Welcome back for another edition of “A-Deck” at BuckeyeGrove.com, where I’ll bring you thoughts, what I’m hearing, inside scoop, tidbits, and more for Ohio State recruiting and team coverage, every Wednesday.
Last week’s “A-Deck” provided inside scoop on a 2020 defensive line target, a pair of 2021 stars from the State Up North, insight on the hoops frosh, and a key connection between the Buckeyes and a talented recruit. This week we take a look at a new running back prospect on Ohio State’s board, chat with a pair of commits who took in the season opener, catch up with a newly offered receiver, and break down what we saw against Florida Atlantic, and what to expect from Cincinnati.
NEW NAME ON THE RUNNING BACK BOARD
The most important task for Ohio State in finishing the 2020 class is finding a couple of running backs that the staff feels will be productive for the program in the next few years. They’ll continue to chase guys like Bijan Robinson, Jaylan Knighton, and DeaMonte Trayanum, all of whom they’ve struck out on so far, but they’ll also be going after a lot of new names that we haven’t heard before.
One of those is Miami (FL) Columbus running back Henry Parrish, who is currently committed to Pittsburgh. Credit my friend/industry colleague Bill Greene for being first on this one, but he wasn’t going to be able to keep Parrish a secret for long, especially after the star back ran for 1,878 yards as a junior, and then opened up his 2019 season with a 324-yard, 3 touchdown performance (highlights below), which had coaches from around the country calling.
I can confirm that Ohio State was indeed one of the schools that reached out to Parrish, and now the 5-foot-9, 175-pounder is firmly on the Buckeyes’ board. There has been no offer extended just yet, but sourced indicate it could be heading that way, as there is serious interest from both parties.
Parrish committed to the Panthers on June 19. He holds offers from Florida State, Iowa, Miami, Michigan, Penn State, South Carolina, Syracuse, Tennessee, and others. While I’m told he’s definitely happy with his current pledge, I have also been told that an offer from the Buckeyes would be “a game changer”, and that the Scarlet and Gray would have “a great shot at flipping him”.
Stay tuned on this one.
COMMITS COME TO THE ‘SHOE FOR OPENER
It wasn’t a huge visit weekend for Ohio State, but the Buckeyes did host some prospects for their season opening win against Florida Atlantic. The visitor list had a heavy “commit flavor”, and two of the players in attendance were 2020 OL Grant Toutant and 2021 OL Ben Christman. I caught up with both players following their trips to Ohio Stadium to hear about their experiences:
Toutant
-“It was amazing and crazy. It was the first game I’ve ever been to there. I can’t believe how many people came out for it. It’s not even a Big Ten game.”
-“I spoke to the coaches a little bit. I talked to Coach Stud before the Skull Session, and my whole family and I spoke to Coach Day before we went down to the field. We mostly talked about our first game that didn’t go that well (Toutant’s team lost to Cameron Martinez’s team), and what went wrong, and how I can be a leader even with other position groups outside of my own.”
-“I spoke with Paris [Johnson], Josh [Fryar], and Ben [Christman] the most. I said hi to a few other guys too. I’m fitting in great with everyone. Every trip I’m a little more comfortable. I just feel like one of the guys there. We all hang out and talk. I’ve known Ben for a while from camps and stuff over the last two summers, so I’ve talked with him the most.”
-“I’m trying to come back to next week’s game—I want to get to as many as I can around my game schedule.”
-“I wish I could enroll early, but my school won’t let me, no matter what---we have tried. After football I will go into basketball season, so that will help with my endurance and footwork. Then I will do weigh training and speed and agility work with the trainers I’ve been working with over the last couple of years. I want to come to Ohio State as strong and ready as I can be.”
Film from Toutant's first game:
Christman
-“It was good. I’m excited for the future. I talked with everybody from the staff at some point during the day. It was nice. We just touched base and they asked me about my game [the night before].”
-“I spoke to a bunch of other commits who were also there. Being around those guys, it feels like home, as always.”
-“I’ll probably be back for the game against Miami (OH).”
-“I think there are a lot of great things about my game, but there is always room for improvement in every aspect of the game, so I’m working on improving at everything this season.”
MONTGOMERY LANDS OFFER FROM BUCKEYES
On Monday, Ohio State extended a scholarship to Class of 2021 athlete Charles Montgomery of Seffner (Fla.) Armwood. The 5-foot-10, 181-pound Montgomery is not yet ranked, but had offers from Iowa State, South Carolina, Southern Miss, and West Virginia, before the Buckeyes became offer number five.
Tony Alford is leading the charge on Montgomery for the Scarlet and Gray, as the area recruiter for that part of the Sunshine State.
“Coach Alford offered me,” Montgomery told BuckeyeGrove. “He talked with me about my game and wanted to get to know me better as a person. Ohio State is recruiting me as a slot receiver.”
Montgomery said he hopes to get up to Columbus for a visit soon, but is excited about the opportunity to potentially be a Buckeye.
“They have an electrifying atmosphere there,” he added. “It’s a really great school. I’d rather not say too much right now [about order of schools], but they’re at the top for sure.”
It’s very early right now for the 2021 cycle, but it seems like if the Buckeyes decide Montgomery is a guy they want to go hard after, they’ll have a solid shot to pry him out of the south.
VISITOR FOR SATURDAY
Nothing "Earth-shattering", but wanted to note that Archbishop Alter 2022 ATH C.J. Hicks will be at Ohio Stadium this upcoming weekend for the Buckeyes' game against Cincinnati.
Hicks told BuckeyeGrove he will be attending the game with Alter 2020 QB Kale Steneman and 2021 WR Markus Allen of Northmont.
There is a good chance that Hicks will be the top prospect in Ohio for 2022, and will be a nationally recruited prospect. Seems like a matter of if versus when that he gets offered by the Buckeyes (could be this weekend)
LOOKING BACK TO FAU, LOOKING AHEAD TO UC
As part of “A-Deck” each week during the football season, I’ll be using one of the items in this column to look ahead to the past week’s game, and to look ahead to the upcoming match-up for the Buckeyes.
With that said, I’ll start with some thoughts on Ohio State’s 45-21 victory over Florida Atlantic.
Overall, you have to be pleased with a 24-point win on opening day with so many new elements for the team. I think this game worked out well for the Buckeyes, in that you got to see the potential of what this team is capable of, but there were also plenty of teachable moments coming out of the contest as well.
Looking at the new staff, I thought they did a great job having the team ready to play out the gates. Going up 28-0 in the first half of the first quarter, there is nothing more you can ask for on offense. The defense was lights out during that time as well, and even when the offense started to sputter, they kept the game out of hand with their performance.
I think they need to work on having the guys keep their foot on the gas for a full 60 minutes. It’s not easy to get a bunch of 18-22 year old kids to not get complacent when they’re up 28-0 and it looks like they could win 100-0, but it’s something they have to figure out. Additionally, while I know they wanted to test some things out, rotate personnel, and virtually use the game as a scrimmage, I think that contributed to the offense coming up empty handed for eight straight possessions.
I also will add that I think the staff wanted to keep things pretty vanilla for the most part, and not show much of anything to Cincinnati or other opponents the rest of the way. Expect to see better/quicker adjustments on offense, and more diversity on defense in future contests.
Doing a position-by-position breakdown of the rest of the team, quickly:
· QB: I thought Justin Fields was pretty good. Obviously, he looked outstanding on the first four drives, but I was even more impressed with how he handled adversity in the middle of the game. He kept his cool, didn’t unravel, and didn’t try to be the hero, leading to mistakes when things weren’t going according to plan. I thought he could have thrown the ball away a few times instead of trying to scramble out of trouble early, and he definitely missed the right read a few times (could have been by design to limit hits), but overall I would be very pleased with the play of QB1 if I am Mike Yurcich. Fields has the potential to be a superstar, he just needs more reps.
· RB: The play of J.K. Dobbins was very good early, poor in the middle of the game, and then solid towards the end. Overall he was “good, not great”, but there were a number of plays where he didn’t see the hole correctly, and it made the offensive line look bad, as the play went for minimal-to-no gain. That fumble also can’t happen, and Dobbins’ vision has to be better than it was Saturday, because he missed a few opportunities to bust off some big runs. Master Teague was the second “true” back in, despite missing a bunch of time in Fall Camp. He is who he is—he doesn’t have a ton of wiggle and he’s not going to “make his own holes”, but he runs hard, hits the hole with acceleration, and seems to always be productive when he hits the field. I am told that Teague has been told to expect to play a bit more against the Bearcats. Marcus Crowley also saw some time at the end, and ran angry like we’ve heard he has. I expect Dobbins, Teague, and Demario McCall to be the main ball carriers throughout the season. Speaking of McCall, I thought he was pretty good in his role as an all-purpose back, and I think you’ll see him used in more creative ways the rest of the season.
· WR: There were a couple of drops (including a surprising one by K.J. Hill), but this group did a solid job overall. They got themselves wide open early in the game, but were kind of a non-factor when the offense stalled, a result of the line/backs not giving Fields time with blitzes, and the plays being called by the staff. I thought Chris Olave stood out the most to me, and it was good to see Binjimen Victor making some big plays.
· TE: An Ohio State tight end caught not only one, but two touchdowns---think about that for a minute. It was great to see Jeremy Ruckert being used how everyone hoped he would be used when the Buckeyes landed him over Notre Dame, Wisconsin, and Michigan, among others. Luke Farrell blocked well and will be a great asset for the team in that primary role this season. It will be interesting to see if OSU uses these guys consistently throughout the year, but I think OSU has to use Ruckert as a pass-catching threat and match-up nightmare.
· OL: Early on, these guys were an impenetrable force. They had some trouble in the middle of the game, especially when it came to picking up blitzes from FAU (although the backs could help there a bit, too). I think they got some unfair flack for the running game stalling out (see aforementioned missed holes by Dobbins), but this is a group that has four new starters, and will need time to gel before they’re playing to their full potential. The coaching staff rotating in Joshua Alabi and Nick Petit-Frere so often didn’t help much in the unit getting into a rhythm either.
· DL: Really good showing from this group, especially considering three key defensive ends were out with injuries. Chase Young is going to have a monster year, but I liked what I saw out of Jashon Cornell and Javonte Jean-Baptiste, too. Inside, Robert Landers and Davon Hamilton will be as steady as they get, and the group is pretty deep with who they’re able to rotate in. When Cornell can go back inside, the unit gets an even bigger boost.
· LB: Really solid performance overall from these guys. Malik Harrison and Baron Browning stood out the most to me, but everyone was flying to the football and making plays. Have to do it against better opponents, but so far, with game one in the books, it looks like things are much better than last year.
· DB: FAU was able to pick up some yards later on, but I thought the secondary was strong when it counted. Jeffrey Okudah looks like he’s made the jump. Damon Arnette wasn’t noticed much, and that is a good thing. I think it will be interesting to see how Shaun Wade and Brendon White are used when the staff gives more complex looks to opponents. My guess is Josh Proctor is the next Malik Hooker, in the sense that we only get one year of him as a starter before he blows up and goes to the league.
· ST: Great to see the return game have life, a field goal kicker make a 46-yarder, and Drue Chrisman do what he does best. Coverage unit was solid too. This could be a huge part of OSU’s success in 2019 if it continues.
Coming up next is Cincinnati and Ohio State opens up as 16.5 or 16-point favorites, depending on what book you’re looking at. That is a bit higher than I expected, as I thought it would be around 13 or 14 points or so.
Let’s first establish that OSU is going to get UC’s best shot. There is nothing more that Luke Fickell wants than to win this game---it will be the Bearcats’ figurative National Championship. Expect the UC staff and players to throw the house at the Bucks, and give them a lot of unexpected looks on both sides of the ball.
I think the key to the match-up with be Ohio State’s offense line and Justin Fields’ ability to throw the ball.
Fickell and Marcus Freeman saw how FAU had success blitzing Fields last week, and they will absolutely do that in a variety of the ways. Can the line make the right calls and appropriately pick up the extra men coming? Will the backs be better in pass pro? Will Fields be able to make smart decisions and escape pressure like he did in week one? All key questions that have to be answered.
Outside of that, expect UC’s plan to be to shut down the run (both Fields and Dobbins), and make the Buckeyes beat them in the passing game. Will Fields be able to answer that challenge and beat Cincinnati vertically and in the quick passing game? Will OSU's skill guys be able to make tacklers miss and take a screen for big gainers to stretch the field horizontally as well? More questions that the Buckeyes need to answer.
It’s also worth adding, although it probably doesn’t need to be said, that it will be key for Ohio State to not give Cincinnati free points or field position via turnovers.
The final thing I will be looking at is how Ohio State’s front seven performs on defense. If the defensive line can shut down the run and get after the passer consistently, it will be a long day for the Bearcats. The linebackers filling the right gaps and making tackles, like they did in week one, will go a long way. UC’s offense goes as their rushing attack goes, so if the Buckeyes can shut that down, they could win this one relatively easy.
I expect Fickell to try and Tressel Ball his way to a victory here. I think because the Bearcats will be playing sound, bend-but-don’t-break defense, trying to win the time-of-possession battle, and playing the field position game, this one will be close for three quarters. Once the dust settles, I think OSU’s talent advantage is too wide for UC to pull off the upset, though, and the Buckeyes will pull away to win by a score that doesn’t reflect how close the game actually was (14-17 points).
Last week’s “A-Deck” provided inside scoop on a 2020 defensive line target, a pair of 2021 stars from the State Up North, insight on the hoops frosh, and a key connection between the Buckeyes and a talented recruit. This week we take a look at a new running back prospect on Ohio State’s board, chat with a pair of commits who took in the season opener, catch up with a newly offered receiver, and break down what we saw against Florida Atlantic, and what to expect from Cincinnati.
NEW NAME ON THE RUNNING BACK BOARD
The most important task for Ohio State in finishing the 2020 class is finding a couple of running backs that the staff feels will be productive for the program in the next few years. They’ll continue to chase guys like Bijan Robinson, Jaylan Knighton, and DeaMonte Trayanum, all of whom they’ve struck out on so far, but they’ll also be going after a lot of new names that we haven’t heard before.
One of those is Miami (FL) Columbus running back Henry Parrish, who is currently committed to Pittsburgh. Credit my friend/industry colleague Bill Greene for being first on this one, but he wasn’t going to be able to keep Parrish a secret for long, especially after the star back ran for 1,878 yards as a junior, and then opened up his 2019 season with a 324-yard, 3 touchdown performance (highlights below), which had coaches from around the country calling.
I can confirm that Ohio State was indeed one of the schools that reached out to Parrish, and now the 5-foot-9, 175-pounder is firmly on the Buckeyes’ board. There has been no offer extended just yet, but sourced indicate it could be heading that way, as there is serious interest from both parties.
Parrish committed to the Panthers on June 19. He holds offers from Florida State, Iowa, Miami, Michigan, Penn State, South Carolina, Syracuse, Tennessee, and others. While I’m told he’s definitely happy with his current pledge, I have also been told that an offer from the Buckeyes would be “a game changer”, and that the Scarlet and Gray would have “a great shot at flipping him”.
Stay tuned on this one.
COMMITS COME TO THE ‘SHOE FOR OPENER
It wasn’t a huge visit weekend for Ohio State, but the Buckeyes did host some prospects for their season opening win against Florida Atlantic. The visitor list had a heavy “commit flavor”, and two of the players in attendance were 2020 OL Grant Toutant and 2021 OL Ben Christman. I caught up with both players following their trips to Ohio Stadium to hear about their experiences:
Toutant
-“It was amazing and crazy. It was the first game I’ve ever been to there. I can’t believe how many people came out for it. It’s not even a Big Ten game.”
-“I spoke to the coaches a little bit. I talked to Coach Stud before the Skull Session, and my whole family and I spoke to Coach Day before we went down to the field. We mostly talked about our first game that didn’t go that well (Toutant’s team lost to Cameron Martinez’s team), and what went wrong, and how I can be a leader even with other position groups outside of my own.”
-“I spoke with Paris [Johnson], Josh [Fryar], and Ben [Christman] the most. I said hi to a few other guys too. I’m fitting in great with everyone. Every trip I’m a little more comfortable. I just feel like one of the guys there. We all hang out and talk. I’ve known Ben for a while from camps and stuff over the last two summers, so I’ve talked with him the most.”
-“I’m trying to come back to next week’s game—I want to get to as many as I can around my game schedule.”
-“I wish I could enroll early, but my school won’t let me, no matter what---we have tried. After football I will go into basketball season, so that will help with my endurance and footwork. Then I will do weigh training and speed and agility work with the trainers I’ve been working with over the last couple of years. I want to come to Ohio State as strong and ready as I can be.”
Film from Toutant's first game:
Christman
-“It was good. I’m excited for the future. I talked with everybody from the staff at some point during the day. It was nice. We just touched base and they asked me about my game [the night before].”
-“I spoke to a bunch of other commits who were also there. Being around those guys, it feels like home, as always.”
-“I’ll probably be back for the game against Miami (OH).”
-“I think there are a lot of great things about my game, but there is always room for improvement in every aspect of the game, so I’m working on improving at everything this season.”
MONTGOMERY LANDS OFFER FROM BUCKEYES
On Monday, Ohio State extended a scholarship to Class of 2021 athlete Charles Montgomery of Seffner (Fla.) Armwood. The 5-foot-10, 181-pound Montgomery is not yet ranked, but had offers from Iowa State, South Carolina, Southern Miss, and West Virginia, before the Buckeyes became offer number five.
Tony Alford is leading the charge on Montgomery for the Scarlet and Gray, as the area recruiter for that part of the Sunshine State.
“Coach Alford offered me,” Montgomery told BuckeyeGrove. “He talked with me about my game and wanted to get to know me better as a person. Ohio State is recruiting me as a slot receiver.”
Montgomery said he hopes to get up to Columbus for a visit soon, but is excited about the opportunity to potentially be a Buckeye.
“They have an electrifying atmosphere there,” he added. “It’s a really great school. I’d rather not say too much right now [about order of schools], but they’re at the top for sure.”
It’s very early right now for the 2021 cycle, but it seems like if the Buckeyes decide Montgomery is a guy they want to go hard after, they’ll have a solid shot to pry him out of the south.
VISITOR FOR SATURDAY
Nothing "Earth-shattering", but wanted to note that Archbishop Alter 2022 ATH C.J. Hicks will be at Ohio Stadium this upcoming weekend for the Buckeyes' game against Cincinnati.
Hicks told BuckeyeGrove he will be attending the game with Alter 2020 QB Kale Steneman and 2021 WR Markus Allen of Northmont.
There is a good chance that Hicks will be the top prospect in Ohio for 2022, and will be a nationally recruited prospect. Seems like a matter of if versus when that he gets offered by the Buckeyes (could be this weekend)
LOOKING BACK TO FAU, LOOKING AHEAD TO UC
As part of “A-Deck” each week during the football season, I’ll be using one of the items in this column to look ahead to the past week’s game, and to look ahead to the upcoming match-up for the Buckeyes.
With that said, I’ll start with some thoughts on Ohio State’s 45-21 victory over Florida Atlantic.
Overall, you have to be pleased with a 24-point win on opening day with so many new elements for the team. I think this game worked out well for the Buckeyes, in that you got to see the potential of what this team is capable of, but there were also plenty of teachable moments coming out of the contest as well.
Looking at the new staff, I thought they did a great job having the team ready to play out the gates. Going up 28-0 in the first half of the first quarter, there is nothing more you can ask for on offense. The defense was lights out during that time as well, and even when the offense started to sputter, they kept the game out of hand with their performance.
I think they need to work on having the guys keep their foot on the gas for a full 60 minutes. It’s not easy to get a bunch of 18-22 year old kids to not get complacent when they’re up 28-0 and it looks like they could win 100-0, but it’s something they have to figure out. Additionally, while I know they wanted to test some things out, rotate personnel, and virtually use the game as a scrimmage, I think that contributed to the offense coming up empty handed for eight straight possessions.
I also will add that I think the staff wanted to keep things pretty vanilla for the most part, and not show much of anything to Cincinnati or other opponents the rest of the way. Expect to see better/quicker adjustments on offense, and more diversity on defense in future contests.
Doing a position-by-position breakdown of the rest of the team, quickly:
· QB: I thought Justin Fields was pretty good. Obviously, he looked outstanding on the first four drives, but I was even more impressed with how he handled adversity in the middle of the game. He kept his cool, didn’t unravel, and didn’t try to be the hero, leading to mistakes when things weren’t going according to plan. I thought he could have thrown the ball away a few times instead of trying to scramble out of trouble early, and he definitely missed the right read a few times (could have been by design to limit hits), but overall I would be very pleased with the play of QB1 if I am Mike Yurcich. Fields has the potential to be a superstar, he just needs more reps.
· RB: The play of J.K. Dobbins was very good early, poor in the middle of the game, and then solid towards the end. Overall he was “good, not great”, but there were a number of plays where he didn’t see the hole correctly, and it made the offensive line look bad, as the play went for minimal-to-no gain. That fumble also can’t happen, and Dobbins’ vision has to be better than it was Saturday, because he missed a few opportunities to bust off some big runs. Master Teague was the second “true” back in, despite missing a bunch of time in Fall Camp. He is who he is—he doesn’t have a ton of wiggle and he’s not going to “make his own holes”, but he runs hard, hits the hole with acceleration, and seems to always be productive when he hits the field. I am told that Teague has been told to expect to play a bit more against the Bearcats. Marcus Crowley also saw some time at the end, and ran angry like we’ve heard he has. I expect Dobbins, Teague, and Demario McCall to be the main ball carriers throughout the season. Speaking of McCall, I thought he was pretty good in his role as an all-purpose back, and I think you’ll see him used in more creative ways the rest of the season.
· WR: There were a couple of drops (including a surprising one by K.J. Hill), but this group did a solid job overall. They got themselves wide open early in the game, but were kind of a non-factor when the offense stalled, a result of the line/backs not giving Fields time with blitzes, and the plays being called by the staff. I thought Chris Olave stood out the most to me, and it was good to see Binjimen Victor making some big plays.
· TE: An Ohio State tight end caught not only one, but two touchdowns---think about that for a minute. It was great to see Jeremy Ruckert being used how everyone hoped he would be used when the Buckeyes landed him over Notre Dame, Wisconsin, and Michigan, among others. Luke Farrell blocked well and will be a great asset for the team in that primary role this season. It will be interesting to see if OSU uses these guys consistently throughout the year, but I think OSU has to use Ruckert as a pass-catching threat and match-up nightmare.
· OL: Early on, these guys were an impenetrable force. They had some trouble in the middle of the game, especially when it came to picking up blitzes from FAU (although the backs could help there a bit, too). I think they got some unfair flack for the running game stalling out (see aforementioned missed holes by Dobbins), but this is a group that has four new starters, and will need time to gel before they’re playing to their full potential. The coaching staff rotating in Joshua Alabi and Nick Petit-Frere so often didn’t help much in the unit getting into a rhythm either.
· DL: Really good showing from this group, especially considering three key defensive ends were out with injuries. Chase Young is going to have a monster year, but I liked what I saw out of Jashon Cornell and Javonte Jean-Baptiste, too. Inside, Robert Landers and Davon Hamilton will be as steady as they get, and the group is pretty deep with who they’re able to rotate in. When Cornell can go back inside, the unit gets an even bigger boost.
· LB: Really solid performance overall from these guys. Malik Harrison and Baron Browning stood out the most to me, but everyone was flying to the football and making plays. Have to do it against better opponents, but so far, with game one in the books, it looks like things are much better than last year.
· DB: FAU was able to pick up some yards later on, but I thought the secondary was strong when it counted. Jeffrey Okudah looks like he’s made the jump. Damon Arnette wasn’t noticed much, and that is a good thing. I think it will be interesting to see how Shaun Wade and Brendon White are used when the staff gives more complex looks to opponents. My guess is Josh Proctor is the next Malik Hooker, in the sense that we only get one year of him as a starter before he blows up and goes to the league.
· ST: Great to see the return game have life, a field goal kicker make a 46-yarder, and Drue Chrisman do what he does best. Coverage unit was solid too. This could be a huge part of OSU’s success in 2019 if it continues.
Coming up next is Cincinnati and Ohio State opens up as 16.5 or 16-point favorites, depending on what book you’re looking at. That is a bit higher than I expected, as I thought it would be around 13 or 14 points or so.
Let’s first establish that OSU is going to get UC’s best shot. There is nothing more that Luke Fickell wants than to win this game---it will be the Bearcats’ figurative National Championship. Expect the UC staff and players to throw the house at the Bucks, and give them a lot of unexpected looks on both sides of the ball.
I think the key to the match-up with be Ohio State’s offense line and Justin Fields’ ability to throw the ball.
Fickell and Marcus Freeman saw how FAU had success blitzing Fields last week, and they will absolutely do that in a variety of the ways. Can the line make the right calls and appropriately pick up the extra men coming? Will the backs be better in pass pro? Will Fields be able to make smart decisions and escape pressure like he did in week one? All key questions that have to be answered.
Outside of that, expect UC’s plan to be to shut down the run (both Fields and Dobbins), and make the Buckeyes beat them in the passing game. Will Fields be able to answer that challenge and beat Cincinnati vertically and in the quick passing game? Will OSU's skill guys be able to make tacklers miss and take a screen for big gainers to stretch the field horizontally as well? More questions that the Buckeyes need to answer.
It’s also worth adding, although it probably doesn’t need to be said, that it will be key for Ohio State to not give Cincinnati free points or field position via turnovers.
The final thing I will be looking at is how Ohio State’s front seven performs on defense. If the defensive line can shut down the run and get after the passer consistently, it will be a long day for the Bearcats. The linebackers filling the right gaps and making tackles, like they did in week one, will go a long way. UC’s offense goes as their rushing attack goes, so if the Buckeyes can shut that down, they could win this one relatively easy.
I expect Fickell to try and Tressel Ball his way to a victory here. I think because the Bearcats will be playing sound, bend-but-don’t-break defense, trying to win the time-of-possession battle, and playing the field position game, this one will be close for three quarters. Once the dust settles, I think OSU’s talent advantage is too wide for UC to pull off the upset, though, and the Buckeyes will pull away to win by a score that doesn’t reflect how close the game actually was (14-17 points).
