Welcome to Monday of game week for the Buckeyes.
Camp is long over. Game preparation is well underway.
This season has the possibility to be one of the best ever for the Ohio State Buckeyes. New starters, old starters, new stars, old stars.
So much promise. So much potential. And yet still plenty of concerns.
There’s a reason coaches pop Tums like kids pop Skittles. Urban Meyer once said his job was to be concerned.
And now that’s Ryan Day’s job.
What might he be concerned about this year?
Let’s run through it alphabetically.
A — Averages, Law of
Eventually Michigan is going to beat Ohio State because we know it’s possible. We’ve seen the reel-to-reel footage.
B — Bearcats
Cincinnati has to deal with UCLA before they come to Ohio State, but they do have a couple of extra days to prepare for the game.
C — Cooper?
Senior defensive end Jonathon Cooper reportedly suffered an ankle injury in camp, but nobody at Ohio State is talking. Is this a long-term thing?
D — Defense
While Tom Orr and I have said on each of our podcasts since January that this year’s defense can’t possibly be worse than last year’s, it’s also not possible to truly know that things are fixed until we actually see that they have been fixed.
E — Explosive Plays
The running game needs some big hits this year and JK Dobbins has worked hard to make it a reality. But after having so few last year, it’s still a legitimate concern.
F — Franklin’s Lions
Ohio State has beaten Penn State by just one point in each of the past two years, and you could argue that neither win should have happened. Of course, you could say the exact same thing for the Nittany Lions’ win in 2016. Still, Penn State is a concern even without quarterback Trace McSorley.
G — Game, The
The Game is in Ann Arbor this year and if you don’t think that makes things tougher, you’re wrong. Michigan needs this win. Do the Buckeyes merely want it?
H — Health
This is key for every team in the nation, but it’s especially key for the Ohio State quarterbacks this season.
I — Indiana
I mean, it’s a Big Ten road game west of Columbus and if that doesn’t concern you by now you might be dead.
J — Justin Fields
Despite having a skill set devised by Stan Lee, Justin Fields is still a first-time starting quarterback. That’s always a concern.
K — Kicking
Blake Haubeil wasn’t perfect last year kicking field goals, but it was his first time doing it. You could also add kickoff return to this because the Buckeyes haven’t done much of it since Parris Campbell was removed from the equation a few years ago.
L — Linebackers
What more needs to be said? At this point, every single Buckeye fan is in a “prove it” state right now. I expect they will be happy, but I haven’t seen anything on the field to know that for sure.
M — Meshing
How has this defensive staff meshed? Last year went so well that Alex Grinch fled for Oklahoma and Ryan Day got rid of three other guys.
N — Nebraska
When people point at a Big Ten West loss for the Buckeyes, they mostly point at the Nebraska game. For good reason.
O — Offensive Line
I don’t think this is actually a concern, but when you’ve got four new starters, it deserves a mention. I expect the offensive line to be a strength of the team. Let’s also see if they can handle RPOs better than last year’s line did. They’ll need to.
P — Playcalling
No, not from Ryan Day, but from the defensive side of the ball. With so many defensive modifications that can be made, Jeff Hafley and Greg Mattison are going to have to guess right when putting their players in positions to succeed.
Q — Questionable Decisions
This is a catch-all and means whatever you think it means. The Supreme Court knows it when they see it. It also includes questionable decisions from players leading to penalties.
R — Ridder, Desmond
Ridder is Cincinnati’s talented sophomore quarterback. He threw for 2,445 yards last season, completing 62.4% of his passes. He finished with 20 touchdown passes and just five interceptions. He also added 583 yards rushing and five touchdowns. Ohio State will end up spying him at times, for good reason. Check him out Thursday night against UCLA.
S — Shea Patterson
Remember when you disregarded Devin Gardner in 2013 and he had the game of his life against Ohio State? As much as you might want to do that with Shea Patterson, you shouldn’t. This isn’t John O’Korn.
T — Transfer Portal
The portal giveth and taketh away. We should all be portal-fearing people.
U — Urban Decay
Urban Meyer is gone. The culture may still be there, but you don’t just skip happily along after replacing Urban Meyer. (Unless you’re a program as good as Utah.)
V — Voters
Specifically, those College Football Playoff Committee members who see losses in the SEC as quality wins.
W — Willekes, Kenny
The Michigan State defensive end kept the Spartans in the game single-handedly last year with 3.5 tackles for loss against the Buckeyes.
X — X Receivers
Binjimen Victor is the No. 1 X receiver for the Buckeyes and throughout most of his career he has left people wanting more. Behind him is junior Jaylen Harris and his four career catches. In that group as well is talented true freshman Garrett Wilson, who is only going to get better the more he sees the field. There is potential here, but how much of it can be reached this season?
Y — Youth
The 2014 team has a big ol’ handful of first-time starters and contributors. They rode it to a title. This year’s team will have similar youth. A first-time starter at center, young receivers mixing in with the old ones, a sophomore quarterback, defensive ends like Tyreke Smith, Tyler Friday, and Javontae Jean-Baptiste in larger roles. And possibly a name or two — like Josh Proctor — emerging in the secondary.
Z — Z Receivers
Senior Austin Mack has dealt with an injury during camp, but was thought to be good to go by now. We don’t know where he is in terms of being ready. If he is ready, can he handle what is normally asked of the Z receivers? Can he make plays in the open field? Can he get open deep? We assume sophomore Chris Olave will be fine in this regard. Mack is a very solid player, but can he be explosive?