50 For 50: JT Tuimoloau Opting Into A Big Season?

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 four 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 46 |

Biggest Buckeye Matchups

Iowa TE Luke Lachey vs. Ohio State SAF Lathan Ransom

Luke Lachey is a Buckeye legacy who caught 10 passes for 131 yards in the first two games last season before suffering a season-ending injury in week three against Western Michigan. When he’s healthy, he’s one of the Big Ten’s best tight ends. There will be a number of Buckeyes dealing with Lachey when the Hawkeyes come to Columbus in October, including senior strong safety Lathan Ransom. Iowa isn’t likely to light up the scoreboard, but they will burn the clock. Ransom keeping the ball out of Lachey’s hands on third down will help get the Buckeye offense back on the field.

Most Important Games

Utah Utes at Oklahoma State Cowboys, September 21

This is the game of the year in the Big XII and we’ll get to see it in September. The winner will have a nice advantage in the loss column, but the loser will still have plenty of time to recover. Nobody in this conference is good enough to be above the random upset, so there will still be a ton of twists and turns in the Big XII in the months to follow. This game will also be sponsored by Aspercreme because Utah starting quarterback Cam Rising and Oklahoma State quarterback Alan Bowman were both part of the same 2018 recruiting cycle as notable quarterbacks Trevor Lawrence, Michael Penix, Brock Purdy, and Matthew Baldwin.

Things To Look Forward To

Another star emerging at quarterback for Ohio State.

Generally, a college football team is only going to go as far as the quarterback can take it. There will be a new starting quarterback at the helm for Ohio State this year trying to take the Buckeyes as far as they can go. Remember the joy you had last year in watching Kyle McCord lead a last-minute drive to win at Notre Dame? Part of the joy of a new season is the understanding that those moments can happen with somebody new this year. Perhaps Will Howard or Devin Brown or somebody else can imbue the same kind of confidence and excitement that McCord did a year ago.

National College Football Predictions

Appalachian State will lead Clemson this year.

Clemson opens the season against Georgia in Atlanta and then hosts Appalachian State at home the following week. Predicting the Mountaineers to have a lead in this game could mean something as simple as an opening-drive field goal to take a 3-0 lead. I’m not searching for anything special here, but a home opener after a crushing loss to Georgia or a soul-boosting win are both recipes for a slow start the following week. The good news is that this is an 8:00 pm kick instead of a sleepy nooner. The bad news is that it’s on the ACC Network, so it may not actually be on television near you.

Big Ten Football Predictions

Nebraska QB Dylan Raiola will throw for at least 20 touchdowns.

I don’t yet believe in Dylan Raiola, but I do believe in Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule. Still, Rhule couldn’t stop the Husker quarterbacks from being really, really bad last year. But I have 50 Big Ten predictions to write and they can’t all be sure things. Why am I picking 20 touchdown passes for Dylan Raiola? Because the most touchdown passes thrown by the Huskers as a team over the past six years is just 19. No single Nebraska quarterback has thrown for more than 17 touchdowns since Tanner Lee broke the scoreboard with 23 in 2017. I’m basically just asking Raiola to be better than Adrian Martinez as a passer.

Ohio State Football Predictions

JT Tuimoloau will finish with at least 14.5 tackles for loss.

After producing 11 tackles for loss as a sophomore in 2022, JT Tuimoloau’s totals took a step back last year with just seven TFLs. This year, I’m expecting a career high for the Buckeye senior. As to why I’m going with 14.5 tackles for loss, that is the highest number of TFLs for an Ohio State defensive end not named Bosa or Young since 2012 (John Simon). Tuimoloau came back for several reasons. One of them was to have his very best season and improve his draft stock. A big season for him in 2024 will do just that.

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