Ohio State Football: 5 Toughest QBs Buckeyes Will Face in 2016
The Ohio State football team will be challenged by a number of elite teams this fall, headlined by Oklahoma on the road in Week 3, but the Buckeyes won't have to defend an elite group of quarterbacks.
The departures of Connor Cook from Michigan State, Nate Sudfeld from Indiana, Christian Hackenberg from Penn State and Jake Rudock from Michigan has created a void of experience in the offenses Ohio State will face this year.
All four of those quarterbacks heard their names called in the NFL draft a few weeks ago, so the Buckeyes will be facing a lot of good teams with a new signal-caller behind center.
However, this next group of five quarterbacks should challenge Ohio State the most due to their skill level, experience and/or the coach they're learning from.
5. Clayton Thorson (Northwestern)
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Ohio State hasn't faced Northwestern since 2013, when it rallied with 20 fourth-quarter points to seal a 40-30 win on the road.
The Wildcats were 4-0 and ranked No. 16 in the country that night, but over the course of the next two seasons, they lost six of their next 19 games.
But head coach Pat Fitzgerald helped Northwestern surge to a 10-win season last year. Then-redshirt freshman quarterback Clayton Thorson played a factor in that success.
Thorson was erratic at times and only completed 50.8 percent of his passes for just seven touchdowns and nine interceptions, but he showcased his playmaking ability and potential as a dual-threat quarterback by running for 397 yards and five touchdowns.
His most impressive game of the season came on the road against Nebraska, when he threw for 177 yards and a touchdown and ran for 126 yards and a touchdown on just nine carries in a 30-28 win.
He'll have to be even better when Northwestern visits Ohio Stadium for its showdown with the Buckeyes on Oct. 29.
4. Dane Evans (Tulsa)
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Ohio State's secondary is replacing three starters from last year's defense, and the new-look unit will have to be ready when Tulsa and quarterback Dane Evans come calling in Week 2.
The Golden Hurricane were one of the most lethal offenses a season ago, ranking 11th nationally in passing offense and 21st in scoring offense.
Evans powered the engine that was Tulsa's offense, throwing for 4,332 yards and 25 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He eclipsed 300 passing yards in nine of the Golden Hurricane's 13 games including three 400-plus-yard passing performances.
Evans will have wide receiver Joshua Atkinson back, who hauled in 76 receptions for 1,071 yards and five touchdowns a season ago. But the team will most certainly be led by its senior quarterback who could be a handful for a young defense early in the season.
3. Tommy Armstrong (Nebraska)
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Nebraska's Tommy Armstrong will without question be the most experienced quarterback Ohio State faces this fall and has the talent to give any defense fits.
The dual-threat quarterback is entering his senior season as a rare three-year starter who, due to an injury to then-starter Taylor Martinez, took over the team midway through his freshman season in 2013. He's transitioned between offenses from former head coach Bo Pelini to current head coach Mike Riley.
He had a stellar season in 2015, throwing for a career-high 3,030 yards and 22 touchdowns against 16 interceptions. Armstrong also hurt teams with his legs, running for 400 yards and seven scores.
His best game came down the stretch against Michigan State, when he totaled 339 yards and four touchdowns—rushing and passing combined—in a 39-38 victory. The Cornhuskers will need a similar effort from Armstrong when they visit Ohio State on the first week of November.
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2. To Be Determined (Michigan)
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Michigan hasn't definitively named a starting quarterback after conducting a position battle this spring, but whoever wins the job in fall camp will be ready to give Ohio State trouble by the end of the regular season.
That's an assumption that can be made because of the incredible work head coach Jim Harbaugh has done with his quarterbacks over the years.
His most recent work came last year, when he took Iowa transfer Jake Rudock and molded him into an accurate and sometimes lethal quarterback. He finished the season with career highs in completion percentage (64 percent), yards (3,017) and touchdowns (20).
Houston transfer John O’Korn, Shane Morris and Wilton Speight are vying for the spot, and the Michigan coaching staff is just waiting for one of them to step up.
"I tell them that all the time. Anybody that wants to do that or can do that, please feel free to do that," offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch said, according to Max Cohen of the Detroit Free Press. "But we’re not going to force it."
1. Baker Mayfield (Oklahoma)
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The toughest quarterback Ohio State will face this year is on the shortlist for Heisman Trophy front-runners.
And if stopping him won't be hard enough, Ohio State's young defense will have to do so on the road in Week 3 when they hit the road for a marquee showdown with Oklahoma and quarterback Baker Mayfield.
The Sooners are coming off a run to the College Football Playoff and a disappointing loss to Clemson in the Orange Bowl. But Baker Mayfield is back and will lead one of college football's most explosive offenses in 2016.
Mayfield burst onto the scene last year, throwing for 3,700 yards and 36 touchdowns against just seven interceptions. He was a threat on the ground as well, running for 405 yards and seven touchdowns as well.
He lost top wideout Sterling Shepard to the NFL draft in April, but with another year in Bob Stoops high-flying offense, he should be able to take a big leap forward in 2016. That could spell doom for the Buckeyes on Sept. 17.
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