Five players to watch in tonight's Gophers-Ohio State game, plus a view from the Buckeyes' side

We're only hours away from the season opener between the Gophers and No. 4 Ohio State at Huntington Bank Stadium in one of the most intriguing matchups in Minnesota history to start a season.

The Buckeyes are two-touchdown favorites and have earned that status, winning the past four Big Ten championships and advancing to the College Football Playoff the past two years. The Gophers, meanwhile, enter the game with a veteran team in coach P.J. Fleck's fifth year in Dinkytown. Tonight's game is officially sold out and will be nationally televised on FOX (7 p.m.).

There will be plenty of star power on the turf tonight, from the Buckeyes wideout duo of Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson, to the Gophers' Mohamed Ibrahim, the reigning Big Ten running back of the year, and to Tanner Morgan, the Minnesota QB and leader extraordinaire.

Here are five other players I'm interested to see tonight:

Nyles Pinckney, DT, Gophers: The graduate transfer from Clemson brings "grown-man strength'' to the defensive line, and he's a key in Joe Rossi's plan to rotate players along the line to keep them fresh.

Jack Gibbens, LB, Gophers: Linebacker was a sore spot for the Gophers early last season, and Gibbens, a graduate transfer from Abilene Christian, had a strong training camp and should make an immediate impact.

Blaise Andries, OL, Gophers: The Marshall, Minn., native will be the jack-of-all-trades along the offensive line, with the ability to play everywhere but center. The redshirt senior could be playing on Sundays next year.

Haskell Garrett, DT, Ohio State: A first-team All-America selection last year, Garrett anchors the Buckeyes defensive line. The 6-2, 320-pounder has 40 tackles and 6.5 tackles for loss in his career.

In addition, here's a view from the Ohio State side of things from Del Barris, a writer for the Buckeyes-focused website scarletandgame.com.

Q: What's the feeling in Columbus about this Buckeyes team and its chances to get back to the College Football Playoff?

A: As usual, there is a lot of excitement surrounding the Buckeyes. Ohio State fans have developed a "next man up" attitude because of how well the program recruits. They have a quality offensive line and are loaded with weapons on that side of the ball. Their defensive line is very good and Buckeye fans are looking forward to seeing true freshman defensive ends Jack Sawyer and J.T. Tuimoloau, who were the top two at that position in the 2021 recruiting class. But the defense, which struggled a lot last year, is going to be a concern until it shows it can play at a high level. The feeling is the Buckeyes have an excellent chance to return to the College Football Playoff and even get back to the championship game.

Q: C.J. Stroud won the starting quarterback job. What can we expect to see from him, and how do you feel he stacks up to predecessors like Justin Fields, Dwayne Haskins and J.T. Barrett?

Q: What do you feel the Buckeyes expect to see from Minnesota on Thursday, and is there a chance they're looking ahead to that big home game against Oregon next week?

A: I think the Buckeyes expect to see a well-coached, experienced team who is going to come at them for four quarters and not be intimidated in the least. When listening to Day talk about them, it is obvious he has a lot or respect for what P.J. Fleck is doing there. I don't think Ohio State will look past Minnesota at all. Under Urban Meyer there were a couple of well-known collapses against Iowa and Purdue, but Day has been able to keep his team focused on the task at hand from week to week.