With one game left in its 2017 football season, the oft-maligned Buckeye passing attack is on pace to easily finish as the most prolific of the Urban Meyer era.
It's understandable if that's a bit of a surprise considering the passing game struggles-to-failures in more than a few big games this year including losses to Oklahoma and Iowa, and even in wins against Michigan and Wisconsin, in particular.
Sprinkled around those duds however were huge outings against lesser-caliber teams along with a truly spectacular performance as Ohio State's aerial attack triggered a miraculous comeback win over an excellent Penn State squad.
Typically at the center of the success, failures and angst when it comes to the passing game are J.T. Barrett, Zone Six and wide receivers coach Zach Smith.
Focusing mostly on the latter, here's how Ohio State's top eight pass catchers stack up through 13 games:
| PLAYER | GAMES | RECEPTIONS | YARDS | YDS/CATCH | TD | REC YDS/G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| K.J. HILL | 13 | 55 | 546 | 9.9 | 3 | 42.0 |
| P. CAMPBELL | 12 | 39 | 587 | 15.1 | 3 | 48.9 |
| T. MCLAURIN | 13 | 28 | 434 | 15.5 | 6 | 33.4 |
| M. BAUGH | 13 | 24 | 264 | 11.0 | 5 | 20.3 |
| B. VICTOR | 13 | 23 | 349 | 15.2 | 7 | 26.8 |
| J.K. DOBBINS | 13 | 22 | 135 | 6.1 | 1 | 10.4 |
| A. MACK | 12 | 21 | 287 | 13.7 | 2 | 23.9 |
| J. DIXON | 12 | 18 | 422 | 23.4 | 8 | 35.2 |
| TEAM | 13 | 276 | 3,565 | 12.9 | 39 | 274.2 |
K.J. Hill, somewhat out of nowhere, easily leads the team in receptions and along with tight end Marcus Baugh, is the only Buckeye to record at least one catch in all 13 games.
Despite being 16 catches behind Hill, Parris Campbell currently leads the team in receiving yards with 587 on the strength of 15.1 yards per catch thanks to a good chunk of lengthy (touchdown) grabs. To Hill's credit, the sure-handed slot man stepped up with longer gashes late in the season thanks in part to ball placement opening up increased opportunity for Hill to show what he could do in the open field.
There are many ways to digest this nugget especially when you weigh the 2017 passing game against the 2012-2016 Buckeye squads but the reality is if Campbell puts up his yards per game average in the Cotton Bowl against USC, he'll finish with 636 receiving yards for the year which would be the lowest output from the team's leading receiver since the 2011 debacle saw Devin Smith lead with 294 yards.
Throwing out the 2011 season, Campbell's 636 would be the lowest since Brian Robiskie paced Ohio State with 535 yards during Terrelle Pryor's first season back in 2008. Maybe that's because Zone Six boasts such depth that the coaching staff claims the group has six starters. Maybe not.
From a pure receptions standpoint, Hill's 55 year-to-date compare favorably to the tallies produced from 2012-2015 with Philly Brown posting 60 and 63 in 2012 and 2013 and Mike Thomas going for 54 and 56 in 2014 and 2016, respectively, and it's a good bet Hill adds 3-5 catches in the Cotton Bowl just based on his season average of 4.2 per game. Curtis Samuel's 74 grabs from a year ago remain the most during any season of the Meyer era.
Ben Victor and Austin Mack, both true sophomores, emerged as key rotational members within Zone Six rotation and while Victor does have seven touchdown receptions, it was a reasonable preseason thought both could prove more productive than maybe a Terry McLaurin.
After finally overcoming a string of unfortunate knee injuries, Johnnie Dixon emerged as a big play threat and leads the team with eight touchdown catches and 23.4 yards per catch but he stands just eighth on the squad with 18 receptions.
| YEAR | PASS ATT/G | REC/G | TD/G | INT/G | YDS/CATCH | PASS YDS/G | NATL RANK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 32.5 | 21.2 | 3.0 | .77 | 12.9 | 274.2 | 28 |
| 2016 | 31.5 | 19.6 | 2.0 | .54 | 10.9 | 213.9 | 81 |
| 2015 | 25.0 | 15.7 | 1.5 | .69 | 12.0 | 188.8 | 100 |
| 2014 | 27.3 | 17.3 | 2.8 | .80 | 14.3 | 247.1 | 52 |
| 2013 | 26.3 | 17.0 | 2.7 | .64 | 12.0 | 203.3 | 90 |
| 2012 | 23.2 | 13.4 | 1.4 | .58 | 13.5 | 181.5 | 105 |
Rolling up the total contributions-to-date, the 2017 aerial attack is on track to post higher attempts, receptions, touchdowns and yards per game than any of Meyer's previous squads in Columbus.
Of course the reason it's hard to drool over what is currently the nation's 28th-ranked passing offense – which is 24 spots better than any other OSU squad since 2012 – is the reality it has gotten fat off bad teams and largely struggled against the good-to-great teams.
Over Ohio State's first eight games which included six bums plus elite squads in Oklahoma and Penn State, the passing game averaged 326 yards per outing with 28 touchdowns against only two interceptions.
Over the last five games however, the passing offense averaged just 190 yards per game, featuring a high of 218 against Illinois, with 11 touchdowns (Barrett 10) and eight interceptions (Barrett 8) as the receivers at times struggled to create separation and/or hold on to the football while Barrett struggled mightily with accuracy completing only 53.7% of his throws.
In the Cotton Bowl against USC, the Buckeyes face what is the nation's 97th-best pass defense giving up 247 yards per game including 22 touchdowns though the Trojans do rank 21st in the land forcing a 53.9% completion rate and sixth in the country with 3.31 sacks per game.
Whether or not Ohio State's passing game can find the magic seen against Penn State or continues its late-season swoon remains to be seen but a big day against the Trojans is the last chance for it to avoid coming in like a lion but out like a lamb.
