This is the 25th in a series of 100 daily posts, a Countdown to College Football. (Sort of.)
Twenty five down, 75 to go! Well, technically, we’ll have 25 down once you actually finish reading this. But when you do, we’ll be a quarter of the way through this countdown.
You may not know this, but if you don’t read this, football season will never get here. I wouldn’t want that on my head, so I guess you’d better start reading!
In case you missed yesterday’s piece, you should read that too. You can’t be too careful on matters as important as this.
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
#76 Antonio Pittman, 2004-2006
Antonio Pittman gets lost in a lot of conversations about the best Buckeye running backs of the last 25 years, but his stats say he belongs there.
Pittman put up nearly 1,500 yards from scrimmage in 2005, and then added 1,360 the following year, along with 14 touchdowns.
He put up one of his best games on the biggest regular season stage he played on. Pittman had 18 carries for 139 yards and a touchdown in the 42-39 win over Michigan in 2006.
Pittman’s numbers could have ended up even more impressive if he hadn’t split time with freshman Beanie Wells in 2006.
He was a fourth-round pick in the 2007 NFL Draft. Pittman recorded 117 carries for 435 yards in two seasons before hanging up his cleats.
Pittman now works as a firefighter in Middletown, Ohio.
Best Games This Fall
#76 San Diego State at Boise State, October 6
These two teams figure to finish near the top of the Mountain West standings this fall, and have a chance to earn the “Group of 5” bid to the New Year’s Six bowls.
Boise State has been good, but not great under Bryan Harsin, who is now entering his fifth season as Broncos head coach. They haven’t exactly tailed off as Chris Petersen’s recruits have graduated, but they haven’t gotten back to Petersen’s level, either.
Petersen had five years with 0 or 1 losses in his eight seasons at Boise. Harsin has lost 2, 4, 3, and 3 in his four.
Boise State is once again the favorite to win the Mountain West, and this figures to be one of their toughest challenges.
If SDSU can find a running back to replace star tailback Rashaad Penny, they should be a 9-10 win team again.
The Aztecs will likely battle Fresno State for the West Division title again, so we could see a rematch of this one in the conference title game.
What We Can’t Wait To See
#76 College Football’s Weirdest Venue
Just to give you a peek behind the curtain, Gerd and I came up with lists of the 100 Greatest Buckeyes, 100 Matchups To Watch, and 100 Best Games. We combined them into one master list we’re both working off of.
But we never put together a shared list of 100 Things We Can’t Wait To See.
So while I know what he’ll be writing about for “37 Days To Football” on most stuff, I have no idea what he’ll have for his “Thing We Can’t Wait To See” that day.
I mention this because I was all set to write about Clemson’s quarterback controversy today, and then he took that yesterday. We both legitimately can’t wait to see that, apparently.
So now I have to use the one I was going to write about tomorrow: the Kibbie Dome.
If you’re not familiar with the home of the Idaho Vandals, it’s probably the single most unique stadium in all of Division 1.
From the outside it has the look of an airplane hanger. From the inside, it looks like the teams are playing inside an oversized high school gymnasium. It seats only 16,000.
The Vandals just moved down to FCS this season, so they may not show up on ESPN3 quite as often. But if they ever do, treat yourself to a few minutes of viewing of one of college football’s strangest stadiums.
Matchup To Watch
#76 Chris Evans, MICH RB vs. Keandre Jones
Chris Evans has been one of the more explosive players on a pair of exceedingly “meh” Michigan offenses the past two years.
He put up 7.0 yards per carry as a freshman in 2017, and 5.1 yards per rush as a sophomore last fall.
But Evans might be most dangerous in the passing game. He has 22 career receptions for 244 yards, an impressive 11.1 yards per catch.
He had 16 total touches for 101 yards in 2017’s version of The Game.
This fall, he figures to be a big part of the Wolverines’ game plan again.
Ohio State’s linebacker situation is still somewhat in flux, but there’s a decent chance Keandre Jones ends up at the WILL spot. If he does, he’ll be tasked with keeping Evans in check, especially in the passing game.
If he can, that will take away one of Shea Patterson’s most dangerous weapons in the open field.