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

October 10 Predictions

MY THOUGHTS.....Iowa

 

The Ohio State Buckeyes went on the road and dominated a ranked Iowa team in coming away with a 31-14 victory.

                After giving up the edge, at times, against Illinois and giving up nearly 200 yards on the ground, the Ohio State defense stifled the Hawkeyes on the ground to the tune of a mere 39 yards and less than two yards per carry.  The defense came right out of the gate; on Iowa’s second play from scrimmage, as QB Hank Brown rolled to his left, Kenyatta Jackson Jr. punched the ball out and Christian Alliegro recovered at the Iowa 14.  It led to a touchdown pass from Julian Sayin to Devin McCuin two plays later and Ohio State was never seriously threatened the rest of the way.  The defense, at times, gave up some third down conversions (Iowa was 5 of 11), but stiffened when Iowa crossed the fifty-yard line, giving up a touchdown late in the game against the reserves when the game was far out of reach.  Payton Pierce led the way with six tackles and Que Russaw had the best game of his young career with five stops, including a sack.  Eddrick Houston and Zion Grady each had four stops and Alliegro turned in a TFL after his fumble recovery. 

                The Jeremiah Smith show continues as the Heisman front-runner and record-setter turned in yet another double-digit day (11 receptions) and 200+ game (206 yards) with two touchdowns.  Devin McCuin scored the first TD of the game, part of his four receptions for 80 yards and Brandon Innis caught two passes for 14 yards.  The running game could still use some improvement, but Ja’Kobi Jackson was running hard inside and several times, carried Iowa defenders with him, to the tune of 72 yards and their lone score on the ground. 

Bo Jackson turned in 70 yards and Julian Sayin made a couple of timely runs to keep drives going while throwing for over 300 yards and three scores.

                Next week, Ohio State returns home to take on Maryland.            

GAME 5: Ohio State v Iowa

October 3 Predictions

MY THOUGHTS.....Illinois

 

Ohio State opened conference play with a 42-19 victory against Illinois, which revealed some strengths and some glaring deficiencies.

  

                The Jeremiah Smith Show…ie the Ohio State offense rolled to the tune of 518 total yards, averaging over seven yards per play, no doubt aided by the 72-yard touchdown pass to Smith, who completely juked Illini defender Mac Resetich and walked into the end zone.  The Jeremiah Smith Show produced a career-high 12 receptions for 217 yards and four touchdowns.  The four touchdown receptions tied Ohio State’s school record for touchdown catches in a game, while Julian Sayin also set a career high with five total touchdowns (four passing, one rushing).  Nate Roberts and Devin McCuin also st career highs with four catches a piece, while Bo Jackson caught three passes out of the backfield.  In addition to a couple of timely pickups by Sayin, including a play in which he somehow eluded the grasp of a couple Illinois defensive linemen and scrambled for the first down, Ja’Kobi Jackson led the way with 56 yards and a touchdown on the ground, while Bo Jackson picked up 53 yards and Isaiah West picked up 15 yards on a couple of carries in relief.

                It wasn’t a great day for the Ohio State defense, who seemed to take a step backward in allowing more than 400 yards and a few times lost contain allowing Illini running backs to turn the corner and pick up big yardage.  They allowed the Illini 199 yards on the ground, giving defensive coordinator Matt Patricia some issues to work on going forward.  Jaylen McClain had a good day in the secondary and led the way with eight tackles, while Davin Sanchez and Jermaine Mathews Jr. had seven each.  Riley Pettijohn made his presence felt from the LB spot with a pair of TFLs and a sack, while Beau Atkinson and Kenyatta Jackson Jr. were in the Illini backfield quite a bit and disrupted the Illinois passing game.

                Needless to say, the Sayin-to-Smith duo is unbeatable, but the competition ramps up significantly beginning with next week’s road trip to Iowa.  The run game and the defensive front seven showed they are still works in progress and need to take a step forward starting next week.