IDLE WEEK Thoughts

 

The Ohio State Buckeyes head into their idle week with a 6-1 record, still undefeated in conference play, with a major question at the QB position and other players that are banged up.

                The major concern, of course, is at the QB position with Julian Sayin apparently out for the rest of the season.  So, it will fall to either freshman Luke Fahey or sophomore Tavien St. Clair to lead the offense.  Fahey has been the established backup to Sayin, completing nine of his 13 throws for 203 yards and two touchdowns, but has also thrown two interceptions.  St. Clair, in his limited time, is five of seven for 52 yards, a touchdown, and an interception.  Add to the question at quarterback is RB Ja’Kobi Jackson, perhaps the best blend of power and speed at that position, is still hobbled after sitting out the Indiana game.  Fortunately, Bo Jackson stepped up against Indiana, and he leads the team on the ground with 516 yards, averaging nearly five yards per carry and four touchdowns.  His receiving touchdown at Indiana was key as it came just before the half and gave the Buckeyes the lead.  The highlight of the offense is, of course, the leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy, Jeremiah Smith.  His performance this season will soon become the stuff of legends; hauling in 52 catches for almost 1000 yards and 12 touchdowns.  Devin McCuin is a distant second with 19 catches, although he has been a reliable second option in the passing game and so has TE Nate Roberts who now has 11 reception and his 68-yard catch-and-run against Maryland raised eyebrows with his surprising speed for his size. 

                Other than the fourth-quarter collapse at Texas, the defense has performed very well, holding Iowa to 14 points and a potent Indiana offense to only one sustained TD drive.  Earl Little Jr. leads the way with 38 tackles to go along with four pass breakups and a fumble recovery.  Payton Pierce has played well in every game and is right behind Little Jr. with 37 stops and Jaylen McClain has led the way in the secondary with 32 stops, four pass breakups and a sack.  McClain also has two of the four interceptions the Ohio State defense has managed.  The four interceptions seem disappointing, but the defense has pounced on six fumbles for a total of ten turnovers in the seven games. 

                The schedule ramps up in intensity from here on out, beginning next week with a trip out to the West Coast and USC, followed by a game verses Oregon in the ‘Shoe.  It may seem strange, but out of the five remaining opponents, Michigan would seem to be the weakest as in addition to USC and Oregon, Northwestern and Nebraska have had better than expected seasons; both of whom took Indiana to the wire.  So, the second half of the season should prove interesting, especially with a new man under center.

October 24 Predictions

MY THOUGHTS.....Indiana

 

The Ohio State Buckeyes went on the road and handed Indiana their first loss in 22 games in a game that was back-and-forth and wasn’t decided until the very end.

Offensively, the Buckeyes were hardly impressive.  Julian Sayin, who exited the game late with a shoulder injury, was off target a few times, completed barely over half his throws, and threw two picks.  Nevertheless, his fourth-down throw to Jeremiah Smith for a touchdown was perfect and Sayin utilized other targets well.  TE Mason Williams had two catches on the first two plays on the opening drive, making yards after the catch, leading to a field goal.  Chris Henry Jr. also had two receptions, including one along the sideline to get Ohio State out of tough field position and Bo Jackson hauled in a TD catch on a fourth-and-goal with seconds remaining in the first half to give the Buckeyes the lead for good.  The stingy Indiana defense doesn’t give up much on the ground and Ohio State was without RB Ja’Kobi Jackson and lineman Austin Siereveld.  So, RB Bo Jackson was slowed a bit, picking up a mere 56 yards.  Isaiah West picked up 45 yards, and Legend Bey managed to get three carries for six yards. 

Ther bend-but-don’t-break defense won the game with timely stops and turnovers and perhaps the pressure by Riley Pettijohn on Indiana QB Josh Hoover led to the last throw that Indiana WR Nick Marsh could not catch inbounds.  Earl Little Jr. led the way with eight tackles and recovered a Josh Hoover fumble to stop an Indiana scoring threat.  Jay Timmons forced a fumble and picked up seven stops.  So did Kenyatta Jackson Jr. and Payton Pierce.  Jaylen McClain picked up the only sack, an eleven-yard loss that resulted in a fumble. 

Ohio State gets a much-needed break next week that will allow several players to heal and hopefully, QB Julian Sayin will have time for his injured shoulder to recover before they travel out to the west coast to play USC in another tough road contest.

GAME 7: Ohio State v Indiana

October 17 Predictions

MY THOUGHTS.....Maryland

 

    Despite several key players sitting out, Ohio State did as they were supposed to and eventually overwhelmed an outmanned Maryland squad 45-16. 

                The offense started out a bit below par, missing a pair of starters on the offensive line and in the receiving corp.  However, that didn’t stop Bo Jackson from churning out the first 100-yard rushing game this season, getting 107 and two touchdowns.  Ja’kobi Jackson chipped in 76 yards on the ground as the Buckeyes ran for 207, their best performance since churning out 237 yards against Ball State in the season opener.  Quarterback Julian Sayin wasn’t his sharpest. Losing a fumble and throwing a pick-six, yet he still managed 242 yards and four touchdown passes.  The All-World Jeremiah Smith hauled in another two scoring tosses and TE Nate Roberts came up big with a 68-yard catch and run, showing surprising speed for his size.

                DE Que Russaw and DT Eddrick Houston continued where they left off last week and Russaw picked up three stops and a TFL, while Houston tallied four tackles and 1.5 TFLs.  Jaylen McClain once again led the Buckeyes in tackles with eight, and Earl Little Jr. had seven.  Payton Pierce chipped in four stops.  As Ohio State gets to the toughest part of their schedule, it will be interesting to see how they rotate Kenyatta Jackson Jr., Que Russaw, and Zion Grady, along with Beau Atkinson to keep a consistent pass rush.  Penalties seemed to be an issue as Ohio State was flagged eight times for 65 yards, making the fourth time this season they’ve racked up at least seven infractions.  It’s easy to overlook penalties in a blowout win, yet they could turn out to be costly in a few of these games coming up.

                Speaking of which, next week the competition ramps up significantly, with a trip to Bloomington to take on the defending champions, Indiana.

GAME 6: Ohio State v Maryland