After dismantling Kent State in 2014 on its way to its first national title since 2002, Ohio State will be hosting back-to-back weeks of #MACtion as Northern Illinois and Western Michigan come to town Weeks Three and Four, respectively. The Buckeyes open the season with a revenge game at Virginia Tech and a home opener against an overmatched Hawaii squad while NIU hosts UNLV and Murray State before their match-up as WMU hosts Michigan State, travels south to take on defending Sun Belt champion Georgia Southern, and returns home for Murray State before heading to the Horseshoe.
The big story of the offseason for the Bucks has been which quarterback will get to start on opening night: the incumbent J.T. Barrett, who is the more efficient passer with a passer rating of 169.83 while nearly passing for 3,000 yards and rushing for 1,000 prior to his injury against Michigan, or the upstart Cardale Jones with his tremendous arm. While it may be tempting to say that the QB that won a national title should get the starting job, Jones isn’t the dynamic runner at quarterback that Barrett is (which is the crux of Urban Meyer’s offense, despite the loss of offensive coordinator Tom Herman to the head coaching gig at Houston) as his 90 yards in three starts is dwarfed by the sophomore’s 938 yards while Jones threw as many touchdowns as interceptions in his last two starts.
Continue Reading: 2015 MAC football non-conference previews: Ohio State Buckeyes
