Early Indicators Are In
Saturday’s game against Penn State is the biggest test for Ohio State since they faced Oklahoma at home in week two. That game did not go well for the Buckeyes, which makes this game even bigger.
There is no margin for error here, which has put quite a bit of pressure on the Buckeyes. Some teams love pressure, while others simply can’t handle it. This Ohio State team has nine captains and over a dozen veteran leaders among their ranks.
Buckeye Nation has been pointing to this game for a while now, waiting to buy in to the uptick in offense since that Sooner loss.
The fans may not know what to expect from the Buckeyes, but head coach Urban Meyer feels pretty good about what he’ll see on Saturday.
“I’d like to think we have a very good feel,” he said on Monday. “I’m not sure how to answer that. I’ve been wrong a couple of times, not very often. And we’re so practice-oriented here, I love when I hear our players talk about J.T. Barrett, the reason we played well is we’ve been practicing the best we have in several years.
“And that’s everyone, not just talking about the players. I grade our coaches at practice. I evaluate our coaches at practice, and the energy level and moving around and getting guys going. So we’re more — I have an indication how they’re going to play.”
So there’s no curiosity for Meyer heading into Saturday?
“To be honest with you,” he said, “no.”
Time To Find Out
It has been five games since J.T. Barrett threw for just 183 yards and an interception in a 31-16 loss to Oklahoma. In those five games, however, he has completed 99-of-137 passes (72.3%) for 1,351 yards (270.2 ypg) with 18 touchdowns and zero interceptions, while rarely seeing a fourth-quarter snap along the way.
To put it another way, he is playing better than any Ohio State quarterback ever has over a five-game stretch.
What is he doing differently?
Apparently nothing.
“Other than one game, it happened to be against the best defense we faced this year, so we’re all realistic about what’s coming down,” Meyer said. “This happens to be the No. 1 pass defense in America, I believe. He’s been very consistent other than that one game.
“And as I’ve said for many, many years, the quarterback gets too much blame and too much, you know, success aimed at him when it’s really because we protected much better the last few weeks. The receivers are doing an excellent job, but what have you done for me lately? We’re going to find out against this team.”
Playing With Fire
Penn State running back Saquon Barkley is arguably the most dangerous offensive player in the nation.
He is rushing for 108.1 yards per game, and he is averaging nearly five receptions for 64 yards per game.
Clearly, the Ohio State defense is going to have to focus the bulk of their attention on stopping him.
It won’t just be the Buckeye defense who will need to be concerned, however.
Barkley is also averaging 30.3 yards per kickoff return this season, which includes a 98-yard touchdown against Indiana a few weeks back.
Given Ohio State’s issues this season in covering the kick, this would seem to be a concern for the Buckeyes. So will they do something different to keep Barkley from beating them in the return game?
“No, certainly anytime you face — I think the guy at our rival last year was a great kickoff return guy. We faced a few,” Meyer said. “The better I feel about them then the more challenge — I do, I feel great. Other than a couple bad ones — and a lot of it has been the placement of the kick.
“We’ve adjusted that and it’s changed. So what’s the definition of insanity? Keep doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. So we’re working extremely hard on that.”
What does this mean for Saturday? Apparently Meyer is comfortable enough in his coverage team to at least speak openly about kicking to Barkley. Whether they actually go through with it on Saturday, however, is another story altogether.
