50 For 50: Keystone Matchup For Sonny Styles

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 19 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 31 |

Biggest Buckeye Matchups

Ohio State LB Sonny Styles vs. Penn State TE Tyler Warren

Tyler Warren was a Third-Team All-Big Ten selection at tight end for the Nittany Lions last season. He caught 34 passes for 422 yards and seven touchdowns. The seven touchdowns were the most of any Big Ten tight end last year. Warren caught just one pass for 11 yards against the Buckeyes last season. When Ohio State comes to State College this year, the Buckeyes may be running more 4-3 looks than normal in order to deal with the Nittany Lions’ running game. This may also see linebacker Sonny Styles matching up with Warren. Styles has the size and athleticism to stay with the 6-foot-6 Warren. If he can hold Warren to just one catch this year, the Buckeyes’ odds of winning this game will increase considerably.

Most Important Games

USC Trojans at Washington Huskies, November 2 (3:30 pm or 7:30 pm)

It’s the Big Ten game you never knew you needed. Washington and USC have played just twice in the past six years. The Huskies have won both matchups by double digits. Washington is expected to take a significant step back this season after playing for a national title last year. USC, meanwhile, needs this win if they are going to contend for a Big Ten championship — or anything else of significance. With LSU, Michigan, and Penn State on the schedule before the trip to Seattle, the Trojans likely can’t afford a loss in this one.

Things To Look Forward To

The punting competition!

Yes, we’re gonna talk about punting. You can take the Ohio State out of Jim Tressel but you can’t take the Jim Tressel out of Ohio State. Or something like that. Jesse Mirco surprised everyone when he entered the transfer portal, which left the Buckeyes scrambling for a punter this season. They signed 6-foot-7 Australian Nick McLarty but then added Anthony Venneri out of the transfer portal following spring ball. Neither player was in for spring so the competition won’t really ramp up until fall camp. Venneri comes over from Buffalo where he was third in the MAC last season with a 44-yard average per punt. His experience gives him an advantage but McLarty is Australian.

National College Football Predictions

Connor Weigman will be Texas A&M’s best QB since Johnny Manziel.

Predicting Connor Weigman to be the best Aggie quarterback since Johnny Manziel does not have a statistical qualification to it, but we’ll know it when we see it. The lineage at quarterback since Manziel left after the 2013 season would have been forgettable if it wasn’t so memorable for all of the sub-par play. That lineage is going to take a sharp turn upwards this season with the redshirt sophomore Weigman. He opened the season last year as a starter but missed all but the first four games of the season due to a foot injury. A dozen different quarterbacks have started in the 10 seasons since Manziel left. Weigman will show he’s the best of a mediocre bunch this season.

Big Ten Football Predictions

Julian Fleming will double his career receiving yards.

Fifth-year Penn State wide receiver Julian Fleming transferred from Ohio State after four years in an attempt to showcase himself as a top option for a quarterback. There is very little production returning to PSU from last season, so the opportunity that Fleming has been waiting for is right in front of him. What could he do as a No. 1 receiver? Well, his career numbers are 79 receptions for 963 yards and seven touchdowns. That’s actually not an outrageous prediction for his final season of college ball. The 79 receptions seems a tad high but I feel pretty good about Fleming going over his career yardage total this year.

Ohio State Football Predictions

Will Howard will have the third-best passing season in OSU history.

There have only been two 4,000-yard passers in Ohio State football history. Dwayne Haskins (4,831) was the first in 2018 and CJ Stroud (4,435) was the second in 2021. Will Howard may or may not be the third, but I still expect him to have the third-most passing yards in a season in program history. Currently, that number (3,688) belongs to CJ Stroud (2022). Howard’s career-high passing yards in a season came last year (2,643). Assuming he wins the starting job, he should obliterate that number this year.

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