is huge, with Ohio State favored by 37 at the time we made our picks on Wednesday night. Doug Lesmerises and I are a little leery of OSU covering that. Partly because of where the game falls on the schedule, and the fact that Ohio State could want to get some young guys in during a controlled game while resting up some starters for Penn State Tulane is 1-2 with a win over FCS Nicholls State, and close losses to Wake Forest and UAB. The Green Wave are better than Oregon State and Rutgers on paper, and might have enough to stay within 37 if Ohio State is a little distracted. But also, Urban Meyer is back and the Buckeyes might want to go out and crush somebody in their head coach's return. So hard game to wrap your mind around, when it comes to the spread. Here are our picks: * Bill Landis: Ohio State 40, Tulane 10 Take Tulane +37 (1 confidence point) * Doug Lesmerises: Ohio State 52, Tulane 21 Take Tulane +37 (1 confidence point) Ohio State game picks record Bill: 3-0, 2-1 against the spread Doug: 3-0, 2-1 against the spread Also, check out all the picks for this weekend from our cleveland.com betting expert Aaron Marshall.<doc-sep>COLUMBUS, Ohio -- As Urban Meyer returns to the sidelines to coach Ohio State football for the first time this season following a 3-game suspension, so too will the fall temperatures to Ohio Stadium. Saturday: Ohio State vs. Tulane, Ohio Stadium, 3:30 p.m. kickoff According to the National Weather Service in Columbus, Saturday's temperatures near Ohio Stadium should be near 60 degrees around 9 a.m., so be sure to have some warm gear to wear for your tailgate. Rain should not be an issue. There won't be much of an uptick in heat as the day progresses, however, thanks to the clouds that are expected to hover throughout most of the day. The NWS Columbus indicates a 66-degree temperature at kickoff and a 64-degree temperature around the potential end of the game at 7 p.m. If you're heading to the game, don't worry about bringing an umbrella or poncho, as rain chances are at 1 percent throughout the day.<doc-sep>Following last week’s hard fought 40-28 win over TCU, Ohio State will close out their non-conference portion of their regular season schedule on Saturday against Tulane. Before heading to State College next Saturday for a Big Ten showdown with Penn State, the Buckeyes will welcome head coach Urban Meyer back to the sidelines. Ohio State will square off with Tulane for the first time in school history, but the Buckeyes are quite familiar with some of the other teams who current make up the American Athletic Conference. The Buckeyes are 29-3-1 against teams from the AAC. The last time Ohio State played a team from the AAC was back in 2016, when the Buckeyes blitzed Tulsa, 48-3. The last loss by Ohio State to a current AAC team came back in 1950, when SMU beat the Buckeyes 32-27 in Columbus. Cincinnati was the other current AAC team to beat Ohio State, with the Bearcats beating their in-state foe in 1896 and 1897. Urban renewal After being placed on paid leave on Aug. 1 while the school investigated allegations of how Meyer handled domestic violence allegations against former wide receivers coach Zach Smith, the Ohio State head coach was suspended three weeks later for the first three games of the 2018 season. The Buckeyes didn’t miss a beat without Meyer, winning their first three games by a combined score of 169-62. Now that Meyer is returning to his role as head coach, he’ll look to add to the best active winning percentage among FBS head coaches. Entering his 17th year as head coach, Meyer has posted a 177-31 record, which equates to a .851 winning percentage. Only Knute Rockne and Frank Leahy have posted an better winning percentage in college football history. All Day Acting head coach Ryan Day did a tremendous job in Meyer’s absence, almost flawlessly navigating a tough situation to win all three games he was in charge for. All three victories that Day was at helm for came against Power 5 schools, making Ohio State the only team in the country this year with three wins over Power 5 schools. Now Day will settle back into his role as co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Along with fellow offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson, Ohio State is averaging 56 points per game and over 600 yards per game. The Buckeyes have used the big play to their advantage to help boost their stats. Ohio State’s offense has already racked up 20 plays of at least 20 yards so far this season. Pass happy The leader of Ohio State’s offensive juggernaut this year has been quarterback Dwayne Haskins. The redshirt sophomore passed for a career-high 344 yards last week, which was the seventh-highest single game total in school history. Haskins has now thrown for 890 yards and 11 touchdowns in his first three starts for the Buckeyes. If Haskins continue to accumulate passing yards at this pace, he’ll eclipse Joe Germaine’s single season school record of 3,300 passing yards. Haskins has had plenty of help from a talented stable of wide receivers, led by K.J. Hill, who is leading the Buckeyes with 17 receptions and 202 yards through three games. With his 95 receiving yards last week, Hill became the latest Ohio State wide receiver to surpass 1,000 receiving yards in his career. The 24-yard touchdown pass from Haskins in the third quarter was Hill’s first touchdown since last year, when Hill scored two touchdowns against Nebraska. With Hill’s sure hands steadying the wide receiving corps, senior Parris Campbell is gathering steam and showing why many have pegged the speedy wide receiver as one of the fastest in the nation. Campbell has caught a touchdown pass in each of Ohio State’s three games this season, but none had a bigger impact than the touchdown against TCU. With the Buckeyes trailing 21-13 midway through the third quarter, Campbell caught a screen pass and took it 63 yards for a touchdown, which sparked a stretch where Ohio State scored 20 points in four minutes to take the lead for good. Run the jewels Right now Ohio State’s offense has the perfect mix of run and pass to keep opponents on their heels. The running game has seen Mike Weber and J.K. Dobbins put up eerily similar stats so far this year. After opening up the season with 186 yards and three touchdowns against Oregon State, Weber has cooled off a little, rushing for just 95 yards the last two games. On the season, Weber has 46 carries for 281 yards and three rushing touchdowns. As Weber has been slowed the last two games, Dobbins has picked up the slack. The sophomore is coming off his best of the season, rushing for 121 yards on 18 carries last week in his return to his home state. The 100-yard rushing effort was the seventh by Dobbins in his young career. For the season, Dobbins has rushed 45 times for 268 yards. Fun for everyone What has been the most interesting stat for Ohio State three games into the season is the Buckeyes have seen 15 different players score a touchdown so far this season. All last season the Buckeyes had just 16 different players reach the end zone. 12 of those players who have scored a touchdown have been on the offensive side of the football, while Nick Bosa, Davon Hamilton, and Dre’Mont Jones have accounted for the touchdowns on defense. Next man up The Ohio State defense suffered a big loss when Nick Bosa was injured against TCU, but Dre’Mont Jones and the rest of the defensive line picked up the slack in Bosa’s absence. Jones had one of the best games of his career, recording a sack to go along with his 28-yard interception return for a touchdown in the third quarter. After undergoing core surgery earlier this week, Bosa will be out for the foreseeable future, putting more pressure on defensive ends Jonathon Cooper and Chase Young to try and create the same type of pressure on opposing quarterbacks that Bosa did so far this year.<doc-sep>Ohio State is off to a great start to the 2018 season. The Buckeyes have a perfect 3-0 record with two blowout wins over inferior teams and earned a two-score victory against a top-15 side in TCU last week in Arlington, Texas against TCU. The Scarlet and Gray are ranked fourth in the country and have the third-best total offense and second-best scoring offense in the country. That was all done without head coach Urban Meyer on the sideline after he served a three-game suspension. On Saturday, Meyer returns as the full-time head coach and offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Ryan Day, who stood in as acting head coach, returns back to his normal duties. But one slip up could change all the good that has been built so far this year. That is the message in this week's trailer for Saturday's Ohio State game against TCU. "It's been a tough month for a lot of people, right?" Day's voice is heard saying as the camera slowly pans up offensive lineman Thayer Munford in the AT&T Stadium locker room. "And the coaching staff, the leaders, we asked everybody to step up. Look where we're at right now. Look at the group we have right here holding hands. You've been there before when you try to fake it? This is real Brotherhood. This is something special going. We've got to keep this thing going." As the video shows the Ohio State players preparing for the start of the game against the Horned Frogs, associate head coach and defensive coordinator Greg Schiano's pregame speech is heard loud and clear. "Love isn't a feeling, fellas. Love is sacrifice," he says. "Love is sacrifice for the guy next to you. The Brotherhood will be put to the test tonight! The best thing about it is the Brotherhood is up to the challenge." What's next for the Buckeyes? Make sure you're in the loop -- take five seconds to sign up for our FREE Buckeyes newsletter now! Want the latest scoops and news on the Buckeyes? Try our 7-DAY FREE TRIAL AND BECOME A BUCKNUTS SUBSCRIBER! The highlights of the big plays from the game are shown in rapid succession, but the message is clear. It's easy to get excited for a top-25 game on a major stage but to sustain that success throughout the year requires the same type of focus in Saturday's game against the 1-2 Green Wave. The Brotherhood is strong but it's tested every week. That next challenge is this weekend with Meyer back on the sideline. "Here's what's going to happen," strength coach Mickey Marotti yells. "We're going to start the game in attack mode. And we're going to finish the game in attack mode!"<doc-sep>
Coaches: Ohio State's Urban Meyer is 73-8 and in his seventh season as the coach of the Buckeyes. He is 177-31 overall in 17 seasons. Willie Fritz is 10-17 in three seasons at Tulane and 164-86 overall in 23 seasons. Ohio State has a 54/46 run/pass ratio, just like the last 2 seasons. But the percentage of runs going to the QB is down from about 33 percent to 11% https://t.co/8J6IkQIQsm — Marcus Hartman (@marcushartman) September 21, 2018 Ohio State notes: The Buckeyes lead the Big Ten with 20 scrimmage plays of 20 or more yards… First-year starting quarterback Dwayne Haskins leads the Big Ten in passing yards, passing touchdowns and completion percentage… Running backs J.K. Dobbins and Mike Weber have combined for 563 yards rushing through three games… While Ohio State is second nationally in points per game (56.3) and third in total offense (608.7 yards per game), the Buckeyes are just 45th in scoring defense (20.7 points per game) and 52nd in total defense (345.7 yards)… Ohio State has won eight games in a row, the second-longest active streak in the NCAA FBS. Central Florida has won 15 in a row… With wins over Oregon State, Rutgers and TCU, Ohio State is the only team in the country with three victories over three Power 5 conference teams so far this season… Ohio State's most recent recruit from Louisiana is Nader Abdallah, a defensive lineman from Metairie. » OFFENSE FEATURE: Prince says ‘big stuff coming’ for OSU Tulane notes: The Green Wave has a blowout victory over Nicholls State (42-17 in Week 2) and two losses by a touchdown apiece (Wake Forest, 23-17 in overtime, and UAB, 31-24)… Tulane is 86th in the nation in scoring (27.6 points per game) and 64thin points allowed (23.6)… Senior receiver Terren Encalade has 10 career 100-yard receiving games, but junior Darnell Mooney leads the team in receiving this season (102.7 yards per game)… Quarterback Jonathan Banks leads the American Athletic Conference with 17.6 yards per completion… Only six teams in the country have more than Tulane's six interceptions this season… While Ohio State's defense has been susceptible to allowing big plays, Tulane has a big-play offense: The Green Wave have 21 plays that have gone for 20 yards or more, including seven for touchdowns. »RELATED: Hamilton coming up big for Buckeyes Quoted: Fritz on playing at Ohio Stadium: "We always play at least a couple of these games when I was coaching at Sam Houston each year. Our guys seemed to really enjoy it and like it. I'm sure our guys will enjoy the atmosphere. Heck, I'm looking forward to it. It's a big venue, you always hear a lot about playing in The Horseshoe. You've got to soak it in for a little bit, and then it's over and you play between the white lines." Ohio State star Nick Bosa out indefinitely after surgery https://t.co/FEVnjjh4T0 — Marcus Hartman (@marcushartman) September 20, 2018 Next game: Ohio State will play at Penn State at 7:30 p.m. next Saturday. Tulane returns home to face Memphis at 7 p.m. on Friday night. Prediction: Ohio State 63, Tulane 13