Ohio State football: Buckeyes might have a kicking issue

Ohio State beat Penn State on Saturday in a game where not much went wrong for the Buckeyes. One big thing that was a problem was the kicking game, and that might be an issue.

Ohio State is an elite program. That was shown on Saturday night after they soundly beat Penn State 38-25. The game should have been won by a wider margin than it was too. The kicking game made sure that the game was much closer than it should have been.

That’s because Blake Haubeil missed a 20-yard field goal in the middle of the game. After he missed, he was pulled out of the game. Ryan Day said after the game that it was due to a groin injury. He already wasn’t handling kickoff duties because of it.

Insert Dominic DiMaccio. DiMaccio is a walk-on kicker that had never gotten into a game before. His first kick was a short 22-yard field goal, which he promptly missed. He did hit another 22-yard field goal later in the game, but that’s beside the point.

The Buckeyes can’t miss short field goals against good teams. Special teams are something that can decide a game when two teams are equal in talent. Luckily, Ohio State won’t have to play a team of equal talent during the regular season because they are clearly the best team in the Big Ten.

Against Clemson or Alabama though, the Buckeyes will need to be firing on all cylinders. That includes the kicking game. I don’t think this will be an extended issue. Haubeil is usually pretty solid. As long as he can recover from his injury, he should be fine.

If this problem continues next week against Rutgers, there could be a serious issue at hand. But don’t count on it. We just need something to nitpick.