Ohio State Football: Confidence level against Youngstown State
By Eric Boggs
The coaching staff – Confidence Level 10
Ryan Day and the offensive coaching staff have been taking it on the chin this week on social media. After only scoring 23 points on 380 total yards of offense, the Buckeye offense looked more like it was being led by Tressel than Day. Day’s track record with quarterbacks is outstanding. Expecting Kyle McCord in his second-ever start to look like C.J. Stroud in his 20th start is asinine.
Whether McCord is going to be the starter moving forward or Devin Brown is going to receive a legitimate shot this weekend, I trust Day to not only make the right decision with the starting quarterback, but I believe he can get the offense looking like a well-oiled machine like he had it to end last season against Georgia.
On the other side of the ball, Jim Knowles and his defensive staff called a great game against Indiana in week one. The Ohio State football team only gave up 153 total yards despite the Hoosiers surprisingly running a variation of the triple option in an attempt to catch the Buckeyes unprepared.
The Penguins may actually offer the Buckeye defense some better competition. In their week one 52-10 win, YSU rushed the football for over 300 yards and finished with over 450 yards of offense, albeit against Valparaiso.
Youngstown State is coached by Doug Phillips, who currently has a record of 12-17. He was a defensive quality control coach for one season at Ohio State under Jim Tressel before moving on to coach at Bowling Green and Cincinnati before landing the head coaching position at Youngstown State.
The Penguins are well coached and have been building for this season where they are expected to compete for the Missouri Valley Conference Championship. As good as Phillips and his staff might be, they will be outmatched on Saturday.