Jermaine Mathews, Jr. Ohio State Buckeyes Cornerback
Football

50 For 50: Jermaine Mathews Raking In Postseason Accolades?

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 9 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, center Carson Hinzman, running backs Turbo Rogers and Isaiah West, 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 41

Biggest Buckeye Matchups

OHIO STATE OC CARSON HINZMAN VS. MICHIGAN DT TRE WILLIAMS

Carson Hinzman is back for essentially his third year as the Buckeyes’ starting center. He stepped in for Rimington Trophy winner Seth McLaughlin last year for Ohio State’s stretch run. This year as a fourth-year junior, he’ll need to lead the Buckeye offensive line. One of his bigger matchups could be against sixth-year Michigan defensive tackle Tre Williams. Williams spent his first five years at Clemson but never became the player the former Top 100 recruit was expected to be. For his career, he has 35 tackles, 11.0 tackles for loss, and 4.0 sacks. In his last year of college ball, he’ll be looking to go out with his best.

Most Important Games

OKLAHOMA SOONERS VS. TEXAS LONGHORNS, OCT. 11

Oklahoma and Texas have alternated wins the last four years in this series. The Sooners have next, which is bad news for the Longhorns. Oklahoma warms up for the Red River Rivalry with an open week, then a game against Kent State before they head to the Texas State Fair to play the Longhorns. Texas, meanwhile, has a game at Florida (who has a bye week the week before) before playing the Sooners. If Oklahoma wins this game — and already has a win over Michigan, the Top 5 is gonna be calling.

Things To Look Forward To

a FIRST LOOK AT FRESHMEN RBS TURBO ROGERS AND ISAIAH WEST.

The Buckeyes signed three running backs in the 2025 class. The only one we’ve seen so far is Bo Jackson back in the spring. The first time we get to see Turbo Rogers and Isaiah West in action will be the regular season. Both guys are favorites of OSU running backs coach Carlos Locklyn, so it is going to be fun seeing what he saw in them. We probably won’t get to see much this year, but they’ll both have a handful of snaps that could yield something to get excited about.

National College Football Predictions

OKLAHOMA QB JOHN MATEER WILL PRODUCE 4,000 YARDS OF OFFENSE.

There is a lot of faith being put into new Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer based off of one season of production at Washington State. As a redshirt sophomore last year with the Cougars, he threw for 3,139 yards with 29 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also rushed for 826 yards at 15 touchdowns. That is a hell of a lot of production, but it’s just one season. The Sooners would like to be explosive with the football and Mateer could allow them to do so. This absolutely could be a home run. Or it could just be the latest Sooner fumble. Mateer has only ever played against one ranked opponent (Boise State, 2024), and his team lost by three touchdowns.

Big Ten Football Predictions

PENN STATE WILL MAKE THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF.

Even if Penn State loses 63-14 at Ohio State, they’re probably still making the College Football Playoff. Their non-conference slate of Nevada, Florida International, and Villanova is reminiscent of what the Buckeyes faced a year ago. The Nittany Lions have those three games, then an open week before Oregon comes to “town.” They’ll be favored in every game this year except for their trip to Columbus. Not even Penn State can blow this one.

Ohio State Football Predictions

CORNERBACK JERMAINE MATHEWS WILL BE FIRST-TEAM ALL-BIG TEN.

Jermaine Mathews has been a valuable member of the Ohio State defense in his first two seasons as a Buckeye. This year will be his first year as a full-time starter for the Buckeyes. He’s been building toward this role since he arrived, and everyone expects him to be very effective. Jermaine Mathews will be the first Ohio State cornerback to be named First-Team All-Big Ten since Denzel Burke did it in 2023.

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