Ohio State Football: Don’t panic, the Buckeyes are coming

After a rocky start, the Ohio State football team is beginning to hit its stride and will look to build on its momentum this Saturday against Maryland.

If someone told you thirty days ago, Clemson, Iowa State, and the Ohio State football team would combine for five losses in September, what would your reaction have been? Exactly. These three teams occupied many experts’ College Football Playoff field in at least 50% capacity.

No team in college football looks like the overwhelming invincible favorite like in years past. However, Alabama has played the best football despite giving up 350 rushing yards to Florida on the road.

The Crimson Tide drew the fiery Ole Miss Rebels led by former Nick Saban assistant Lane Kiffin hoping for an upset. But Saban kept his streak against former assistants alive as his team handled the Rebels in Tuscaloosa.

A few hundred miles north in Columbus, the Buckeyes appeared to be forgotten and written off by many experts as new Big Ten teams found themselves ranked in the Top 5. Over the last month, the Ohio State football team took its offense from good to great to elite as it’s averaging 8.6 yards per play. While defensively it went from abysmal to making plays in a steady improvement.

C.J. Stroud is healthy and he looked every bit as good as advertised in Piscataway last Saturday. The Buckeyes looked crisp and fired on all cylinders with a fair share of production coming from true freshman TreVeyon Henderson. He has exploded onto the scene this year in route to earning the starting role in the talented room.

Ohio State’s offensive treasury has a different featured player each week. It’s a pick your poison strategy for opposing defenses having to cover Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson, JSN, Jeremy Ruckert, and Miyan Williams, TreVeyon Henderson, and Master Teague.

Stroud has a slew of weapons and must continue developing as a distributor allowing the veterans around him to make plays instead of playing hero.

On the flip side, the Silver Bullets have shown improvements in each of the last three games under new signal-caller Matt Barnes’s modified scheme. The game against Tulsa was a bit rough, but you have to start somewhere. It’s evident the Buckeyes did just that as there looks to be an edge to Day’s group with guys flying around playing downhill.

They are finally maintaining gap integrity despite motion on the other side of the line of scrimmage and the defensive tackles getting to the quarterback. The Rushmen have suffered a few injuries, so the full-strength d-Line has yet to take the field.

One thing is clear, a consistent pass rush has to develop if Ohio State wants to win upcoming big games against Penn State (home) and Nebraska in Lincoln prior to ending the season with both teams from that state up north.

But let it be known, the Buckeyes are coming; and fast. Everything is still in front of this team. We knew it would take patience, and it is paying off as the Ohio State football team is starting to look like the Buckeyes we all know and love.