50 For 50: Buckeyes Loaded For Bear With TreVeyon Henderson, Quinshon Judkins

Welcome to a new feature that I am calling “50 for 50” where I attempt to get us to Big Ten Media Days — which are 50 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.

Let’s begin.

Biggest Buckeye Matchups

Michigan cornerback Will Johnson vs. Ohio State receiver Carnell Tate

Johnson may very well be the best player in the Big Ten. A Thorpe Award favorite as one of the nation’s top defensive backs, he is a dominating cover cornerback. Carnell Tate is a true sophomore who received all kinds of hype from Marvin Harrison, Jr. last year. Tate could very well be Ohio State’s top outside receiver this year — assuming senior Emeka Egbuka ends up inside, which makes Tate a likely target for Johnson. While the running game generally determines the winner in this rivalry, having an edge in this matchup will still be quite beneficial.

Most Important Games

Miami Hurricanes at Florida Gators, August 31 (3:30 pm – ABC)

The Canes have playoff hopes and the Gators don’t, so if Florida can upset Miami in the season opener, Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal will have to work hard to keep his team locked in. If they get the win, they’ll eventually head to Louisville 6-0 on the season with momentum and confidence. Real confidence. Not their typical false confidence. Meanwhile, Florida head coach Billy Napier needs this win as badly as any Gator head coach since Ron Zook has ever needed a win. The problem is that if Florida does get the win, the expectations will only grow, which will then no doubt end in Napier’s firing after the season for failing to meet these newer, loftier goals. Or maybe he’s even fired during the season. Let’s go ahead and table that one for a prediction later on down the road.

Something To Look Forward To

Free safety Caleb Downs as the last line of defense against the pass.

The Buckeyes almost landed safety Caleb Downs out of high school, but he took a gap year at Alabama before transferring to OSU in January. Now that he is patrolling the Ohio State defense at free safety, Buckeye fans can look forward to him tracking deep passes and covering the kind of ground that hasn’t been seen at Ohio State since Malik Hooker in 2016.

Caleb Downs will patrol the skies for the Buckeyes.

National College Football Predictions

Utah QB Cam Rising will win a big game in an improbable way.

Contrary to popular belief, seventh-year senior quarterback Cam Rising was not part of the Utah program the last time they moved conferences in 2011. But now he will lead them into the Big XII where there will be a conference game this season where Rising is like 9-22 passing over the first three quarters, but will then go 8-8 in the fourth quarter while also rushing for 48 yards in a come-from-behind victory. Sorry about your luck, Oklahoma State, but Cam Rising is a man. He’s 40.

Big Ten Predictions

Florida State and Clemson will be added as conference members.

This isn’t an on-field prediction, but writing about college football has almost become more about the off-field battles than on-field battles. Florida State and Clemson want out of the ACC and they’re gonna get out. The Big Ten wants to expand into the Buc-ee’s Belt, so this is a win-win for both parties. Especially the Big Ten.

Ohio State Predictions

The Buckeyes will have two 1,000-yard rushers this season.

Ohio State hasn’t had two running backs rush for 1,000 yards in a season since 1975 with Archie Griffin (1,450) and Pete Johnson (1,059), but that will change this season with TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins. Griffin and Johnson got their yards in a 12-game season. If the Buckeyes end up with only a 12-game season this year, then something went horribly, horribly wrong. But as long as Henderson and Judkins both end up with 1,000 yards rushing in those 12 games, I’m sure we’ll all consider this a win.