Ohio State Football vs. Youngstown State: Three keys to victory

3. Ohio State needs to show last week’s defensive performance was real

Ohio State shut down IU last week in the season-opener. They allowed just 153 yards of total offense and three points. The only thing the Ohio State football team did wrong on defense was not forcing a turnover at any point in the game. That’s pretty much it.

The Buckeyes will be facing another offense that shouldn’t be able to put up a lot of points. But, this offense should throw the ball more than what IU tried to do last week. That will at least let us know if the secondary is as good as they looked like they were last week.

Jim Knowles liked the effort from his guys in Week 1. Now it’s time to show that last week’s performance wasn’t a fluke and that this is the type of defense we can expect to see from them all year. Against an FCS team, a shutout isn’t out of the question.

I’d like to see the Buckeyes force some turnovers in this game. That’s something they are going to need to do against the better teams that they face later in the year. It’d be nice to see the defense get their confidence up in that regard by getting a few on Saturday.

Even if Ohio State does just one of these things, they should still beat Youngstown State handily. This is a game that should be used to work out some kinks and rust that they might still have. Nothing more and nothing less.