Chris "Beanie" Wells told coach Tressel that he is ready to carry the ball 45 times against USC on Sunday. I don't know how many yards he can average on each of those carries, but considering Dan Herron didn't really provide that "boom" last week against Ohio with only 50 rushing yards, I'm sure Buckeye fans would be relieved just to see Beanie Wells on the field. But can he really make a difference healthy or not?

This leads to my question. Is Beanie Wells really that good? He had 200+ rushing against Michigan and Michigan State last year, but those teams weren't exactly on the same level as USC. So I decided to look at his stats against Illinois, since USC faced that team as well at the Rose Bowl.

Joe McKnight ran for 125 yards on 10 carries. Stafon Johnson ran for 104 yards on just 9 carries. Chauncey Washington only managed 75 yards on 12 carries, but that is much better than Beanie Wells numbers against Illinois where he only amassed 76 yards on 20 carries. Our guys managed averages of 12.5, 11.6, and 6.4 yards per carry against the same defense that stopped Wells at just 3.8 yards per carry. I know Illi's defense is irrelevant on Saturday's game, but it helps answer the question of how good Beanie Wells is compared to our guys. (got that Lou?)

I think Rashard Mendenhall is a great talent. I see him having a great career in the NFL for the Steelers. Is Wells on the same level as Mendenhall? You tell me. But looking at that Rose Bowl game, if you take away Mendenhall's 79 yard run, he would have 76 yards on 16 carries. Clearly that wasn't enough against USC. Well this is where Lou Holtz would say, well who's to say Wells isn't going to make a 79 yard run? Well I'm not saying Wells isn't capable, but considering how great USC's defense is, and Wells not at 100%, I just don't see it happening. Even if he carries the ball 45 times, Beanie won't be good enough.

Maybe Terrel Pryor will do a Vince Young, but outside of that miracle, I don't see Beanie Well's making a difference, healthy or not, against USC. On that note, I just don't see Ohio State winning a game against USC.