This is the 40th in a series of 100 daily posts, a Countdown to College Football. (Sort of.)
We are now two months out from the end of the Big Ten Football Media Days, which as we all know signifies the unofficial official unofficial official beginning of the college football season.
Officially.
People often ask me, “Tony, what’s the best part about waiting for something.”
And I always answer with, “The best part about waiting is the end when you don’t have to wait anymore.”
You are now one day closer to that day than you were yesterday, but you’re still pretty damn far away.
They say a watched pot never boils. If you missed yesterday’s pot, you can watch it do absofreakinglutely nothing right here.
Now please join us as we continue our countdown of the 100 greatest Buckeyes of The Ozone era (1996-present).
We will also preview one of the 100 most exciting games on this fall’s college football schedule, and one of the 100 things we’re most looking forward to this fall.
Plus, we’ll preview one of this season’s 100 biggest personnel matchups.
Greatest Buckeyes Of The Ozone Era
#61 Johnathan Hankins, 2010-2012
Big Hank came to Ohio State from Detroit, leaving a path of destruction all over the Midwest.
Michigan State never offered Johnathan Hankins, and Michigan didn’t offer until very late in the process. The reports from UM recruiting media at the time was, to put it bluntly, that Hankins was too fat to play in Rich Rodriguez’s defense. Mike Barwis was a great strength and conditioning coach, but he was not a miracle worker.
Two of Hankins’ first major offers came from Jim Tressel and Urban Meyer. In fact, Hankins even states he was committed to Florida before decommitting and joining up with the Buckeyes.
Even though Hankins was too fat to be a Wolverine, he ended up playing all 13 games as a true freshman in 2010. He was a starting defensive tackle in 2011 and 2012. As a sophomore in 2011, Hankins finished fourth on the team in tackles (67), second in TFLs (11.), and sacks (3.0).
As a junior in 2012, he was named First-Team All-American. He was drafted in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft by the New York Giants.
Not bad for a guy who wasn’t good enough to play at Michigan or Michigan State.
Best Games This Fall
#61 Virginia Tech at Florida State
Virginia Tech and Florida State haven’t played since 2012, which was won 28-22 by FSU. In fact, they have only played three times in the last decade, with one of those games being the 2010 ACC Championship Game.
This game will be viewed by a captive audience, as it will be played the Monday night of Labor Day weekend. That may or may not be a good thing, however, as the Hokies’ offense was pretty ugly last year. Still, there is a lot to like about sophomore quarterback Josh Jackson, and he could make life difficult for the FSU defense.
The situation for the Seminoles is one of redemption after completely collapsing last season when quarterback Deondre Francois went down in the season opener. This will be their opportunity to show that they are back. It will also be new head coach Willie Taggart’s Florida State debut.
Virginia Tech head coach Justin Fuente heads into his third season looking to build on the 19 wins the Hokies have managed the last two seasons.
No, this isn’t Miami vs. Clemson, but it’s not a bad consolation.
What We Can’t Wait To See
#61 The Indiana Football Hoosiers
I don’t know what Indiana’s offense is going to look like this year, but I know they return a good running back in Morgan Ellison, productive receivers, a very experienced offensive line, and a quarterback who used to run for a bunch of yards under Rich Rodriguez at Arizona. When it comes to the defense, however, the offense better score a lot of points.
And that’s one of the reasons I’m looking forward to watching the Hoosiers.
Quarterback Brandon Dawkins is a graduate transfer from Arizona who lost his job last season to Khalil Tate. In 2016, Dawkins threw for 1,345 yards and rushed for 944 yards and 10 touchdowns. Unfortunately for him, he has yet to finish a season in a strong manner. If it’s not Dawkins for the Hoosiers, it will again by Peyton Ramsey, who unseated veteran Richard Lagow last year as a redshirt freshman.
Ramsey wasn’t the only freshman impressing for Indiana last year, nor was Ellison, who rushed for 704 yards as a rookie. There was also Cole Gest, who rushed for 428 yards. And don’t forget about a pair of freshman receivers in Whop Philyor and Taysir Mack, each of whom had 100-yard receiving games last year.
I’m just going to assume Indiana was the only team in CFB last year with a freshman who threw for 300 yards in a game, two freshmen who rushed for 100 yards in a game, and two freshmen who had 100 yards receiving in a game.
Plus, Whop Philyor is named after his love of Whoppers. The burgers, not the for-some-reason-cartoned chocolate candies.
Matchup To Watch
#61 Justin Layne, MSU CB vs. Johnnie Dixon
At 6-foot-3 and 185 pounds, Justin Layne is a tall, long corner in a physical Michigan State defense. But will he be able to handle Johnnie Dixon’s quickness and explosion?
If last year is any indication, Layne may not have a problem. Of course, the Buckeyes were averaging 8 yards per carry against MSU’s defense, so the passing game wasn’t really a focus.
Dixon didn’t have a catch against the Spartans last year. In fact, he didn’t have a catch in any of the Buckeyes’ final three regular season games. He only had one catch — a 9-yard reception in the B1G Championship Game — over the last five outings last season. The expectations this year, however, are for an uptick throughout the Buckeye passing game.
This year, Ohio State travels to East Lansing in November. As we know, November is for contenders. If the Buckeyes are going to do what people think they’re going to do, then Dixon cannot be a pretender in this one.