After defeating Indiana 23-3 in the season opener last weekend, Ohio State returns to friendly confines tomorrow to battle FCS opponent Youngstown State.
With victory already assured, the game will be about making strides on offense in just about every phase from offensive line run and pass blocking, to current starting quarterback Kyle McCord and backup Devin Brown gaining seasoning, to the running backs continuing to establish a pecking order and getting the ball to Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka through the air.
Defensively, after a solid performance against the Hoosiers, the goal will be a shutout and to create a bit more havoc by way of sacks and turnovers.
Ahead of the matchup with the Penguins, the 11W Roundtable is here to provide some thoughts on the Buckeyes from our staffers Andy Anders, Johnny Ginter and George Eisner.
Kyle McCord's performance against Indiana drew lots of commentary last week. What did you think of his day? More importantly, do you think he'll turn in a cleaner performance against YSU? What do you see as his biggest opportunities for improvement?
Johnny: I thought he was fine. His biggest issue is that it felt like he was looking for targets of opportunity instead of making plays (if that makes any kind of sense). Essentially what I'm saying is that Cade Stover getting almost 100 receiving yards is a bug, not a feature. If McCord can start to develop a better rapport with his receivers, the offense as a whole will be on much better footing.
Andy: I saw plenty of ups and downs. There were some genuinely great throws he made, hitting a small window on a toss to Julian Fleming and finding Cade Stover deep over the middle of Indiana’s defense. Really I think the main thing for McCord is just consistency. He had a number of inaccurate balls sprinkled in amongst the quality throws. Alongside that, I’d also like to see him cut loose just a tad more, take slightly fewer checkdowns and push the ball downfield a few more times.
George: McCord's effort in Bloomington hardly deserves the description of an encouraging start. That said, it was also the debut for a new quarterback on the road within an offense that has a lot of talent, but still clearly needs to develop chemistry. His interception was forgivable in the context of the 4th down play call getting blown up by a great heads-up physical moment from an Indiana defender. But in the grander scheme of the season, I will be curious to watch how McCord adapts to pressure from more threatening defensive fronts, regardless of how his offensive line improves in pass protection.
I would expect more impressive results against a worse opponent at home, but McCord needs to go further than just doing right by himself. He needs to prove he can distribute the ball consistently to the wealth of mouths this offense has to feed. Talent will shine with ample opportunity, but there will be no symphony in the Buckeye offense if Ryan Day struggles to bring along the maestro.
Chip Trayanum is getting a lot of love this week after some physical runs against Indiana. Is he your starting tailback? If not, who is? Will Ryan Day continue giving three guys in TreVeyon, Chip and Chop a somewhat even distribution of carries? Do you believe in developing a rhythm as a running back?
George: In theory, Henderson should continue to serve at the head of an extremely deep and talented running back room. There are reasons for optimism with Chip, but Ohio State has a rare opportunity here to regularly rotate running backs across Henderson, Williams, Trayanum, and even Dallan Hayden later on. Evan Pryor and Xavier Johnson present further options out of the backfield that also offer similar pass-catching upside to that of TreVeyon.
Rhythm as a running back is important, but a great offensive line can block for anybody. If Ohio State tightens up its run blocking to the standards of previous years, the embarrassment of riches in the backfield will find countless downs of success all across the season. For the sake of keeping everyone happy and healthy — particularly in the wake of last season's wave of injuries — a committee approach seems better served for this team than it has in some time.
Johnny: I have very little faith in TreVeyon Henderson at this point, and while I would love to be completely wrong about his future production potential, I really don't think he should be the featured back anymore. Miyan Williams and Taryanum should be the 1 and 2 at this point, and yes, it is incredibly important for running backs to get into a rhythm. Giving Henderson carries against YSU over other, more consistent running backs is a wasted opportunity to get the other guys in sync.
Andy: For now I’m still penciling in TreVeyon Henderson as my starter. There’s definitely a world where it all clicks for him early in this season and emerges as one of the nation’s best backs, at least in my eyes. He’s just got such ridiculous physical tools and is willing to run through contact – all three excel in that area, really. Personally I think it’s better to pick a feature guy then sprinkle others in, because I think in a true rotation sometimes a player can get a little too antsy to make big plays instead of taking what’s there. It can vary from backfield to backfield, however. I think Ohio State sticks with a fairly even mix going forward.
It was surprising to see veteran starters Donovan Jackson and Matt Jones struggle at the guard spots and for the entire offense to struggle in 3rd-and-short last week. Any concern too much has been assumed with those two anchoring the offensive line? What was your ceiling for the entire offensive line leading up to the opener and did that opinion change any after week one? Any of the new starters surprise you in a good way?
Andy: Not to be boring, but my thoughts on each of the five starting offensive linemen shifted very little in Week 1. I think with football players in general we’re too quick to assume things about where they are based on a single game. Donovan Jackson and Matt Jones are both proven entities at this point, I have no expectation that they’ve truly regressed from last year. Perhaps playing alongside a new center and tackles caused more issues in communication to pop up.
My ceiling for this offensive line remains the same as it was entering the season, that it has the potential to be good enough with the talent surrounding it to win a national championship. Not a top 10 offensive line in the country but perhaps top 20. I suppose seeing Luke Montgomery on the field so much as a blocking tight end was a nice little surprise from Saturday.
George: They flamed me in the 11W Slack for insisting Josh Fryar would be better than Donovan Jackson and Matt Jones, even Josh Simmons! Now, *Bane voice* the Fryar rises!
As alluded to in my previous answer, the standard for offensive line play at this program for nearly my entire life has stood quite high. That becomes a difficult reality to run up against when developing a unit that has such little experience not only on the field, but playing together outright. Chemistry takes time and reps to develop, and in the same way that McCord didn't exactly have a layup of an opener, perhaps it was unrealistic for fans to write off the Hoosiers as bulldozer fodder.
The line will improve as the season goes on. However, I am worried as much about this team in 2nd/3rd/4th and short rushing situations as I was a season ago. After failing to improve in these scenarios during the months leading up to The Game, inability to convert short-yard rushes ultimately became one of the reasons a comeback win over Michigan slipped away from Ohio State. Last week was hardly an encouraging start in that department — just ask TreVeyon Henderson.
Johnny: I think the offensive line will take a little time to gel, but I'm confident in their overall talent eventually coming together and being a strength of the offense. This isn't probably going to be a top 5 unit nationally, but if they can be good enough to help convert 3rd and shorts on a regular basis, that'll be good enough for me.
The defense looked pretty good across the board versus Indiana, holding the Hoosiers to 2.8 yards per play and 2.4 per carry. Which defender impressed you most last Saturday? Which maybe fell short of your expectations? Before Halloween Ohio State will have faced Notre Dame, Penn State and Wisconsin among others. Will we be saying the Silver Bullets are back as we enter November?
Johnny: Steele Chambers looked excellent, and while he's not going to remind anyone of A.J. Hawk (or Brian Rolle, for that matter), that the linebacking corps is such a strength of the team is kind of amazing given the past several seasons. The defensive line (and the defensive coaches) need to figure out what the hell to do with their ends. I know the scheme isn't to just let them tee off every down, but it's disconcerting to see a guy like Jack Sawyer look so out of place on most plays. Still, this is clearly a very, very solid group, and I'm incredibly curious to see how they perform against WKU and Notre Dame in back-to-back weeks.
Andy: Denzel Burke left the biggest impression on me Saturday. Cam Camper could find no space against him and he broke up two passes. His trigger and ability to play through a receiver’s hands both were phenomenal. He’s got the look of one of the nation’s best in 2023.
It’s hard to say anyone fell short of expectations when a defense dominated like that. I can’t say that any come to mind, not that there won’t be lumps players take on defense over the course of the year. Josh Proctor looked good, the linebackers were playing fantastic assignment football and the defensive line was solid.
I’m still holding my breath for a sneaky-great Western Kentucky aerial attack and the best Notre Dame offense I think the college football world will have seen in years. My expectations are sky-high for the defense though. They have the pieces to be the best in the country.
George: Everyone has big expectations for Ohio State's front seven this season, while I expect the bulk of any impending criticism to fall on the secondary. For that reason, I will keep special eyes on the Buckeye defensive backs this year, and I felt encouraged by what I saw from Denzel Burke. Burke's sophomore slump was tough to witness not only given the wealth of success in his freshman campaign, but also the abundance of improvement seen in players across Jim Knowles' scheme last season.
If Burke can become a steady presence at corner for this team again, he would greatly aid in balancing out the strengths of this defense. Usually, a pass rush goes further towards assisting the secondary's job than vice-versa, but a symbiotic relationship can still exist between the units even if the latter presumably has more difficult tasks. If BIA can regain some form, those extra seconds of coverage will go a long way towards turning J.T. Tuimoloau and friends into the Silver Bullets we long to see them shine as by the time November rolls around.
Ohio State opened as a 42-point favorite over the Penguins. Does Ohio State cover? Give us your final score and a player or facet you think will improve and make you feel a little better than you did after last week's game.
George: The new clock rules make betting overs and 40-point covers a riskier proposition than usual right now. After what I saw last week, any improvements will be satisfactorily welcome, which means no expectations for the first home game of the year against the Fighting Tressels!
Ohio State wins 41-3, and we will see Mr. McCord make the most strides as he develops greater comfort and timing with distributing the ball within Ryan Day's scheme at game speed.
Johnny: I'm going with 38-7, if only because I think Ryan Day and company will try and keep things simple for McCord and also concentrate a lot on getting the running game going. They'll dominate, but the clock rule will hamper their ability to get a lot of points during a game with extended drives. Expect Miyan Williams (or somebody, anyway) to bust out a huge run or three.
Andy: There’s no way Youngstown State has the defensive backs to run with Ohio State’s receivers, so I believe McCord finds some rhythm this week through the air and gains confidence. My score prediction is 45-0 Buckeyes, with the defense getting the shutout it craved against the Hoosiers and a slog of a second half after a big second quarter from OSU.
