Buckeye Battle Cry roundtable: Biggest Ohio State breakout player for 2023

Each of our writers picks the biggest breakout player of the year for Ohio State. Who would you pick? #GoBucks

Get excited Ohio State football fans. It’s officially a game week and that means there will be more to discuss aside from predicting what things might look like for the 2023 season. We’ll soon have real, live, games to react to and analyze, and that’s what we’re all here for.

But before that, we’ll still be looking ahead until Ohio State and Indiana kick things off at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. In fact, we thought we’d dust off our Buckeye Battle Cry roundtable discussion to kick things off for the week.

There are some known commodities on this Buckeye squad, but there’s always a player or two — or more — that really shine and make a name for themselves and become household names to Buckeye Nation.

So, that’s what we’re throwing out for discussion this week. The question our five writers will opine upon is: Who will be the biggest breakout player of this 2023 season?

We’ll let one of our seasoned veterans, Mark Russell, kick things off for us.

247Sports’ Josh Pate makes College Football Playoff and national title predictions

Josh Pate of 247Sports has the Ohio State football team making the national title game in his College Football Playoff predictions for 2023.

With Week 1 of the college football season kicking off this weekend there is a lot of excitement amongst college football fans across the country. It also means that it is time for analysts across the sport to make their predictions for the season.

It’s always fun to get takes from different media members across the sport, and at times can be funny to look back on. This was the case last year when Desmond Howard picked Texas A&M to win the national championship with Baylor and Pittsburgh making the playoff as well.

On Saturday, Howard and rest of the college gameday crew made their predictions for this season picking the conference champions, playoff participants, and national champion.

Fast forward to this week, and Josh Pate of 247Sports, CBS Sports HQ, and the host of the Late Kick podcast made his playoff and national championship predictions.

Worth noting is that Pate projects the two-time reigning national champions, Georgia, to miss the CFP and for two Big Ten teams to claim bids once again with Ohio State and Penn State each making the final four teams in his prediction.

Pate projects the Buckeyes to claim the No. 1 overall seed and to beat Penn State in the playoff semifinal before losing to Alabama in the national championship game.

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Top three kickers in the Big Ten for 2023

Big things are expected of Parker Lewis, but does he make the list of top kickers? #GoBucks #B1G

The Big Ten is usually fairly strong in the kicking department, but not this season as there are more than a few new faces. All three of the players chosen for this list are arguable and you could move them around as you see fit. I wouldn’t argue much, but there is some big-time potential on this list.

It is tough to discuss special teams without Iowa, so its kicker was an obvious selection and Ohio State is expecting big things from its transfer from USC. The last selection was a consistent leg from Illinois that deserves more recognition. That’s enough of a preview, let’s dive into the top three kickers in the Big Ten.

WATCH: Ohio State band performs Script Ohio on ice vs. Michigan

Script Ohio is even incomparable done on ice. #GoBucks

If you were like me, you were at least a little intrigued about the event that was the Ohio State-Michigan in men’s hockey game over the weekend. The two battled on ice outdoors at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland.

The Buckeyes came away with a very important 4-2 victory in the “Faceoff on the Lake” to slide into a tie for second place in the league with just one weekend to go.

The event offered a fantastic environment. The end zones were painted with Ohio State and Michigan colors. The Buckeyes came out in throw-back alternate football jerseys, and even the OSU marching band was on hand.

Perhaps the most famous thing TBDBITL is known for is Script Ohio, and if you missed it, all that were in attendance were treated to a version of the incomparable tradition on ice. Check out the video of the OSU marching band forming the familiar formation as Ohio State took care of business on the ice against its arch-rival.

I don’t know about you, but Script Ohio never gets old. Whether it’s performed on the gridiron, on the basketball court, on ice or on the moon, it gives me chills every time.

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Buckeye Battle Cry Roundtable: Ohio State vs. Michigan and the Buckeyes’ running woes

So, what about that running game for Ohio State? Our writers discuss how concerned they are when talking about matching up with Michigan. #GoBucks

Every now and then we like to get the debate going here on Buckeyes Wire. We have a little roundtable segment we like to call our “Buckeye Battle Cry.” We throw out a hot-button topic and each of the three writers takes turns debating an answer.

There are varying perspectives for a trio that doesn’t agree very often, and sometimes the virtual mud flies. Other times (seldom), there are rainbows, butterflies and agreement among the group.

This time we discuss the much-maligned running game — or lack thereof — of what we’ve seen from Ohio State over the last three weeks. It may not hurt the Buckeyes until it plays a team that has a physical brand to it, but that day is coming, namely when some certain winged helmets invade Ohio Stadium.

So the question this week: Are you at all concerned about what you’ve seen over the last few weeks with Ohio State’s run game, and will it be a problem when OSU and Michigan play on November 26?

Mark will set the baseline for this one …

Buckeye Battle Cry Roundtable: How worried should Ohio State fans be about Michigan?

Michigan has looked good early on in the season despite the lack of competition. How worried are you about Michigan this season? #GoBucks

Every now and then we like to get the debate going here on Buckeyes Wire. We have a little roundtable segment we like to call our “Buckeye Battle Cry.” We throw out a hot-button topic and each of the three writers takes turns debating an answer.

There are varying perspectives for a trio that doesn’t agree very often, and sometimes the virtual mud flies. Other times (and rarely at that), there are rainbows, butterflies, and agreement among the group.

This time we are jumping on this love for Michigan. The Wolverines have looked fantastic, but against two very bad teams in the nonconference. Still, the media seems to be falling in love with what’s going on in “that state up north” — especially with quarterback J.J. McCarthy apparently being the second coming of Patrick Mahomes. We’re sure you’ve noticed too.

So the question this week: How worried should Ohio State fans be about Michigan this season?

This time Josh kicks us off …