LGHL Asks: Ohio State fans weigh in on starting RB, Blake Corum, The Game score prediction

Nov 26, 2022 - 3:01 PM

NCAA Football: Michigan at <a href= — Joe Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports

Every day for the entirety of the Ohio State football season, we will be asking and answering questions about the team, college football, and anything else on our collective minds of varying degrees of importance. If you have a question that you would like to ask, you can tweet us @LandGrant33 or if you need more than 280 characters, send an email HERE.

Ok. The day all of Buckeye Nation has been waiting for is finally here. One year after losing to That Team Up North for the first time in a decade, head coach Ryan Day and the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes (11-0, 8-0) will host the No. 3 ❌ichigan Wolverines (11-0, 8-0). The 2022 edition of The Game will determine the Big Ten East representative in the conference championship game and essentially a spot in the College Football Playoff, but more importantly, it will determine the narrative for both of these programs for at least the next 365 days.

Have the Mitten State Muskrats taken control of the rivalry, or was their 2021 win just a blip in the two-decade dominance for the Buckeyes? Heading into Saturday’s contest, we asked Ohio State fans their thoughts on a variety of topics surrounding the Game.

In this week’s SB Nation Reacts survey, we asked fans everything from who Day should start at running back to how they are feeling about TTUN’s injured star running back Blake Corum; from what they are most worried about to what they think the margin of victory will be.

Check out their answers below and let us know what you think in the comments below.

Question 1: Who do you think Ohio State should start at running back?

If we had to send out this question now, I probably would switch some of these percentages. The more we hear through the unofficial grapevine makes it sound like Miyan Williams is closer to 80% while I am imagining that TreVeyon Henderson is less likely to be a major contributor after putting up just 1.7 yards per carry against Maryland last weekend.

I’m on record advocating for Dallan Hayden to be the starter for this weekend, and I am glad to know that so much of Buckeye Nation agrees with me. All things being equal and everybody being fully healthy, I’d go Miyan, Trey, and then Dallan, but those first two guys aren’t anywhere close to being fully healthy. So, I’m riding the hot, healthy hand, Dallan Hayden

Question 2: Do you want TTUN running back Blake Corum to play in The Game?

I admire the character of the 58% of respondents who want Ohio State’s rivals to have their best player so that when the Buckeyes beat them, the Mitten Men don’t have something to complain about. But here’s the thing, I’m not a very good person, I am more than petty enough to want the Buckeyes to have the best chance to win.

After all, Ohio State’s best offensive weapon, Jaxon Smith-Njgba, has been out all season, and — as I said above — I would be starting the guy that started fall camp as the Buckeyes’ fourth-string running back in this game if the decision were up to me.

If this was practically anybody else in the country save for Penn State or Clemson, I would be willing to entertain the “want them at their best” argument, but this is That Team Up North, the whiniest group of players, coaches, and fans in the history of sport, so, while I certainly do not wish any ill-will or prolonged injury to Corum, I am fine leveling up the injury statuses between the teams for The Game today.

Question 3: What are you most worried about in Saturday’s game?

Before Corum got hurt against Illinois last week, that was obviously the correct answer, and I think even earlier in this week, that made sense. But, the longer the week has gone on and the more we’ve heard coming out of Ann Arbor, I am becoming less and less concerned. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am still concerned about Donovan Edwards returning, even with an injured hand, and Corum pulling a Willis Reed and having a career game after being hurt, but my level of anxiety has come down to some of the other concerns.

Earlier this week, while my colleague Jami Jurich took stopping the TTUN run game in our Wednesday You’re Nuts article, I went with keeping the pass rush from getting to C.J. Stroud, which finished second in this poll. Last season, Aidin Hutchinson and David Ejabo were an incredibly disruptive force against the Buckeyes, despite Stroud throwing for 394 yards.

Both of those edge rushers are now in the NFL and while the TTUN defensive line is still very good, they aren’t game-changingly great like they were last year. Stroud has been near perfect when not pressured this season and the only times when it felt like he wasn’t completely in control have come with rushers in his face. Overall when under pressure, Stroud has still been good, but in recent weeks, he has had a tendency to assume that his arm strength would be enough to make plays and he has let his fundamentals falter.

Stroud is a technician, not a gunslinger, so if his offensive line — which will likely see one new starter at right guard — can keep him clean, that’s a huge advantage for the Scarlet and Gray.

Question 4: What do you think the results of The Game will be?

At the beginning of the week, I was much closer on my predicted score than I am now. As I’ve thought about it more and let my homerism take root as I spent the holiday with my Buckeye-obsessed family, I have settled on 41-17. That would put me with the group with 6% of the respondents between a 22-point win and a 35-point win for the Buckeyes.

I will obviously be happy with a single-point victory in this one, but I think that we are going to see the absolute best version of the Buckeyes today in The Horseshoe.

Check out DraftKings Sportsbook, the official sportsbook partner of SB Nation.

No one has shouted yet.
Be the first!

Are You Watching This?!