Let it Begin, USC Week Begins for the Ohio State Buckeyes

Ohio State's game of the year is on deck, and it is officially here.  The Buckeyes are going from coast to coast to take on the USC Trojans in a game that is not a must-win, but it is one that they are really badly going to want to win.

In normal conditions, the Buckeyes would be a massive favorite in this game, and there would be very little fear of the Trojans from the Buckeyes' perspective. However, the Buckeyes are absolutely not in normal circumstances. They are taking a brand-new starting quarterback for his first start in a sold-out LA Coliseum.

The Buckeyes quaterback conversation is an unfortunate one at this point. They lost their starter, Julian Sayin, to what appears to be a season-ending elbow/arm injury in last week's game against Indiana.

They will need to operate the rest of the way without their starter, and that is a challenge in and of itself.

What is even a greater challenge is that USC was just embarrassed in a massive way by the Wisconsin Badgers in primetime. They were very easily and physically dominated by the Badgers.

The Trojans are going to be a salty team that is in a must-win situation if they want any chance of trying to make the College Football Playoff.

It is unlikely for them, but a win over the now No. 2 team in the country would go a long way.

The Buckeyes are going to face some serious adversity for the remainder of the year as they try to navigate their really tough schedule with their backup quarterback. However, the formula for this week against USC might just favor their exact situation.

In USC's loss to Wisconsin, the Badgers completed just 12 passes for a total of 58 yards throughout the entire game. The Trojans are not a team that you need to overwhelm through the air. They can be beaten purely on physicality and physicality alone.

Fortunately for the Buckeyes, they can do that, at least on the defensive side of the football. 

One guy who might suffer the most is absolutely going to be Jeremiah Smith. Smith has been nothing short of amazing up to this point in the season, but it will be really hard to keep that pace up.

Thankfully, it doesn't matter to him or the team. The only thing that Smith is interested in is winning football games. If the Buckeyes were to win out and he didn't have more than a touchdown the rest of the way, he would sign up for that. 

It's going to take a lot for the Buckeyes to get the job done and it gets started on Saturday night in LA.