Ohio State Football: Buckeyes following championship blueprint
The Ohio State football team is in stride with 2019 LSU’s and 2020 Alabama’s offensive production through six weeks. Can the Buckeyes maintain this pace?
The last three National Champions have all followed the same blueprint – have elite playmakers on the outside on offense and excellent quarterback play. Trevor Lawrence, Joe Burrow, and Mac Jones are some of the best quarterbacks in recent years despite all having different play styles and skillsets. The Ohio State football team is the next in line in terms of talent, and the Buckeyes are producing.
In my preseason articles and conversations, I talked about the potential for Ohio State to be the next Alabama or LSU. As it turns out, the Buckeyes are following through on my prediction. The emergence of freshman Running Back TreVeyon Henderson has added to Ohio State’s impossible-to-defend offense.
The Buckeyes boast weapons everywhere, so the offense can only potentially be limited in one phase at a time at worst. C.J. Stroud is now fully healthy and has been slinging it for the last two weeks, having thrown five touchdowns in each contest. He is in command of the offense. However, his surrounding cast has been stellar.
As Stroud continues to grow, he has to be able to maintain his role as a distributor. Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba are the best wide receiver room in the country by a wide margin. Paired with Tight Ends Jeremy Ruckert, Cade Stover, and Gee Scott Jr, the Buckeyes vertical attack is elite.
Ohio State averages 11.0 yards per attempt in the passing game and 6.2 yards per carry on the ground, which is good to combine for 8.5 yards per play. Altogether, the Buckeyes offensive production generates 562.7 yards per game which leads the Power 5.
On the other side of the ball, Ohio State is getting healthy on defense and appears to be finding its identity in the modified Matt Barnes scheme. The Silver Bullets are once again flying around, playing downhill and moving toward the football. Gap integrity while facing motion on the other side of the LOS was a huge contributing factor to coverage breakdowns and giving up chunk yardage earlier in the season.
Those issues have since diminished and need to continue trending in the right direction before dates with the mighty Big Ten East on the back end of the Buckeyes’ open date this week. The conference has some stout defenses, but Ohio State has the most dynamic playmakers on offense by a sizable margin.
Next. C.J. Stroud has real shot at the Hesiman. dark
I still favor the Ohio State football team against the rest of its schedule, but it will certainly not be easy. Sean Clifford’s health is a massive factor for October 30th’s showdown with Penn State. However, keep your eye on the state up north that day, as well as the Spartans and Wolverines face off as well in a highly anticipated day of Big Ten football.