Ohio State Football: Oregon’s uber-athletic linebackers

The Ohio State football team’s running backs will be challenged

Playing in the Big Ten Conference, Ohio State is athletically superior to most, if not all, teams they play during the regular season.

Usually, the Buckeye tailbacks leave opponents in the dust, as seen on both Miyan Williams and TreVeyon Henderson’s big plays against Minnesota. Ohio State rarely sees two very athletic, talented linebackers on the same team as Oregon has.

If Ohio State’s offensive line performs as they did in week one, they could pretty much erase Sewell and Flowe. But Oregon is a lot better than Minnesota, so the o-line consistently getting to the second-level is not a guarantee.

At times, Sewell or Flowe will be running around freely chasing down Buckeye running backs. We will see just how elusive and fast Ohio State’s running backs really are against Oregon’s linebackers.

It seems like Ohio State’s backfield is headed towards a one-two punch with Williams and Henderson. These two running backs will be the ones primarily challenged.

Chances are, Sewell or Flowe can not keep up with Henderson’s straight-line speed. On the other hand, maybe Henderson cannot make Sewell and Flowe miss like he can with other linebackers. The same can be said about Williams.

This could be the best linebacker duo Ohio State will play in the regular season. If Williams and Henderson continue to look special and lethal behind the imposing Buckeye offensive line, this will likely continue all season.

There’s some real concern about Oregon’s passing defense. An effective running game against special linebackers like Sewell and Flowe would give the Buckeyes a great shot at winning.

We will see how good the Ohio State football team’s running backs really are running against Oregon’s linebackers.