Bold Predictions: Less than 100,000 at Ohio Stadium see TreVeyon Henderson score two touchdowns

Prior to each Ohio State game this year, LGHL is going to bring you some “bold predictions”. This will include somewhere around five predictions for the game, whether it be passing yards, points scored, sacks, or a number of other things that we could see happening during the game.

We’d love to hear your bold predictions. Either respond to us on Twitter at @Landgrant33 or leave your bold predictions in the comments.

TreVeyon Henderson will score two touchdowns

It’s obvious that Ohio State tried to get the football into the hands of their star freshman more last week. After getting just three touches in the season opener against Minnesota, Henderson was the recipient of 13 touches last week. Henderson has scored a touchdown in each of the first two games, and this week he’ll double his season total.

Tulsa has been solid against the run this year, only allowing 114 yards per game on the ground. They haven’t had to try and slow down a talent like Henderson, though. It also helps that Henderson can do damage both on the ground and as a receiver. While it’s hard to call a big performance against Tulsa a “breakout” game, we see Henderson’s most complete game in his young Ohio State career.

Ohio State doubles their season sack total

I know we have been calling for the defense to create a lot of pressure so far this season and those predictions not coming to fruition. This week feels different. The Buckeyes have gone up against a couple of the best offensive lines in the country so far this year, so some of that can be to blame for the defense only registering two sacks this year.

Another reason for optimism this week is how much criticism the defense has been getting. You have to imagine that the defensive line knows that the issues start with them since they haven’t been able to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks. The talent on the defensive line is just too great to keep down. I can see Zach Harrison and Tyreke Smith getting to the quarterback, and at least two other sacks will come somewhere in the game.

Someone other than C.J. Stroud will take a snap at quarterback for Ohio State this week

This won’t be because Stroud is ineffective. I’m guessing Kyle McCord sees some mop-up duty since the Ohio State offense is going to be clicking on all cylinders today. The first two games of the year has seen Stroud get off to slow starts. That won’t be the case today against Tulsa, as the offense puts points on the scoreboard early.

When the teams played in 2016, Joe Burrow did get into the game late after Ohio State had opened up a 45-point lead. I think Ryan Day might be a little quicker to bring in a backup if Ohio State is up big, since he will want to get whoever sits behind Stroud a little bit of game action. Even though Stroud has a firm hold on the job, it never hurts to get the backups a little time on the field.

Tulsa won’t lose by as many as they did in 2016

The only other battle between the Buckeyes and Golden Hurricanes was a strange game. Ohio State took a 20-3 lead into halftime, but their two touchdowns came from interception returns. Then lightning in the area extended halftime to over an hour, and there was driving rain throughout the second half.

While I think we get a better performance out of the Ohio State defense this week, we’ll still some holes that will allow Tulsa to put some points on the board. Even though the Buckeyes will want to register another 45-point win against Tulsa, I’m thinking we see somewhere in the range of a 31 to 35-point win.

Attendance won’t crack 100,000 at Ohio Stadium today

I’m doing what I can to make sure we have another week of six figures in attendance at The Horseshoe, but I think the numbers fall just a little shot. I’ll be taking my mom and step-dad to their first Ohio State game today. The tickets to see the Buckeyes host the Golden Hurricanes were still a little ridiculous though. I didn’t really mind splurging a little to make their trip to Columbus memorable. I could understand many other people not wanting to go to the game, especially with a lot of other fun games on throughout the day.

Aside from last year when nobody was allowed at games, the last time Ohio State failed to crack 100,000 in attendance for a game was early in the 2018 season against Rutgers. We’ve already heard plenty about Ohio State pricing fans out of attending games, so I won’t go into it much more. Just make sure you fill the stadium for the Big Ten games later in the year.