With reports surfacing Wednesday afternoon of single-digit positive COVID-19 cases within the program, it appears as of this writing the Buckeyes will still be able to take on Illinois tomorrow at noon in Memorial Stadium.
The availability report will not be released until 10 a.m. Saturday so there's no current confirmation as to exactly which of Ryan Day's players may be out of action for an extended period.
For now though, the 11W roundtable marches on and this week our own Dan Hope and Andrew Ellis are here to bring the goods.
We've read all the stories about Ohio State's currently terrible secondary. Which defensive back do you believe will make the most improvement from now through the end of the season? Which defensive back might currently be seeing too many snaps?
Dan: My prediction in last week's Last Call that Shaun Wade would play like a first-round pick against Indiana didn't age well, but I'm still gonna double down on that prediction and say we'll see significant improvement from Wade by the end of the year. The expectations need to be altered from what they were going into the season – he's not Jeff Okudah or Denzel Ward, he's not going to be a first-team All-American or Jim Thorpe Award winner, and he'll probably be back at slot cornerback next year when he's playing in the NFL – but he's still the most talented defensive back on the roster, and I still have optimism that he'll get into a groove at his new position even though it hasn't happened yet.
The second question is a hard one to answer, because for someone to be playing too many snaps, there has to be a better option behind him on the bench, and most of the Buckeyes' backups in the secondary are freshmen or otherwise completely unproven players. That said, Josh Proctor does seem to be one of the two or three best defensive backs on the team right now, so I don't think he should be coming off the bench. I think Ohio State should consider starting Proctor over Marcus Williamson and using more two-safety looks, taking some pressure off Marcus Hooker as a deep safety while continuing to play Williamson at slot cornerback in nickel packages.
Andrew: Shaun Wade will make the most improvement over the next several weeks. I feel like he’s actually been in the right spot the vast majority of the time, and I’ll always take that over some of the ridiculous breakdowns we’ve seen elsewhere. Give credit to guys like Jahan Dotson and Ty Fryfogle as they simply got the best of him in their matchups. We’ve certainly heard all of the first-round draft pick talk over the last year or so, but it’s important to remember he's still relatively new to being an outside cornerback.
I think Marcus Hooker is seeing too many snaps. I was on the fence for the first few weeks, but I just can’t see how they can keep trotting him out there regularly. He’s been a big part of the aforementioned breakdowns and doesn’t seem to have the speed to make up for it when guys get behind him. I’m all for experimenting a bit more with Josh Proctor at the high safety spot.
After Master Teague and Trey Sermon virtually split carries through the first three games, Teague had 26 rushing attempts (for 169 yards) against Indiana while Sermon registered just nine carries. Is your sense that Teague will now be the main guy or are we looking at a week-to-week deal where Day rides what might be a hot hand?
Andrew: I’m of the belief that Teague will be the guy moving forward with Sermon having a role similar to what he saw against Indiana. Neither one of them have blown me away so far, but I’ve been far more impressed with what Teague brings to the table even though he’s basically a straight-line runner. However, I am interested to see if Sermon could be more of a factor in the passing game over the final three contests.
Dan: It sure sounded like Teague has established himself as Ohio State's main guy during Ryan Day's radio show on Wednesday, when he said Teague “deserves to get that many carries” when he was asked about Teague getting most of the workload against Indiana. Personally, I thought Sermon had his best game so far as a Buckeye against Indiana, but I thought Teague did too, and I do believe he's separated himself as Ohio State's best running back. So I expect that he'll continue to get the majority of carries going forward, though I think Sermon will still get his share of touches all season, too.
Through four games which player's performance has surprised you the most, in a good way?
Dan: I've gotta go with Tuf Borland. While I think he got more criticism than he deserved from Ohio State fans over the past few years, I also thought he might have maxed out who he could be as a player because of his athletic limitations. Instead, Borland has played his best football as a Buckeye by far this season. He looks faster on the field, and his instinctive play and physicality have stood out on film. He's still not an every-down player, as he comes off the field in nickel packages, but I think he's legitimately become one of the best players in Ohio State's best defense and legitimized himself as an NFL linebacker prospect while playing a key role in the Buckeyes' success on run defense.
Andrew: The interior defensive line play has without question been one of the team’s strengths. I expected Tommy Togiai to be really good, but I had no idea what to expect from anyone else at tackle. We all know what happened to Haskell Garrett over the summer, and it’s truly incredible what he’s been able to do on the field this season. He’s been one of the more impressive players defensively and probably the biggest surprise for me. Plus it’s just a remarkable story when you think about what he’s bounced back from.
Which is the hardest to believe - that Justin Fields had as many interceptions against Indiana as he did in his previous 17 games, that quick cals are still a tradition or that Ohio State had 10 defensive champions against Indiana?
Andrew: I’ve accepted that quick cals sadly aren’t going away anytime soon. The defensive line and linebackers seemed to play quite well against the Hoosiers, so I guess they found a way to identify 10 champions. For me, the Justin Fields stat line is the hardest to believe—especially after the way he looked on the quick-strike opening drive. Indiana has one of the best turnover margins in America, but I wasn’t expecting that to continue against Fields and Ohio State. The third interception was especially troubling. I have no idea what he was thinking on that one.
Dan: Quick cals in an empty stadium are pretty silly, and Ohio State naming 10 champions on defense after allowing 491 passing yards was questionable, but Fields throwing three interceptions against Indiana was shocking. The last two in particular were really hard to believe, because they were simply terrible decisions by Fields trying to make a play that wasn't there, which is something we've almost never seen from Fields, even last year when he was a first-year starter. Indiana's blitzing made Fields more uncomfortable than we've ever seen him before, and the Hoosiers deserve credit for that. But I'd be really surprised if the poor decision-making we saw from Fields in that game suddenly becomes a habit.
Ohio State is a meaty 28-point favorite on the road in always-windy Champaign. Do the Buckeyes cover? Give us your final score and defensive MVP.
Dan: I'm gonna go with no cover, and I was leaning that way even before I heard Ohio State was dealing with positive COVID-19 tests. We just haven't seen this year's Buckeyes play a dominant four-quarter game yet, and I think Illinois is a better team than it gets credit for that's coming into this game with some real momentum. I still expect Ohio State to win this game decisively, but if this ends up being another game where the Buckeyes get out to a fast start but then allow their opponent to hang around, I won't be surprised. I'm going with a score prediction of 52-27; the defense probably won't be getting a ton of praise if it gives up 27 points, but I'll go with Pete Werner making his share of plays all over the field to earn defensive player of the game honors.
Andrew: I’ve got Ohio State winning by a score of 46-20 but failing to cover the spread. Champaign can be a strange place at times and I’ll have to see it happen before I can pick the defense to hold a non-Nebraska opponent below 20 points. I will say that the Illini passing offense is ranked No. 113 in the country, so I guess maybe that should give me a bit more optimism. I can see Josh Proctor forcing a turnover or two, so he’s my pick for defensive MVP.
