Ohio State Football: Confidence level against Rutgers

Special Teams Confidence Level – 8

I have been pleased with punt returner Jayden Ballard who has filled in nicely for Emeka Egbuka during his absence as he has nursed an injured leg. Ballard, who is in his third year with the program, has looked willing to sit under punts while the coverage is bearing down on him, securing the kick without bobbling the catch. The main emphasis for any special team’s unit is to secure the kick first. Ballard has done exactly that.

On the field goal side of things, Ohio State has remained solid. Jayden Fielding is 10 for 11 on field goals with a long of 41 yards and 32 for 33 on extra points with his lone miss coming in the poor weather conditions on the road a couple of weeks ago against Purdue. I am confident in Fielding as long as the field goal is less than 40 yards, which means Ohio State needs to get to about the 25-yard line to be in his automatic range.

Rutgers on the other hand has looked solid as well this season when looking at their kicking game. Jai Patel is 8 of 10 on field goal attempts with a long of 51 yards. He might have a bigger leg, but he appears to be slightly less accurate. Interesting stat, as a head coach, Schiano has had 68 kicks blocked in 177 games. So the Ohio State football team will definitely need to be on the lookout for that.

I prefer accuracy over distance when it comes to kicking field goals. I like knowing exactly where on the field I need to try and be in order for my field goal kicker to be confident in his try. I believe Day knows this when it comes to Fielding. Day also knows Schiano’s propensity to block kicks, which is why my confidence level in the special team department is at an eight this week.