After scoring 95 points in their first two games, the Northern Illinois Huskies and much improved Drew Hare will face their biggest challenge of the season Saturday against Ohio State. The reigning Mid-American Conference champion Northern Illinois Huskies will travel to Columbus to take on the reining Big Ten champion, National Champion, and #1 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday. The game will air nationally on ABC at 3:30 EST. To say Ohio State is loaded with talent would be an understatement. After defeating Alabama and Oregon to capture the first ever College Football Playoff championship, the story of the offseason in college football was the Buckeyes’ quaterback situation. After winning back to back Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year awards in 2013 and 2014, Braxton Miller missed the entire 2014 season with a shoulder injury. In stepped J.T. Barrett, who led Buckeyes to an 11-1 regular season record and posted a Big Ten record 44 total touchdowns before breaking his leg in a November victory over rival Michigan. Having a third string quarterback make his first career start in the Big Ten Championship game might be a death blow for some teams, but most schools do not have a six-foot-five-inch, 250 pound beast who runs just as well as he throws in that position. Cardale Jones, or “12 gauge” as the kids call him would lead the Buckeyes to a 59-0 thrashing over Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship, as well as the aforementioned victories over Alabama and Oregon in the College Football Playoff. Miller announced he would move to wide receiver just before the dawn of fall camp, and Jones beat out Barrett for the starting job in the Buckeyes’ much anticipated opener at Virgina Tech. Jones threw for 189 yards and a pair of touchdowns in Ohio State’s 42-24 triumph in Blacksburg and added another 99 yards and a score with his legs…
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