50 For 50: Jermaine Mathews Is Ready, Willing, And Able

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 42 days away — with a daily sampling of what we can look forward to this upcoming college football season. Today’s edition features Ohio State cornerback Jermaine Mathews, running back James Peoples, and more.

As always, 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 8

Biggest Buckeye Matchups

OHIO STATE RB JAMES PEOPLES VS. MICHIGAN LB JAISHAWN BARHAM

The team that runs the ball better in this game wins. Every year, the phrase is “run the ball, win the game.” This year, the beneficiary of that phrase will be Ohio State sophomore running back James Peoples. One of the Michigan defenders tasked with stopping that from happen will be linebacker Jaishawn Barham. Barham is a big, physical linebacker who finished second on the Wolverines’ team with 66 tackles last season. He’s going to have plenty of opportunities for tackles against Peoples, but Peoples will likely have proven by this point that he’s not that easy to tackle.

Most Important Games

LSU TIGERS AT OKLAHOMA SOONERS, NOV. 29

Oklahoma’s season may be over by this point, but is there anything more fun than ruining Brian Kelly’s year? Kelly is just the kind of guy who could save Brent Venables’ job. The Sooners have a five-game stretch of Texas, at South Carolina, Ole Miss, at Tennessee, and at Alabama. Then they cleanse their palate with Missouri before hosting LSU to end the regular season. None of Oklahoma’s games are unwinnable, but every single game in that stretch is losable. Oklahoma will need some momentum at the end of the year. This could be the game that helps them do that.

Things To Look Forward To

JERMAINE MATHEWS AS AN EVERY-DOWN CORNERBACK.

Buckeye fans got to see glimpses of Jermaine Mathews as a true freshman in 2023 and it was good. Then he eventually worked himself into the rotation last year and it was better. This year as a starting cornerback for the Buckeyes, it will be best. There are some lofty expectations for Mathews both inside and outside of the program. Don’t be surprised when he lives up to all of them this year.

National College Football Predictions

TEXAS TECH IS GOING TO THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF.

Somebody from the Big XII is going to make the College Football Playoff, so why shouldn’t it be the team that spent the most money in the offseason. It’s only right! The Red Raiders have a soft non-conference, and their road schedule is filled with the kind of game that could trip up an above-average team. Texas Tech needs to be better than that — and they should based on the talent they have acquired.

Big Ten Football Predictions

DAKORIEN MOORE WILL HAVE A 100-YARD GAME.

It has been at least a decade since a true freshman receiver at Oregon has gone for 100 yards in a single game. Dakorien Moore is the top freshman receiver in college football this year, at least based on recruiting rankings. I’m not expecting him to do what last year’s top freshman receiver did, but Moore can at least crank out a 100-yard receiving game.

Ohio State Football Predictions

CALEB DOWNS WILL HAVE A PICK SIX.

Caleb Downs may be the best defensive player in college football but he has yet to score a touchdown on the defensive side of the ball. He has returned one punt for a touchdown each of his first two years in college, but he has never done what I am predicting he’ll do this year. He is clearly overdue. The good news for him is that Ohio State plays Penn State this year, so the odds for a pick six are as high it gets for a Buckeye defender.

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