The Ohio State Buckeyes have one area concern offensively that could drag down the rest of Brian Hartline's attack: the running back room. Through the first three games, true freshman Bo Jackson is a standout, mainly for tearing up the Ohio Bobcats, but the rest of the room is reliant on the 70-0 Grambling State Tigers blowout for their stats to look in line. Even Jackson hasn't seen snaps against a Power 4 opponent yet.
The stat inflation is true of the rest of the offense, but Julian Sayin's arm was the question mark coming into the season. That Sayin is the gunslinger Nick Saban saw when he signed the Carlsbad, California, product to his final recruiting class before retiring just means the star-studded receiving corps is in good hands.
The RB room was a question mark without Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson, and now the answer isn't very satisfying.
CBS Sports' Tom Fornelli called Buckeyes RB coach Carlos Locklyn's group as a concern, since Sayin isn't a mobile quarterback.
And for full context, he still wasn't all that worried heading into the bye week, and the Washington Huskies matchup in Seattle afterwards, in the grand scheme.
"We didn't learn a whole lot about the Buckeyes in their 37-9 win over Ohio that we didn't already know. Obviously, the offense has looked better against Grambling and the Bobcats than it did against Texas, but I do have some concerns about Ohio State's overall rushing attack. There are big hits, but this team and offensive line have struggled a bit consistently, hitting singles. But saying that, we're picking nits. The Buckeyes are off this week and then have a road test against Washington that could provide plenty of insight," Fornelli wrote.
Locklyn is a proven entity who handled the Judkins-Henderson duo to perfection and helped Bucky Irving become a star with the Oregon Ducks after his transfer from the Minnesota Golden Gophers. There's no reason to worry about his standing on Ohio State football's coaching staff.
He just needs to figure out if Jackson is his workhorse worth investing big in, or if West Virginia Mountaineers transfer CJ Donaldson and/or sophomore James Peoples can give them a productive platoon in the Buckeyes' backfield.