Ohio State Football is doing well... very very well.
With the exception of a rocky 1st half vs. Notre Dame (losing the nation's best WR to injury) they are paving the competition.
You could argue they have the best WR trio in the nation: Egbuka, Fleming, and Marv. This doesn't include the nation's BEST WR likely returning.
14th best Rushing (228 YPG) despite missing their #2 back for the season (Pryor) and alternating injuries on Miyan and Trey.
What about the Defense? (I was at the Rose Bowl, a mere 7 games ago, it was bad... really bad).
They are 7th in YPG at 253.5 (amazingly, 3rd in B1G behind #2 Illinois and #5 Michigan). And 16th in PPG at 15.7 (yes, a third of that is garbage time).
They are dominating bad teams. There are 130 FBS teams and they have currently faced 1 (one) top 65 Offense. Wisconsin, #64 in yards per game. Also, their next game they face #130 of 130 in yards per game (Iowa).
The Good News: They are doing well holding teams below their seasonal averages by a wide margin.
Holding opponents to 120 fewer ypg and 14 fewer PPG!
This is the opposite of the 2020/2021 defensive plan of 'let's just outscore them.' (looking at you Utah)
Bottomline: Only Maryland, Penn State, and Harbaugh should prove challenging.
Here's the Offensive breakdown on OSU's opponent's schedule. It's not pretty. (Also, I wish I knew how to adjust for schedule strength, ie: Michigan had THE weakest non-conference slate in the nation, OSU giving up pts in garbage time, NW 0-3 non-conf vs. Illinois St., Duke, & Miami (OH)).
| Team | YPG | YPG rank | PtsPG | PPG rank | Yards v OSU | Yard Diff | Pts v OSU | Pt Diff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OSU | 543.7 | 2 | 48.8 | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Notre Dame | 394.6 | 75 | 25.6 | 94 | 253 | -141.6 | 10 | -15.6 |
| Ark St. | 372.8 | 88 | 32.2 | 51 | 276 | -96.8 | 12 | -20.2 |
| toledo | 387.8 | 76 | 36.2 | 29 | 307 | -80.8 | 21 | -15.2 |
| wisconsin | 409.2 | 64 | 31.8 | 56 | 296 | -113.2 | 21 | -10.8 |
| rutgers | 334 | 108 | 22.8 | 103 | 187 | -147 | 7 | -15.8 |
| MSU | 342.3 | 104 | 26.2 | 87 | 202 | -140.3 | 20 | -6.2 |
| *i_wa | 238.8 | 130 | 14.7 | 126 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| psu. | 443.6 | 38 | 44.7 | 37 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| northw. | 394.3 | 76 | 17.7 | 120 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| indy | 357 | 97 | 24.3 | 99 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| maryland | 461.7 | 26 | 40 | 34 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| harbaugh | 458.7 | 29 | 43 | 7 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| AVG Diff | 253.5 | -120 | 15.2 | -14 |
*Iowa doesn't deserve the 'O' in their name. Hopefully the 3x B1G COY can figure out how to move the ball.
