Ohio State Football: Offense might be better than 2020

The Ohio State football team had every excuse to play poorly on Saturday night. They were coming off a bye week, they were playing a good IU defense, and maybe most of all, the weather was horrendous. It rained the entire game, and it wasn’t a light rain either.

Despite all of those factors, the Buckeyes still were able to absolutely destroy the Hoosiers with their offense. They have the best offense in the country in terms of both yardage and points. Keeping that up in a driving rainstorm against a good defense should scare every other team on their schedule.

C.J. Stroud was once again magnificent. He threw for 266 yards on 21/28 passing and four touchdowns. He now has thrown for 12 touchdowns and 0 interceptions in his last three games. He’s playing at an elite level right now. This offense might be better than last year’s.

If you think about it, it’s really not that crazy. Ohio State returns all of their wide receivers from a year ago as well as their starting tight end. Their offensive line is still dominant. TreVeyon Henderson has been unbelievable as a freshman running back as well.

Stroud is the glue that holds it all together. He’s the one that can raise the ceiling of this offense. If he plays as he did against Indiana week in and week out, this offense is unstoppable. No defense in the country, not even Georgia’s, can stop this team on offense.

The 2020 team had a similar vibe. Justin Fields was really good all year long but did struggle against Indiana last year, as well as Northwestern. Stroud had his struggles early but is now playing his best when the schedule is starting to turn its hardest.

I never thought I’d be writing something like this a month ago. But what a difference a healthy C.J. Stroud makes. He changes the entire fabric of what this season can be. They can truly become national title contenders with an offense this good.