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Ohio State blows out Indiana, 38-15. Now, it's time to do the same to That Team Up North.
Unlike Ohio State's defense coming off the Buckeyes' loss to Oregon, it's hard to find areas to lob criticism at the scarlet and gray offense.
The offensive line, thought to be the biggest question mark entering 2024, has taken major steps this year. Ohio State's wide receivers and running backs have lived up to their acclaim as one of the best weapons caches in college football, its quarterback play has been better than solid and even its tight ends are improved blockers from 2023.
That's not to say everything's been perfect – the Buckeyes' offense did have a chance to claim a win against the No. 3 Ducks – but entering Ohio State's second and final bye week with its offense being the more proven side of the ball, the inverse of what was expected in the preseason.
Well, at least it would be proven, if not for a likely season-ending injury sustained by left tackle Josh Simmons in the Oregon game. That's going to leave questions along the Buckeyes' front for later, but it doesn't change that each unit of Ohio State's attack has shown high-level play through six games.
Quarterbacks: A-
Will Howard said before the season that he didn't need to be a hero for Ohio State, but he came close to serving that role against Oregon.
Howard produced perhaps his best outing yet this season on his biggest stage yet, completing a gaudy 80% of his passes (28-of-35) for 326 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions plus a rushing touchdown. On the campaign, he's completed 73.3% of his throws for 1,574 yards and 14 touchdowns, averaging 9.5 yards per attempt. He's added five rushing touchdowns.
There are a few reasons that the room settles for an A- rather than an A or A+. Howard has thrown three interceptions, two of which came on perplexing decisions against Michigan State and Iowa. Backup quarterback Devin Brown has looked inconsistent in his opportunities, going 10-of-18 (55.6%) for 108 yards.
Lastly, for all Howard's success against Oregon, even leading Ohio State down the field on its final drive until an offensive pass interference set the Buckeyes back, he failed to get down in time to call a timeout and set up a game-winning field goal when he scrambled on the final play of the game.
It's a situation to learn from. But he's proven Ryan Day made a great choice selecting him from the transfer portal this offseason otherwise.
“I was worried about trying to get enough yards to make the field goal and get us into field goal range, but we gotta go back and look at it and figure out what we did wrong there and I gotta get down,” Howard said after the Oregon loss. “We gotta learn from it.”
Running backs: A-
TreVeyon Henderson and Ole Miss transfer TreVeyon Henderson were touted as the nation's best running back tandem entering the season, and mostly the duo has met those expectations.
Judkins has 71 carries for 491 yards (6.9 per carry) with six touchdowns while Henderson has 52 carries for 424 yards (8.2 per carry) and four scores. The fourth-year Buckeye has also picked his pass blocking up a notch.
This block by TreVeyon Henderson was WILD
— Footballism (@FootbaIIism) September 1, 2024
pic.twitter.com/UKhW23yFqy
While each game matters for these marks, the Oregon game is weighted heaviest in these grades, and Judkins' struggles in that contest knock the room's score down a peg. He managed a mere 23 yards on 11 carries and had the ball stripped from his hands by Ducks defensive tackle Derrick Harmon for the game's only turnover.
Henderson played great in the top-three tilt with 10 carries for 87 yards but also had a costly mistake, dancing and looking for a big gain on 3rd-and-1 with less than a minute in the second quarter and getting tackled for no yardage rather than falling forward for a first down. At its own 34-yard line, Ohio State had to punt the football away on 4th-and-1 and enter halftime trailing 22-21.
But Judkins and Henderson both have shown they're among the nation's best when considering their entire season so far. Freshman James Peoples has even turned some heads when he's gotten opportunities as the room's No. 3 option, picking up 153 yards and a touchdown on 35 carries (4.4 yards per attempt).
Wide receivers: A
Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka are both on pace for more than 1,000 yards and 12 touchdowns in just Ohio State's regular season. Egbuka, the stalwart of the room with a previous 1,100-yard season to his credit, has 40 receptions for 526 yards and six touchdowns. Smith has 32 catches for 553 yards and seven scores, soon to break Cris Carter's three freshman school records in those categories (Carter had 41 receptions for 648 yards and eight touchdowns as a freshman in 1984).
Outside an equally costly and controversial offensive pass interference call against Smith in the waning seconds of the Oregon game, it's hard to ask much more of a team's top receiving duo. Even in that contest, Egbuka went a perfect 10 for 10 on his receiving targets for 93 yards and a touchdown with 20 rushing yards while Smith picked up nine receptions for 100 yards and a score.
This grade could be an A+, but there hasn't been a mountain of production behind Egbuka and Smith. Carnell Tate's shown great flashes with 15 catches for 232 yards and done some good work as a perimeter blocker, but he nearly disappeared in the Oregon game with one reception for 13 yards. Brandon Inniss had a nice fourth-down conversion against Iowa in Week 6 but on the year he has just eight catches for 92 yards.
Bryson Rodgers was first on the field to fill in for Tate when he sat out with an injury against the Hawkeyes, he has five receptions for 46 yards in 2024. Veterans Jayden Ballard and Kojo Antwi have essentially been non-factors on offense.
Tight ends: C+
Ohio State's tight ends have played at an above-average level given the program's high standard at every position and made improvements in a few areas, but the unit hasn't come close to replacing the receiving production of Cade Stover from last year.
Stover collected 48 yards per game on his own in 2023 while this season the Buckeyes' line-enders average a combined 31.2 yards per contest. No one from the room has separated himself as the go-to target at the position, though Gee Scott Jr. took a step toward that goal against the Ducks with three receptions for a career-high 46 yards after fellow tight end Will Kacmarek exited with an injury in the first quarter. The latter is likely to miss some action as the 2024 campaign rolls on.
Scott and Kacmarek, an Ohio transfer, were in a bit of a time-share at tight end before Kacmarek's injury, with 133 and 114 snaps entering Saturday's game. Scott has seven receptions for 65 yards and a touchdown this year while Kacmarek has five catches for 58 yards. Bennett Christian played the second-most snaps against Oregon with 20 and has two catches for 61 yards, mostly on a 55-yard touchdown jaunt in the waning moments of a 56-0 blowout win over Western Michigan.
One name that's faded in the room is sophomore Jelani Thurman. The No. 3 tight end in the 247Sports composite for the recruiting class of 2023, Thurman's played the third-most snaps of Ohio State's tight ends this season (85) but only played two downs against the Ducks as Christian recorded more snaps each of the last three weeks. Thurman has one reception for 3 yards.
Where the unit has taken strides is in the blocking department, and they've been able to go four tight ends deep at times in 2024 where it felt like Stover was a one-man show at times in 2023, though Scott factored in some.
Offensive line: A-
No unit has taken a bigger leap for Ohio State than its offensive line in 2024, and in turn no unit has outperformed its expectations like the Buckeyes' front five. The question now is whether they can sustain it without Simmons.
The Buckeyes averaged 4.2 yards per carry, their worst mark since 2004, in 2023. They've yet to have a single game at or below that mark in 2024. They rank 22nd nationally with 208.7 rushing yards per contest and ninth with 5.9 yards per carry. Only five sacks have been recorded in six games against Ohio State's offense.
Ohio State's offensive line played good not great against Oregon, with the Buckeyes averaging 4.3 yards per carry but only surrendering one sack and 15 total pressures on 38 dropbacks per Pro Football Focus. In a maligned performance, OSU's own defensive line recorded 19 pressures on Saturday.
There were some whiffs on the ground, but overall the unit's is having a resurgent year to date. Seth McLaughlin's been a massive upgrade at center after transferring in from Alabama, Tegra Tshabola's solidified himself at right guard, Donovan Jackson's had stretches of great play at left guard and right tackle Josh Fryar has been a strong run blocker even if he's had the occasional issue in pass blocking.
But now the Buckeyes are down arguably their best blocker following Simmons' injury. Their interior depth passed a test when Austin Siereveld filled in well enough at left guard for Jackson to earn playing time at right guard in rotation with Tshabola for a few weeks, but offensive tackle depth is a huge question mark.
Zen Michalski filled in admirably against Oregon, but it's not certain he'll win the battle to replace Simmons over the next two weeks. Siereveld played tackle in preseason camp and it's always been thought that Jackson could slide over if needed, so Ohio State's best five on the offensive line might feature some combination of the two at left guard and tackle. Backup right tackle George Fitzpatrick could also be in the mix.
Ohio State's offensive line has outperformed expectations thus far. But if it is to continue to do so, it will have to find a strong replacement for Simmons.
