The positions battles that I will be focusing on this week are WR, TE and the OL. Each side has their fair share of talent and weapons. In order to be effective, the skill positions must make plays to move the chains and keep drives alive. In the trenches, each team needs to be flawless and they must execute to establish the run. Quarterback play will also be a key to victory for either team.
Playmakers Galore
Deontay Burnett, Tyler Vaughns, Steven Mitchell Jr, and Michael Pittman Jr are all ballers at WR, and they will be tasked to battle Ohio State’s BIA, with Denzel Ward leading the secondary.
On the next level at TE, Tyler Petite leads the charge with former Buckeye targets Josh Falo and Daniel Imatorbhebhe are athletic enough to utilize the invisibility codes against the Buckeyes since they seem to have trouble keeping tabs on both the RB’s and the TE’s this season (a la Iowa).
Together, all the players mentioned above account for 3,133 yards and 25 TD’s, which is crazy considering who they have at the Quarterback position. If they get lose or open, it will be a long day for the Silver Bullets for sure.
K.J. Hill will be the key Zone 6 member as he goes up against this USC team that features another set of former targets, Iman Marshall and Porter Gustin. Hill will be the go-to receiver on third downs and Johnnie Dixon, Terry McLaurin, Binjimen Victor, Austin Mack, and Parris Campbell will be looking to make an impact as well.
At TE, Marcus Baugh will be a multipurpose threat in the passing game and the blocking game along with Rashod Berry. Baugh was a good player coming out of high school, but injuries and being underutilized during his time here has hurt his numbers, but the last two drafts we saw Jeff Heuerman and Nick Vannett drafted by NFL teams, so the dream is alive and well.
Collectively, they account for 2989 yards and 36 TD’s, which is surprising. Barrett won’t take that many chances, but if the play is there, they are gone! Speed kills and with most of Zone 6 being speedy and dynamic, it will be interesting. Victor, Berry, and Baugh are the big, strong threats, but sometimes being big and strong is all for naught because dropped balls have been a problem as of late.
Road Graders
Billy Price leads this year’s Offensive Line at Center in his last season at Ohio State. He moved on from Guard, but the move was seamless. Coming out of high school, Price was actually a DT for all of you who don’t follow recruiting, and with a background in wrestling, it was natural for him to thrive in the trenches.
This line is big, strong and nasty at every position, with the smallest members being Price at 6’4″, 312 lbs and next man up, Demetrious Knox, who replaced Bowen, being 6’4″, 308 lbs. The others are 6’5″ and over, which should help in the trenches. A season ago, the right side of the line was a major issue, but this season, they improved drastically. Prince and Knox will be targeted more often on blitzes than Jones and Jordan, but we will have to wait to see how they respond to the pressure.
Nico Falah leads the Trojan trench warfare effort against the Rushmen. Freshman RG Andrew Vorhees will go up against a combination of linemen that will target him because of his youth.
The average height for this line is 6’5″ with Toa Lobendahn being the shortest at 6’3″ and the tallest being Vorhees at 6’6″. The average weight is around 300 lbs, which might be enough to at least slow down the defense.
I could not find a statistic for USC in sacks allowed, but I don’t know whether that is good or bad news for the defense. I guess we will have to find out.
Position Battles
WR:  This battle is production versus talent. Both teams are dead even in both categories, with slight differences in their approaches. Ohio State has less overall yardage, but more TD’s and USC has more yards, but fewer TDs. Both groups are going against good DB’s, but I will declare this a draw.
TE:  Baugh and Berry versus Petite, Falo, and Imatorbhebhe. Like the WR matchup, it is a dead heat. Both teams have athleticism in the back 7 which will be another toss-up when both teams show up. Draw.
OL:  This matchup, in particular, will tell you a lot. The battle in the trenches will be one to watch with all the NFL prospects participating. Price, Jones, and Prince are eligible to improve their draft stock and the same goes for all but Vorhees on USC’s side. The Buckeyes have seasoned members but will be going up against their first 3-4 defense of the season. USC will go up against a 4-3 defense that has NFL prospects at all levels. This will be the most depth and talent to date this season, and I will give the edge to Ohio State.
USC 42 OSU 21