50 For 50: Emeka Egbuka’s Toughest Matchup This Year?

Welcome to our daily feature that I am calling “50 for 50” where I attempt to get us to Big Ten Media Days — which are 39 days away — with a daily sampling of what we can look forward to this upcoming college football season.

We will do this via the following categories: the 50 biggest individual matchups for the Buckeyes this season, the 50 most important college football games this season, 50 Buckeye things to look forward to this season, 50 national predictions, 50 Big Ten predictions, and 50 predictions involving the Buckeyes.

Previous: Day 11 |

Biggest Buckeye Matchups

Iowa DB Sebastian Castro vs. Ohio State WR Emeka Egbuka

Sebastian Castro plays the “Cash” position in the Iowa defense, which lines him up in the slot as a nickel and asks him to be a third linebacker as well. Listed at 5-foot-11 and 205 pounds, he does both jobs very well. Castro was a Second-Team All-Big Ten selection last year and will provide a physical matchup for Ohio State receiver Emeka Egbuka, who will likely be playing in the slot when these two teams meet up in Columbus on October 5. Egbuka is one of the best receivers in the nation and he’ll be trying to prove that every single week. The Buckeyes are going to need yards any way they can get them against this defense, so if Egbuka can win his battles with Castro, Ohio State’s odds of victory will rise with each catch.

Most Important Games

Texas Longhorns vs. Oklahoma Sooners, October 12 (3:30 pm ESPN/ABC)

The Red River Rivalry is now one of the SEC’s best rivalry games, but it won’t be able to ascend up the ladder until a player scores a touchdown and then pretends to pee like a dog during the celebration, which ends up costing their team the victory. Until that happens, there’s really nothing they can do to move the needle. Feigned urination is the buy-in. This rivalry may play well in the Big XII, but you’re in the SEC now. They’re just lucky they play this game at the state fair. What the AAU is to the Big Ten, deep-fried fair foods are to the SEC.

Something To Look Forward To

Jim Knowles re-implementing the Jack position in the Buckeye defense.

Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles is eventually going to bring back the Jack linebacker position. He is still talking about it, they are still using it as a recruiting tool, and they’ve got guys they think can play the position. All signs are pointing towards it happening this year. No, we didn’t see it in the spring, but we don’t see a lot of things in the spring. They want to play more players this year and this is one way to make it happen. Plus, if you’re going to use the position in your recruiting pitches, you’ve got to have proof of concept more recently than Oklahoma State film.

National College Football Predictions

Kyle McCord will lead Syracuse to their first bowl win since 2018.

The momentum at Syracuse right now is moving in a very good direction. Which is to say that it’s no longer moving backwards. New head coach Fran Brown is in his first year, so spirits are still very high. He has recruited pretty well early on, including landing former Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord out of the transfer portal. There isn’t a single game on Syracuse’s schedule that they can’t win. That doesn’t mean they’re going to win them all, but it means they could win any of them. But if they’re going to win their first bowl game since 2018 as I am predicting, then they better make sure to lose some of their games or else they’re going to be playing in a bowl game that is way too tough for them. I’m not too worried about the Orange winning too many games, though.

Big Ten Football Predictions

Michigan State QB Aidan Chiles will set MSU’s total offense record.

The expectations for sophomore quarterback Aidan Chiles are as high for any Michigan State quarterback since Connor Cook in 2015. Cook ended up winning the Big Ten’s Quarterback of the Year Award that year. Chiles certainly isn’t the favorite to win it this year, but as a true freshman at Oregon State last year he showed a ton of potential as a passer and runner. He completed 24-of-35 passes for 309 yards with four touchdowns and zero interceptions while also rushing for 79 yards in nine games. How accessible is the Michigan State single-season record for total offense? It is currently held by quarterback Brian Lewerke, who accounted for 3,442 yards in 2019. Of course, he did that in 13 games and there’s no guarantee that Chiles will have that 13th game this year.

Ohio State Football Predictions

Two true freshmen will score multiple touchdowns this season.

I know as you’re reading this, you’re saying that this isn’t that bold of a prediction. To which I would remind you that, first, nowhere above does this category read “bold;” for two, it’s only happened twice in the last 11 seasons. To make it an even bolder prediction, I’ll confine things to the regular season, which hasn’t been done since Ezekiel Elliott and Dontre Wilson each scored three touchdowns in 2013. With receiver Jeremiah Smith playing as well as he did in the spring, this feels like the first bingo space. The second would be one of the running backs — or both. James Peoples and Sam Williams-Dixon will likely be sharing some fourth quarters with redshirt sophomore TC Caffey. A couple of touchdowns for a freshman running back are not out of the realm of possibility.

Go to discussion...