Dreaming Of Roses: Why Ohio State's Skill Players Will Snatch The Title

Saturday afternoon, Ohio State and Iowa meet in Columbus for the unofficial Big Ten Championship Game for the right to go to Pasadena.

The biggest story of the game is Iowa backup QB James Vandenburg starting over the injured Ricky Stanzi.

In Vandenburg's first prolonged experience last week against Northwestern, he could not carry Iowa past the Wildcats and eventually ended the miracle season.

Now it's on the Hawkeyes to pick up the pieces and rebound against a fast, stout defense that Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz referred to as an NFL-caliber unit.

But the matchup against Iowa will not just be won on the offensive and defensive line for both teams, but with the skill players and back seven of both teams.

In comparison, Ohio State has an edge in the skill position, especially in the RB department. Brandon Saine and Boom Herron are both back and 100 percent healthy, and both could run the OSU Wildcat offense if Terrelle Pryor's ankle is still a problem.

The WRs are about even as DeVier Posey and Dane Sanzenbacher for the Buckeyes are both talented playmakers along with the Hawkeyes' Derrell Johnson-Koulianos and Trey Stross.

But if the Buckeyes run an offense similar to the past week's game in Happy Valley, expect bubble screens and more passes to Saine to keep defenses off balance.

Defensively, both back sevens are opportunistic, but Iowa's is missing a key cog in S Brett Greenwood.

S Tyler Sash and OSU's S Kurt Coleman are both ball-hawkers and are great at creating turnovers.

What sets this unit of the Buckeyes apart from most teams and just above Iowa is the aggression and overall speed in the back seven.

LBs Brian Rolle and Ross Homan are both talented backers who fly to the ball and disrupt running games, helping to lock down John Clay, Evan Royster, and even slowing down the vaunted USC rushing attack.

Although Ohio State lost both of their starting CBs from a year ago, this current unit with Chimdi Chekwa, Andre Amos, and Devon Torrence are better overall coverage corners, and clogging passing lanes.

Iowa has some talented back seven players as well, in LB Pat Angerer, one of the best tacklers in the conference, and DBs Amari Spievey and Shaun Prater.

However, the overall depth defensively in the Ohio State defense and the amount of pressure the defensive line gives the OSU back seven a clear advantage in allowing them to play more fast and aggressive.

With an inexperienced QB from Iowa going up against an Ohio State defense that will force a passing attack, expect an opportunistic unit to fight for the football all night.

Conversely, Terrelle Pryor has to continue to trust his weapons offensively to keep putting points on the board.

If Ohio State can make all that happen and hit the 24-point plateau again, look at the Buckeyes to return to Pasadena for the first time since 1996.

Prediction:

Ohio State 27 - Iowa 14