Hot off the presses! Not really, since I imagine there are few who haven’t seen it yet, but Ohio State’s Chris Wells won’t suit up against USC tomorrow.
Wells, who’s been trying to recover from a foot injury for the last two weeks, is going to miss his second straight game, and while the Buckeyes were able to get past Ohio without him, it was hoped that he’d be healed up enough to play against the Trojans.
Alas, it hasn’t happened, and instead of toting the load for the Buckeyes on Saturday night, he’ll be a spectator, rooting on replacements Maurice Wells, Brandon Saine, and Dan Herron, who combined for 113 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries in the win over Ohio.
Does Wells’ confirmed absence put an end to OSU’s chances of going into the Coliseum and knocking off the #1 team in the country? In a word, no. Even if Wells had been able to go, he’d likely have been limited to a small number of carries, and even in those carries, his effectiveness might have been minimal.
Really, you’ve got to look at the big picture with this. Sure, it’d be great to have Wells out there, and I’d have liked for both teams to have all of their stars matched up against one another, but this isn’t the game that’s going to decide a conference championship or a shot at the national championship for the Buckeyes. If you remember last year, they lost to Illinois in their next-to-last regular-season game and still ended up in the national title game.
And it’s not that I’m writing this one off as a loss for Ohio State, because even though I think USC will hold serve at home, OSU won’t go in conceding anything, because hey, you might as well not board the plane from Ohio if you’re not confident about winning.
However, it does put the onus not only on the committee of backs, but also on Todd Boeckman to bring his best. Last week against Ohio, Boeckman was only 16 of 26 for 110 yards, but he may be counted on for a career performance against the Trojans, which means avoiding mistakes against a tough and talented USC defense. On the same token, the Buckeyes’ offensive line will need to open holes for the backs and keep Boeckman protected, which is a doable but difficult task against a stout front seven.
Can Ohio State beat USC without Wells? Sure they can. But will they?
