Nov. 7-9 may have been one of the most important three days for the Ohio State University football team’s pursuit of a national championship. All Buckeyes linebacker Ryan Shazier and his teammates could do was watch. Ohio State had the week off but got some help in the BCS rankings. Third-ranked Oregon stumbled against fifth-ranked Stanford 26-20 and fifth-ranked Baylor defeated No. 10 Oklahoma 41-12 on Nov. 7 and top-ranked Alabama easily handled No. 13 Louisiana State 38-17 and third ranked Florida State throttled Wake Forest 59-3 on Nov. 9. When the dust had settled, the Buckeyes moved up to No. 3 in the BCS rankings. “I’m definitely going to watch,” Shazier told a group of reporters before the slew of games. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t pulling (for Stanford). I want to see how we compare with these guys. I’ve seen a little bit of both (Baylor and Oregon) but I feel with a good defense, you can stop anyone.” “I'll be there (in front of the TV) on Thursday night and watching them,” coach Urban Meyer said. “There's some great football to watch.” Shazier admits he may not be the best guy to kick back and watch these kinds of games with. When he’s alone, he is constantly taking mental notes, using the DVR to rewatch plays over and over and over. “I’ll just be rewinding stuff and going ‘Why would you do something like that?’” he says with a laugh. “If I’m with a group of friends, I can just sit and take it and watch.” Shazier says it was weird not being one of those teams everyone was watching last weekend. The Buckeyes had the weekend off to prepare the final stretch of the regular season, playing at Illinois on Nov. 16, against Indiana on Nov. 23 and at Michigan on Nov. 30. “I kind of wish I was out there playing (Nov. 9),” Shazier says. “We’re playing some good football right now. The bye week doesn’t really help me out because I’m not going to be as fresh as I want to be.” Coming into the week, Shazier and company were really starting to gel defensively. After struggling at the beginning of the season, Buckeyes were ninth overall ranked in total defense, according to ESPN. One of the pillars to the defensive unit has been Shazier, a semifinalist for the Maxwell Football Club’s prestigious Bednarik Award, given annually to the nation’s defensive player of the year and a quarterfinalist for the Lott IMPACT Trophy. Shazier’s performance in a 56-0 win over Purdue on Nov. 2 earned the junior a Lott IMPACT Player of the Week award. Shazier had seven tackles, three tackles for a loss and two sacks in the win. Meyer called Shazier, who leads the team with 51 tackles and 22 assists, “one of the best blitzers in America.” “We feel we’re using a more aggressive style defense,” Shazier says. “I definitely feel like I have a grasp of a lot of things. They’re making it a lot simpler on how to play the game. Things appear to be going a lot slower. I am seeing things that I didn’t see my freshman year. I can communicate things with my teammates a lot easier.” When the Buckeyes travel to Illinois this weekend, Shazier will have to be ready for a team that passes a lot. Prior to Nov. 9, the Illini (3-6, 0-5 Big Ten) were third in passing among Big Ten teams (268.8 yards per game), but were ninth in scoring offense (29.0 points a game) and 11th in rushing (133.2 yards). The Buckeyes’ main mission will be to slow down senior quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase, who competed 161 of 248 passing attempts for 1970 yards with 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Last year Scheelhaase completed 19 of 34 passes for 96 yards with one interception and two sacks in a 52-22 loss to the Buckeyes. The key to stopping any offense, be it Illinois or Alabama, Indiana or Baylor is anticipation. “Sometimes instincts just kick in. You have a feeling that a player is going to go this way,” Shazier says. “When (the opponent lines) up in formations like we’ve prepared for in practice, it feels like there’s a 70 percent chance, I know what they’re going to do. Sometimes teams line up in stuff we haven’t even practiced, but I can tell if it’s going to be a run or a pass.” The Buckeyes enter the last couple of weeks of the season still needing help but there is still a lot of football to be played. Alabama still has a showdown at ninth-ranked Auburn on Nov. 30 and the SEC championship game on Dec. 7. Florida State awaits a road test at Florida on Nov. 30 and the ACC title game on Dec. 7. Stanford plays No. 25 Notre Dame on Nov. 30 and should make it to the PAC 12 title game on the Dec. 7. While it doesn’t play in a league title, Baylor visits No. 25 Texas Tech on Nov. 16 and No. 14 Oklahoma State on Nov. 23. Meyer has been there before. In 2006, Florida seemed to be on the outside looking in but USC was toppled by UCLA 13-9 and the Gators held off Arkansas 38-28 to win the SEC title game to advance to the national championship game against Meyer’s current employer. Meyer says he can’t spend time or energy scoreboard watching. “I've been there before a couple of times where some things had to happen right,” Meyer says. “But for us to waste energy on that, that's not fair to the players we coach.” “I really do have a gut feeling that things are going to work out,” Shazier adds. “Everyone’s doing a great job and taking care of business. I see it in practices. Everybody’s going after it in practices.” Ryan Shazier lines up against the Iowa offense during the Oct. 19 game against the Hawkeyes