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Another good season prediction is in for Ohio State

And this one has the Buckeyes doing a tad better than just making the College Football Playoff.

By Geoff Hammersley
NCAA Football: College Football Playoff National Championship-Clemson vs Alabama Adam Hagy-USA TODAY Sports

“In season one as full-time head coach of THE Ohio State Buckeyes, Ryan Day fits all of the pieces into their exact right spot in the puzzle, leading his squad to an undefeated national championship.”

— FootballScoop’s College Football Predictions | Article by Zach Barnett

Going into the weekend, Urban Meyer predicted the four teams in his College Football Playoff, and they included Ohio State, Oklahoma, Alabama and Clemson. Overall, he had Clemson winning the whole thing.

Another prediction for the college football champion has been made, this time from FootballScoop. And this time, the Ohio State Buckeyes are slated to win.

You love to see it.

Considered one of the “bold” predictions for 2019, Scott at FootballScoop has Ohio State going 12-0, and flattening Michigan in the regular season finale. In the CFP, his prediction has the Bucks rolling through the semifinals, before taking down the Clemson Tigers by 24.

I like the boldness in the take, especially with the playoff games. Everything is there for an Ohio State national title run.

J.K. Dobbins is one of the best rushers in college football, and is a consistent 1,000-yard rusher. With Mike Weber gone, there’s even more of an expectation to hit that mark. In Tuesday’s press conference, Ryan Day said that Dobbins could be seeing 20 carries per game. If that actually happens, then the Texan will have no problem getting to 1,000 yards on the ground, assuming he stays healthy.

With a new quarterback in Justin Fields, I fully expect some adapting to take place. But with early season contests against Florida Atlantic, Cincinnati, Indiana and Miami (OH), the problems can be ironed out. That early season road test versus the Hoosiers shouldn’t be too big of a problem, and, in my opinion, is one of the better possible road game options in the Big Ten. It’s not too daunting of a task, but it’s not a cake walk either.

K.J. Hill is leading the receiving unit, and the rise of Chris Olave gives the Buckeyes two good threats in the air. Throw in five-star freshman Garrett Wilson, and that’s three very capable receivers in Zone 6.

Defensively, the linebacking unit has the biggest question mark. The new bullet position isn’t a big question mark, as the personnel is there. Up front, Chase Young will be anchoring a line that has produced star after star under the tutelage of Larry Johnson.

The predictions didn’t stop there. One of note included the next coach of USC.

Swann will convince Tomlin that he’ll be rejuvenated to stop placating the egos of millionaires and return to actually leading young men as USC’s head coach.

That Tomlin being referenced is Mike Tomlin, current head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

There’s definitely a ton of storylines to keep an eye in the 2019 season of college football.

“Florida Atlantic, a member of Conference USA, is guaranteed a payment of $1.4 million from Ohio State.”

— Joey Kaufman | buckeyeXtra (The Columbus Dispatch)

FAU is coming to Columbus this weekend. And even though they aren’t expected to win, there is a bright side: it’ll be a big payday.

Joey Kaufman at The Columbus Dispatch reported the big check the Owls are going to receive for Saturday’s noon kickoff at Ohio Stadium.

From an athletic department standpoint, this game helps keep the lights on for FAU. And it was something penciled in years ago; back in 2015, then-Owls athletic director Patrick Chun scheduled the contest with the Big Ten goliath. Prior to going to FAU, Chun worked at Ohio State—so, that can explain why FAU and OSU decided on the game.

While Chun is gone, Lane Kiffin wasn’t even at FAU when this game was put on the schedule. And Kiffin isn’t too happy that his squad has to face a team of Ohio State’s caliber. In the article, Kiffin notes that making money needs to occur, but would rather play Power 5 teams that aren’t the top team in their conference.

Last season, Oklahoma and UCF played Florida Atlantic. In both games, FAU got walloped. This season, they have the Buckeyes on the road, and UCF at home. And it wouldn’t be too far out there of an opinion to think that the Owls would begin their season 0-2.

I get the gripe Kiffin has. Yes, you need to schedule road games in which the program gets a nice, sizable check. However, if you’re in that position, you don’t have the leverage to dictate who you want to play. For a team like FAU, a program that won 11 games in 2017, starting out 0-2 puts you behind the eight-ball for bowl season. Going 6-4 the rest of the way isn’t too bad, but by being in a smaller conference (Conference USA), six wins may not always be enough to make it to a bowl game. Devil’s Advocate, though: if Kiffin and FAU handle their business in the C-USA and win the conference, they’ll be in a bowl game with no problem.

Regardless of how Saturday goes, the players get to say they played inside Ohio Stadium, and the program becomes $1.4 million richer.

Missed the latest edition of Outside the Shoe?

Each week, Meredith Hein and I record a podcast about the happenings around Ohio State athletics that aren’t football or men’s basketball related. The latest episode dropped on Friday, and focused on the field hockey team.

To listen to the podcast, you can click here. Additionally, you can share and subscribe to the podcast by clicking below in the embed.

“The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame today released a list of 1,439 student-athletes who have already earned their undergraduate degrees and will be playing college football this fall while pursuing second diplomas.”

— National Football Foundation

This football season, there’s going to be a bunch of student-athletes that already have their undergraduate degrees. Ten of them will be suiting up in the Scarlet and Gray. Those Buckeyes are:
Damon Arnette
Branden Bowen
Chris Chugunov
Jashon Cornell
K.J. Hill
Gunnar Hoak
Antwuan Jackson
Jonah Jackson
Liam McCullough
C.J. Saunders

Congrats to those members of the team who already have a degree from either OSU or somewhere else!

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