This is the 96th in a series of 100 daily posts, a Countdown to College Football. (Sort of.)
Ninety-five down, five to go. We’re actually going to do this thing.
There are now just five or so days to go until the end of the Big Ten Media Days and the start of Ohio State football talk!
(Because we haven’t been talking about it every day since 1989.)
Taking part in today’s countdown is the Wolverine Killer, a test for the Bulldogs, a sophomore on the run, and a rematch between Austin Mack and Tyree Kinnel.
If you would like to check out yesterday’s edition, you can find Six Days To Ohio State Football 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
#5 Troy Smith, 2002-2006
Troy Smith is arguably the greatest quarterback in Ohio State history even though he also never won a national championship.
As a redshirt freshman in 2003, he never threw a pass, and actually had more kickoff returns (5) than rushing attempts (3).
Once Craig Krenzel and Scott McMullen graduated, however, Smith and classmate Justin Zwick finally had an opportunity to compete for the starting job. Zwick won the job initially in 2004, but his production was lacking.
After leading the Buckeyes to just a 3-3 record, Zwick was finally replaced by Smith, and the rest is history.
In his first start, Smith led Ohio State to a 30-7 win over Indiana, throwing two touchdowns in the first nine minutes of the game.
Smith became a national name against Michigan that year, throwing for 241 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 145 yards and a touchdown in a 37-21 upset win over the Wolverines.
A suspension would cost him the bowl game and the season opener in 2005, which also kept him out of the starting lineup against Texas that season, leading to the Buckeyes’ first loss of the 2005 season.
Still, he once again led the Buckeyes to a win over Michigan, this time in dramatic comeback fashion. For the season, Smith threw for 2,282 yards with 16 touchdowns and four interceptions. He also rushed for 611 yards and 11 touchdowns.
As a senior in 2006, Smith was in complete command of the Ohio State offense. Jim Tressel would at times eschew his conservative nature in favor of allowing Smith to pick teams apart in a four-wide look. For the season, Smith threw for 2,542 yards with 30 touchdowns and just six interceptions.
Against Michigan, he completed 29-of-41 passes for 316 yards with four touchdowns and an interception in his third victory over the Wolverines, this time by a 42-39 mark in arguably the greatest game ever played between the two schools. It remains the only time the game matched up No. 1 vs. No. 2.
Smith was named a First-Team All-American and won the Heisman Trophy. He also won the Davey O’Brien Award and the Walter Camp Award in 2006.
Smith is seventh in school history with 5,720 yards passing, but his domination over Michigan has no rivals.
Best Games This Fall
#5 Georgia at LSU
The Georgia Bulldogs have national title aspirations this season, but those hopes may hit a snag on October 13 when they travel to Baton Rouge to take on LSU.
This is the first time these two teams have met since 2013. That game matched up the No. 6 Tigers at the No. 9 Bulldogs, which was won 44-41 by Georgia.
The last time these two teams met in Baton Rouge was 2009, which was a 20-13 win for the Tigers.
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart is in his third season at UGA and is 0-2 on the road against SEC West opponents.
While the Bulldogs do play South Carolina in week two, this might be considered their first real test. LSU, meanwhile, will have played against Miami, and at Auburn and Florida.
The Tigers (and quarterback Joe Burrow) will be more tested, but will it matter?
What We Can’t Wait To See
#5 Jonathan Taylor
Wisconsin sophomore running back Jonathan Taylor rushed for 1,977 yards last season (141.2 yards per game), which was good enough for third in the nation. Not bad for a true freshman.
Taylor rushed for over 200 yards in three of his first six games, but did fail to hit the mark in any of his final eight games.
So what does he do for an encore?
Considering he only rushed for 41 yards on 15 carries against Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship Game, it isn’t likely that he will enter 2018 full of himself.
Even with a freshman rushing record, he still has a lot to prove and he knows it.
He will get an opportunity to do some of that proving on October 13 when the Badgers head to Ann Arbor to face arguably the best defense in the nation. Last year against the Wolverines, he rushed for 132 yards on 19 carries in Wisconsin’s 24-10 win over Michigan.
Matchup To Watch
#5 Tyree Kinnel, MICH SAF vs. Austin Mack
When Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins gets his name mentioned, people immediately think of his completion on third-and-long against Michigan last year.
What some people may not think about are the other players involved in that play, namely Buckeye receiver Austin Mack and Wolverine safety Tyree Kinnel. It was Kinnel who laid the hit on Mack that made the play even more dramatic than it already was.
As he showed on that play, Kinnel is a hard hitter, and as he showed on the play, Mack doesn’t much care.
This November, expect both of these players to meet up more than once, and the player who wins more battles than they lose is going to make his team much happier than the opponent.
