50 For 50: Is Eight Enough For Buckeyes Rushing Attack?

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 23 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 27 |

Biggest Buckeye Matchups

Iowa DT Yahya Black vs. Ohio State LG Donovan Jackson

Iowa fifth-year senior Yahya Black (6-5 315) is one of the more active defensive tackles in the Big Ten. He finished with 51 tackles, 5.0 tackles for loss, and 3.5 sacks last year in his first season as a starter. Donovan Jackson is one of the top guards in the Big Ten and is back for his third season as a starter. Running the ball against Iowa is generally a pretty difficult thing to do. If the Buckeyes are going to accomplish the difficult, Donovan Jackson will need to keep Yahya Black in check when the two are lined up across from each other.

Most Important Games

Bowling Green Falcons at Toledo Rockets, October 26

Hey, you can take the boy out of Northwest Ohio but you can’t take the Northwest Ohio out of the boy. These two teams have met every year since 1948. Their stadiums are separated by just 30 minutes up (or down) I-75. Both programs have been to bowl games each of the past two seasons and both have designs on a conference championship. Which also means that for the first time ever this could be the first of two matchups in a single season. This game may not be a factor in the national picture, but at least it’s back on a Saturday for the first time in five years.

Things To Look Forward To

The starting quarterback answering his critics.

Both Devin Brown and Will Howard have had their critics throughout their respective careers. Whoever wins the starting job this season will have one hell of an opportunity to prove those critics wrong. They have both heard the doubts, but neither has been as prepared and capable of answering the charges as they’ll be this year. Howard has never had receiving assets like he’ll have this year. Brown is a year more experienced and has already been through a quarterback competition. Both players have seen coaches choose players other than themselves, so there’s a sizable chip on each of their throwing shoulders.

National College Football predictions

Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe will not be a Heisman finalist.

Predicting somebody to not be a Heisman finalist isn’t all that bold, but again, these were never supposed to be bold predictions. We basically got tricked into taking the HGH of predictions and now we need a prediction helmet three sizes larger than what we used to wear. Anyway, Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe is receiving plenty of hype and is one of the favorites to win the Heisman this year. He finished sixth in the voting last year. Without Nick Saban’s aura blinding onlookers, people will start taking a much closer look at Milroe and they’ll start seeing more flaws than they did before.

Big Ten Football predictions

UCLA will not make a bowl game.

For the first time in four years, the Bruins will not make a bowl game. Despite missing both Ohio State and Michigan on the schedule, things won’t go well for UCLA and new head coach Deshaun Foster this year. A road trip in week four to LSU will be their first loss of the season, then come games against Oregon and Penn State in the two weeks after that. Minnesota comes to town after that, which should be a toss up. Then trips to Rutgers and Nebraska, where the Bruins will likely be underdogs. They finish the season with a home game against Iowa, a trip to Washington, then homes games against USC and Fresno State. Six wins may be the limit this year.

Ohio State Football Predictions

At least eight players will have rushing touchdowns.

Only twice in the last 30 years have the Buckeyes had eight different players score rushing touchdowns in a single season. The last time was 2016. They also did it in 2013. Which also means it’s never been done since head coach Ryan Day arrived back in 2017. Getting it done this year will likely require at least two quarterbacks to score on the ground and possibly all four scholarship running backs. And if you’re curious, it has been 50 years since the Buckeyes had nine players score rushing touchdowns in a single season.

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