Ohio State football: Confidence level against Penn State
By Eric Boggs
Special Teams Confidence Level – 5
Last week in the Purdue game, we witnessed firsthand how poor special teams play can affect a game. Purdue’s inability to kick field goals changed how Ryan Walters and his offensive coaching staff were calling plays and therefore played right into the hands of the Ohio State defense.
Penn State has been solid on special teams this year. Alex Felkins is 7-9 on field goal attempts with a long of 47 yards. He is also 29-29 on extra points. On the other side of the field, Ohio State’s Jayden Fielding is still 7-7 on field goals with a long of 41 yards. However, he missed his first extra point this season in last week’s win and is now 27/28.
When it comes to kick and punt returns, Penn State has shown an ability to gain some positive yardage for the offense. They are averaging 18.6 yards per kick return and 13.6 yards per punt return. It might be wise, if possible, for the Buckeyes to just avoid the possible kick or punt return and just boot the ball in the endzone.
Ohio State is still waiting for a big return themselves this season. The Buckeyes are only averaging 4 yards per punt return. Kick returns have been much better, however, averaging 23.1 yards per return. At this point, I just want to see the punt return unit secure the fair catch. Xavier Johnson has hit an open seam a couple of times on kickoff returns and is just one block or juke away from hitting the big one.
All that being said, neither team really has an advantage and this feels like a wash. My confidence level is at a five.