This weekend, the Ohio State football team faces its first test since the first game of the season against Texas. That was a game that saw the Buckeyes squeak one out 14-7 against what was then the top-ranked team in the country. Since that win, the Ohio State Buckeyes have been ranked first.
On Saturday, the Buckeyes will play at Washington. The Huskies are undefeated and probably should be ranked. Still, the Buckeyes feel confident about what they can accomplish this weekend. They are the more talented team, even if the Huskies have a lot of good players in their own right.
Demond Williams Jr. is one of the most underrated quarterbacks int he Big Ten Conference. He is someone who is mobile and has a strong arm. That means someone is going to have to keep an eye on him as a spy for a lot of this contest. That might fall on the shoulders of Arvell Reese.
Arvell Reese is the Ohio State football team's X-factor vs. Washington
Reese has had an excellent start to the 2025 season. He was in charge of spying on Arch Manning in the opener against the Longhorns, and did a fantastic job of it. Better yet, Matt Patricia came up with a great gameplan to confuse Manning. He will try to do the same thing on Saturday.
It's likely that Reese will split his time between being a spy on Williams Jr. and someone that they bring on blitzes. He has a sack in two of the three games Ohio State has played so far, including nine of them against the Longhorns. He looks like a superstar next to Sonny Styles.
Both linebackers are going to play a big role in this game, especially if the Buckeyes decide to get conservative with their offense. They will do whatever it takes to win the game, whether that's turning Julian Sayin loose or having him play a little closer to the chest.