If you feel like you’re in the college football equivalent of purgatory, you are not alone. It may have only been less than two months since Ohio State lost in shocking and depressing fashion to Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl, but it feels much longer.
We’ll have spring ball soon enough, but until then, we’re left to question what if, why, and for what reason? But enough about the past, we’re here to look ahead — perhaps way ahead to next season.
We always roll out some bold predictions for the upcoming football season, but this time we’re getting ahead of the game with five way-too-early bold predictions for this fall. By the way, we nailed every single one of our bold predictions before the season last year.
That means we’ll probably be way off this time, but nonetheless, we’ll give it the old college football try.
Next … Prediction No. 1
Ohio State will make it back to the College Football Playoff
Maybe it’s not that bold, but it’s not a foregone conclusion that Ohio State runs it back in 2020. In college football, there’s always significant roster turnover. You lose guys to the NFL and graduation, and new players come in to crank up the next machine.
But Ohio State has a lot of key pieces coming back. Namely, quarterback Justin Fields will be back to sling it around behind a veteran offensive line. Also, the defensive line figures to be deep and talented again, and the linebackers also have a ton of experience returning.
There are some pieces to replace at the skill position, but that should be softened by arguably the best wide-receiver class in the history of the program coming to town. It should be fun.
Next … Prediction No. 2
Justin Fields will win the Heisman
Last year we called for Fields to make it to New York, and he did just that. He grasped the offense very quickly and became was able to be a dynamic weapon under center in his first season. His numbers could have been even better had he not sat out significant time in the second half of blowouts, or suffered through a nagging injury he played through at the end of the year.
Look for him to take an even further step in year two of Ryan Day’s offense. He’ll still have plenty of playmakers around him, and he’ll be healthy. His numbers were great this past season, they could be even better in 2020. We think it all lines up to him having a very, very good chance at winning the bronze statue.
Next … Prediction No. 3
Master Teague will rush for over 1,200 yards
Running back J.K. Dobbins is off to the NFL, and it looks like Master Teague is the guy positioned to take the baton in the backfield. He’s a different kind of runner than Dobbins, but still has the talent to gobble up yards. He may not be the game-breaker No. 2 was last year, but he’s a bruising back that’ll get his yards between the tackles.
But don’t sleep on his straight-line speed either. Once he hits a hole, he can get up to speed and run away from defenders, he’s just not going to make opposing defenders miss in space like Dobbins did. But with the passing attack Ohio State figures to have, he’ll still be able to wiggle free and be a very good back that goes for over 1,200 yards on the ground for the year.
Next … Prediction No. 4
Ohio Sate will have two 1,000 yard receivers
Chris Olave is going to put up a lot of receiving yards in 2020. He led the team 849 yards through the air last season, and he should get even more this year. With the receivers and quarterback the Buckeyes have heading into this fall, look for the team to shift even more towards the pass. It’ll be spread around with the talent on the outside, but we like Olave to go over 1,000 yards in 2020.
But that’s not all. I don’t know which receiver will jump up to do it, but with the volume of passes we might be seeing this fall, a guy like Garrett Wilson, or one of the stud freshmen like Julian Fleming will also go for over 1,000 yards. It’s going to be a fun year to watch Fields and his talented receivers operate.
Next … Prediction No. 5
Ohio State will win the Big Ten for the fourth-straight year
Ohio State will most likely be the preseason favorite to get to Indianapolis and take home another Big Ten crown, but it won’t be easy. Michigan might finally get its act together (snicker, snicker), Wisconsin should be even better, and of course Penn State will be there again. But none of them should be as loaded as the Buckeye squad.
As long as Ohio State can stay away from the unexplainable loss like what happened at Purdue and Iowa in back-to-back years in 2017 and 2018, this team should be a train running downhill again. To win the league four-straight years would break the current record Ohio State already has with three-straight since the Big Ten Championship Game was instituted in
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