As Week 3 quickly approaches, No. 3 Ohio State and No. 14 Oklahoma prepare to face off in a potentially dramatic matchup of titanic proportions.
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After a 77-10 drubbing of Bowling Green in Week 1, Ohio State struggled in the first half against Tulsa but ultimately pulled away 48-3.
Chances are good OSU winning that game will require Barrett to make plays with his arm and his feet.
Bowling Green is the defending MAC champion, but it has a new coach, lost most if its key players on offense and gave up over 40 points to Tennessee, Memphis, Toledo and Georgia Southern past year.
The offense is explosive. Former head coach John Cooper is a member of the athletic Hall of Fames at both Ohio State and Tulsa. The pick-six gave the Buckeyes a 13-3 lead three minutes left in the half.
Even the most wildly optimistic partisans didn’t foresee an OSU secondary returning just one starter being tied for the FBS lead in team interceptions (7) and leading the nation in interceptions for TD’s (3), and in total interception return yardage (185 yds) after two games.
This season represents a stark contrast to 2015, when the Buckeyes were a unanimous preseason No. 1 and brought back almost everyone from their national championship offense – except, most notably, wideout Devin Smith and coordinator Tom Herman – and had to decide on a quarterback with three star players who had differing skill sets and allowed the offense to do different things. “It was night and day compared to where he was a year ago”.
Ohio State’s run defense in Week 1 was flawless.
“It’ll be a great environment for college football”, Barrett said. The Sooners surrendered 337 yards in the first half, but just 83 in the second. There are no quarterback questions.
Get Breaking News alerts from the Rockdale Citizen delivered to your email. So far, they are taking full advantage. The Gators shut down OU’s prolific offense on the way to a 24-14 victory. “Because you see what you see on videotape”, Meyer said on Monday. Samuel has 401 yards rushing and receiving in the two wins. But Samuel has been the early breakout star, used as a traditional running back, a slot receiver and a wildcat quarterback.
The defense is unsafe.
Trend: Ohio State is 18-0 SU in its last 18 games on the road. “Last year’s game against Tennessee was a big turning point in our season I think, and it was a big win for us”. In Week 2, Tulsa as a team averaged under two yards a carry. He caught nine passes for 177 yards and three touchdowns against Bowling Green and five passes for 62 yards against Tulsa. The Buckeyes gained four yards on runs by Mike Weber and J.T. Barrett and settled for a 29-yard field goal after Barrett threw an incomplete pass in the end zone on third down. We’ve got to establish the running game.
“We’re definitely playing well, but we can’t talk about this (defensive start to the season)”, Hooker said.
“I don’t know why I did that”. We threw a couple of wheel routes to him, he made a play.
The Big Ten heavyweights spent the first three weeks of the season beating up on lesser opponents while climbing the rankings.
And what about Ohio State fans? Whether it’s putting pressure on the quarterback or stopping the opponent’s run attack, the new-look front seven has already proven that they are very good.
Kendall has 108 yards and two touchdowns in mop-up duty, and while the freshman isn’t likely to see much action Saturday unless Mayfield gets injured, Ohio State defenders have reason to put a little extra force behind their hits if he does.
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While there’s no doubt the Buckeyes are still a very, very good team, there could be a talent vacuum in Ohio State’s first real test of 2016.
