50 For 50: Big Plans For Buckeyes Offensive Line

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 25 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 25 |

Biggest Buckeye Matchups

Iowa C Logan Jones vs. Ohio State NT Ty Hamilton

Logan Jones is arguably the best center in the Big Ten and has 26 career starts to his credit. He is strong and mobile and will be integral to Iowa’s running game this year. The Hawkeyes are going to try to bleed the clock when they come to Ohio State on October 5, which means OSU nose tackle Ty Hamilton is going to have to win his share of the battles against Jones. If Hamilton and the Buckeyes can limit Iowa on first downs, the other two downs should take care of themselves. There won’t be anything pretty about this game and Jones and Hamilton will be two big reasons why.

Most Important Games

Kansas Jayhawks at Kansas State Wildcats, October 26

Mark Mangino was the Kansas head coach the last time the Jayhawks won a game in this series. Kansas State has won 15 in a row and only three of those games have been decided by one score. Just about everybody in the Big XII has playoff hopes this year because this might be the most wide-open conference in the nation. The loser of this game won’t be out of the Big XII title picture, but the winner will be one giant step closer to a conference championship game berth.

Things To Look Forward To

An actual defensive line rotation for the Buckeyes.

There were just two regular season games last year when a backup defensive end played at least 20 snaps for the Buckeyes. Starters JT Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer played more snaps than they should have, but defensive line coach Larry Johnson didn’t feel comfortable playing the younger guys any more than he did. This year, defensive ends Kenyatta Jackson and Caden Curry are a year older and they have to play. The same can be said at defensive tackle, where only returning starters Tyleik Williams and Ty Hamilton played more than 15 snaps in a game last year. This is going to be a long season and head coach Ryan Day’s marching orders to his coaches has been to substitute heavily. Of course, that will also depend on the offense scoring enough points to make coaches comfortable doing so.

National College Football Predictions

Florida freshman quarterback DJ Lagway will not start a game this year.

I originally intended on predicting that DJ Lagway would start a game for Florida this year but I just couldn’t justify it. Sure, he’s a five-star quarterback signee with the hopes of an entire program on his shoulders, but Florida already has a starting quarterback in Graham Mertz who is an experienced leader who has now been through the SEC before. Mertz played pretty well last year, completing 72.9% of his passes for 2,903 yards with 20 touchdowns and three interceptions. The frustration in Gainesville is mounting, however, and another handful of losses will result in people wanting change for change’s sake. Head coach Billy Napier will have to weigh trying to fix something with a true freshman quarterback or sticking with the senior quarterback who isn’t actually the issue and gives him a better chance to win an extra game (which could save his job). Everybody wants to see DJ Lagway, including Napier, but under his own terms, not anybody else’s.

Big Ten Football Predictions

Michigan will be outrushed by at least three regular-season opponents.

The Wolverines were outrushed just once in the regular season last year. Purdue went for 125 yards on the ground compared to Michigan’s 110. What was a rarity last year will become a bit more common this year, as at least three regular-season opponents will outrush the Wolverines. Texas and Ohio State are the safer assumptions, while Minnesota and Illinois are sneaky picks to get it done because of their love of the running game. And if that sounds crazy to you, I’ll remind you that nobody would have expected Purdue to outrush Michigan last season.

Ohio State Football Predictions

Ohio State’s offensive line will be a Joe Moore Award finalist.

There is a lot of consternation about the Ohio State offensive line from a large number of Buckeye fans, but when the biggest concern is the right guard, that’s a first-world problem for a college football team. Ohio State returns both starting tackles, All-Big Ten left guard Donovan Jackson, starting center Carson Hinzman, and Alabama transfer Seth McLaughlin, who was a two-year starter at center for the Crimson Tide. That’s five guys with starting experience. That’s a good problem to have. McLaughlin has stepped in seamlessly. The lineup will be finalized in fall camp and their overall experience — and some help from offensive coordinator Chip Kelly — should have this group playing very well very quickly.

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