Fresh off an emotionally and physically exhausting 30-23 overtime victory in Camp Randall, the Buckeyes once again take their show on the road, this week in Happy Valley against Penn State.
The customary whiteout and a Penn State squad with four home wins against losses on the road versus Pitt (42-39) and Michigan (49-10) awaits an Ohio State squad that ranks first in the B1G in total offense and second in total defense.
As such, James Franklin, he of an 8-11 record in B1G through his roughly 2.5 seasons, will have his hands full against Urban Meyer and his streak of 20 straight road wins since taking over the Buckeyes in 2012.
So how will the Buckeyes fare in slowing down Saquon Barkley? Conversely, will Mike Weber be more of a factor after limited carries versus the Badgers?
For answers to those queries and more we welcome the incomparable duo of Ramzy Nasrallah and Kyle Jones to break it down.
Ohio State reached the midway point of the regular season following the huge road win in Camp Randall. Through six games, who would you tab as Ohio State’s offensive MVP? What about on defense? Back up your selections.
Ramzy: It's Pat Elflein, the only Buckeye who has graded out as a champion in each of Ohio State's first six games. He's making line calls, he's the most valuable and important guy on the line, he's the senior leader and he's probably the team MVP on account of leadership and culture ambassador. Don't read this as wow are you saying JTB isn't valuable because you're better than that. This program is led by its offensive line and Elflein is the leader of that unit. Defensively, Raekwon McMillan for being the competent, vocal old man in charge of the Silver Bullets. Curtis Grant taking him under his wing two seasons ago is paying off right now in that department.
Kyle: Most often the simplest answer is the correct one, and that’s why I’ve tabbed J.T. Barrett as my offensive MVP. While he hasn’t been perfect throwing the ball, his decision-making has largely been faultless and his ability as a ball carrier on called runs, option keeps, or improvised scrambles is an incredibly valuable weapon what would be nearly impossible to replace. Defensively, I can’t give it to the entire defensive line, which has been excellent, so Malik Hooker will instead take this honor. No matter what he’s tasked with, be it tracking balls as the centerfielder, covering tight ends in man coverage, or coming up to make tackles in the run game, he’s been Ohio State’s most consistent defender.
After the Wisconsin game, there was plenty of love for Paul Chryst and the way he utilized the bye week to attack Ohio State with some stuff the staff hadn’t seen before. Of the wrinkles you saw, what, if anything might you expect Jim Harbaugh to incorporate into either his offensive or defensive plans when the Buckeyes face Michigan 36 sunrises from now?
Kyle: Given the success of the UW jet sweep in the first half, and the inside runs that came after the OSU defense adjusted by spinning the man defense over to take away the sweep, I’d guarantee someone will attempt to thrown downfield off play-action from that same look. By running that jet motion against the Buckeyes’ man coverage, it forces the secondary into uncomfortable positions with Hooker swapping roles with a cornerback, meaning the Buckeyes may have to switch to a different coverage and allowing the offense to dictate their play-calls, a position no defense wants to be in. Not only did Chryst make Greg Schiano and Luke Fickell’s jobs more difficult during the game, he’s also affecting their work over the next six weeks with that wrinkle.
Ramzy: Defensively is where Michigan will get wrinkly. It's very difficult to learn anything from them on film because they disguise their disguises. Their disguises' disguises have disguises, whereas Ohio State's like here, these are our tendencies now try to stop them. Wisconsin took its bye week to straight-up master the Buckeyes' snap count (wish Isaiah Prince could do that) and take away the inside zone. Then halftime happened, and Ohio State dominated the 2nd half and won the game. In the absence of soul-crushing 1st half plays, I expect Ohio State-Michigan to come down to whoever has the best halftime. As of mid-October, which will seem as far away as 1977 by the time The Game arrives.
Even though J.T. Barrett threw for 229 yards with a touchdown and a pick versus the Badgers, the passing game still took some lumps as Terry McLaurin had a touchdown go through his hands and at times it looked as if the collective wide receiving corps struggled with gaining separation beyond Noah Brown. How do you see it? Is Zone 6 the weak link from a positional group standpoint on this squad? If so, how can that remedied?
Ramzy: Zone 6 does not have the energy or - ugh, this stupid word - swagger that wide receivers are supposed to have. Devin Smith had it, Michael Thomas had it, Evan Spencer was the Elflein of that 2014 championship run; who is that guy for Zone 6 this season? Noah Brown? James Clark? Dontre Wilson? There's no protagonist in that group. You could suggest auditing the coaching of that unit, but damn it Urban started out as a WR coach and I'd like you to convince me with a straight face he would tolerate substandard instruction for that group. What you have here is a bunch of guys who looked up to some very charismatic and confident dudes for several years who are now suddenly all gone - and none of them have filled that vacuum that's been left behind. Yet. This is a neck-up growth exercise.
Kyle: The constant rotation of six or more receivers isn’t helping, as I think there are players in that group that should be seeing the field more than others. Additionally, the offense seems to shy away from calling for route concepts that work together and organically spring receivers open if they don’t work early, instead leaning on the three-step game late, as they did in the second half against Wisconsin with Noah Brown on slants, fades, and hitches.
Ohio State gave up 236 rushing yards to the Badgers, a team that came in averaging about 166 per game. That said, it felt like the Buckeye defense managed the run game pretty well in the 2nd half and overtime and I continue to have faith in guys like Robert Landers and Dre’Mont Jones up the gut. Interestingly though, while Jerome Baker had a great 2nd half and Chris Worley looked decent, Raekwon McMillan had just three stops against an I-formation offense. What’s your take on Ohio State’s ability to stop the run? What should we make, if anything, of Kwon’s output last weekend?
Kyle: Even though they were in heavy formations most of the night, Wisconsin found a lot of success running off-tackle, and the Buckeyes lost contain to the outside a couple times, like on Clement’s long run in the first half. That meant that McMillan was often trailing the play to begin with, and since he isn’t the most fleet of foot for a college linebacker in this age, he just didn’t have as many opportunities as one might’ve expected.
Ramzy: The right side of Wisconsin's line got abused Saturday night, and as the game wore on the Badgers just ran away from it. The Rushmen are starting to click, Bosa is emerging as a nightmare up front and nothing is static with Greg Schiano coaching that unit. Wisconsin had some success, and then it didn't. The individual stats mean little, especially for a middle linebacker playing behind the unit that ultimately took over the game.
Turning to Penn State, Saquon Barkley is 4th in the league averaging 97.0 rushing yards per game. What kind of game can we expect from Barkley and what might Ohio State employ in an effort to slow him down?
Ramzy: Penn State will give Saquon Barkley every opportunity for a showcase game. He's going to have a shadow for all of it and I expect the Buckeyes to overinvest in frustrating him while putting the onus on Penn State's passing game to find success.
Kyle: With an offensive line that has been lackluster for what feels like a decade and Barkley’s exceptional quickness, I expect to see lots of outside sweeps to get the Buckeye defense moving laterally and allowing the running back to find cutback lanes and get upfield in a hurry whenever possible. To stop that, the Buckeyes will have to stay disciplined in setting the edge and making sure they turn Barkley back into the waiting arms of guys like McMillan and Baker who must themselves take good angles on the shifty ball carrier.
Through the air, Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley ranks 3rd in the B1G averaging 239 yards per outing and Meyer raved earlier this week about Penn State’s receiving corps. Looking at the stats, the Nittany Lions have four guys with at least 18 receptions led by Deandre Thompkins (23) and Chris Godwin (23). How will the Buckeye secondary fare in slowing down Penn State’s passing attack? Also, Damon Webb has taken some heat for his play. How confident are you in Webb at safety? Should Erick Smith get any snaps?
Kyle: I’d expect the Buckeye secondary to take this as a challenge, feeling confident in their abilities to shut down a talented group with more man-to-man coverage. In that vein, I think the criticism of Webb is unwarranted, given that he’s often in solo coverage against slot receivers and tight ends, 90% of which takes place downfield where TV cameras don’t show what’s happening. While Webb was the closest defender on the early touchdown to Jazz Peavy last week, he was doing exactly what was asked of him at the time. Chryst’s call was simply a perfect one, pulling up the outside corner while Webb retreated to his middle zone, leaving Peavy alone in the soft spot up the seam. If fans want to blame him for that, fine, but I’d be shocked if the coaches felt the same way.
Ramzy: Wisconsin attacked Webb pretty much all night (with great success) especially during the 1st half which suggests that it's obvious on tape where you want to go against a unit that good. The Erick Smith question harkens back to Pitt Brown playing for all of 2013 and then Vonn Bell showing up at the tail end of the season and immediately being a significant upgrade. Maybe he'll be better eventually, but if he was better right now he would be on the field more. Penn State has not had trouble scoring on anyone it has faced outside of Michigan. That's the measuring stick, albeit now in White Out conditions.
Mike Weber seemed like a bit of a forgotten man last week especially in the 1st half as Meyer and staff appeared to try way too hard to get Curtis Samuel touches after he had just nine the week prior against Indiana. As a result, Weber had season lows in carries (11) and yards (46). Considering this and the fact Penn State sports the league’s 12th-best rush defense (208.8 ypg), how might Weber’s Saturday night unfold?
Ramzy: I expect the Buckeyes to RTDB all night, setting up some cleaner downfield shots. There's a giant hole in the middle of Penn State's defense where linebackers are supposed to be normally. They'll punch the soft spot repeatedly and Weber should have plenty of action.
Kyle: I could not care less about the number of touches Weber had in Madison. The Badgers, like countless other teams before them, made it a point to take away the inside run early. So, I had no problem with the game plan to attack the edges and get the speedy Samuel the ball outside with sweeps and swing passes. Weber is capable of gaining yards outside the tackles as well, but I don’t see how anyone could argue that he’s a better option for that role than Samuel.
Despite playing a second-straight night game roadie at a notoriously raucous venue, Ohio State enters the game as a 20-point favorite. Give me your final score and game MVP prediction.
Kyle: Unlike the Badgers, whose Linebackers played outstanding football last week, Penn State has been ravaged by injury at that position this fall. With freshmen and walk-ons seeing significant time there, I’d expect the Buckeyes to attack them early and often with crossing routes, swing passes, and outside runs, getting the offense back on track for the first time since they visited Norman. OSU wins 35-10 and J.T. Barrett becomes a real Heisman candidate with a big, yet efficient performance.
Ramzy: 41-20 Buckeyes with Curtis Samuel accepting handoffs catching passes and taking direct snaps with success.
