What began with a great deal of uncertainty over what to expect at quarterback has quickly turned into a season of elevated promise and skyrocketing expectations for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Redshirt freshman J.T. Barrett has not only emerged as perhaps the Big Ten’s most prolific signal caller, but has begun to garner some interest as it relates to that trophy with the bronze statue making a stiff arm pose. Suddenly, a conference championship and an appearance in the College Football Playoff seems feasible if the right things happen.
Through six games, the Buckeyes stand at 5-1, including an undefeated 2-0 in Big Ten play. Their average margin of victory is 26.33 points and they’ve been on an absolute tear of late, scoring 50 or more points in four consecutive games for the first time in school history. That said, quality of opponents hasn’t exactly been something to write home about given the fact that their Sagarin strength of schedule rating is 72nd in the nation. And with Virginia Tech getting thoroughly dominated by Miami in Blacksburg on Thursday, that loss to the Hokies in week two looks like it is in danger of becoming an albatross around the neck of OSU in the eyes of the CFP selection committee.
The schedule will certainly firm up in the season’s second half, which commences with Ohio State traveling to Happy Valley to take on Penn State at Beaver Stadium on Saturday night. Things get a bit easier next week when Illinois comes to town, but the potential game of the year in the Big Ten looms the following week as Michigan State welcomes OSU to East Lansing. After that, the Scarlet and Gray travel to the Land of 10,000 lakes to face Minnesota whose only loss on the year so far was down in Fort Worth to a TCU team that looks like the class of the Big XII. The regular season comes to an end with consecutive home games against Indiana and Michigan, two teams that shouldn’t cause the Buckeyes much trouble even though the Wolverines are always up for the rivalry game.
Without further ado, here are my midseason grades for each of Ohio State’s offensive, defensive and special teams units.
QUARTERBACK: A-
Should we be surprised anymore when quarterbacks in their first year of eligibility put up blockbuster numbers and lead their respective teams to greatness? J.T. Barrett is the latest example, and if his stellar play continues don’t be surprised if he becomes the third freshman in a row to garner a Heisman invite. At this point, you’re probably saying to yourself, “Well, if he’s so good why didn’t you give him an A?” I have to take into account the entire body of work and let’s be honest, the Virginia Tech game didn’t exactly go the way either he or the Buckeyes anticipated.
Barrett threw three interceptions and had an abysmal 31 percent completion percentage against the Hokies. You can’t lay the entirety of the blame on him for the loss, though, as the offensive line had its own issues with the defensive pressure Virginia Tech brought all night which I’ll get to when I discuss that unit. Still, as I mentioned above, that loss is looking worse and worse with each passing week.
Since then, his play has been among the best in the nation. In fact, Barrett has the highest Total QBR over his past four games than any other quarterback. He’s thrown 17 touchdowns, one interception and his completion percentage is averaging 72.12 percent over that span. In last Saturday’s 56-17 drubbing of conference newcomer Rutgers, Barrett accounted for five of OSU’s eight touchdowns and 368 total yards, including 107 on the ground.
RUNNING BACKS: A
Much like other segments of this year’s Ohio State team, the ground game has come a long way in six games. Ezekiel Elliott is clearly the feature back after sharing the load with players such as Curtis Samuel, Rod Smith and Dontre Wilson early on. Barrett himself has proven himself to be a worthwhile weapon as a runner as well. Both him and Elliott share the team lead with four rushing touchdowns each.
Elliott is a talented, multi-faceted back that can do more than simply carry the rock down the field. He’s an exceptional blocker and can also catch balls on screen plays set up by play action. If you want to see clear cut examples of both, watch the Buckeyes opening drive against Rutgers. He set up a key block on a fourth and one play when head coach Urban Meyer decided to go for it, unleashing Barrett on a 19-yard run. On the following play, Barrett found him wide open out left on a screen for a 12-yard gain where he initially faked the run.
WIDE RECEIVERS / TIGHT ENDS: B+
Barrett certainly has an exceptional lineup of pass catchers to throw the ball to, and has taken full advantage. Both Michael Thomas and Devin Smith lead the team with five receiving touchdowns apiece and the two of them have shown big-play, yards-after-catch ability. Smith caught an 80-yard pass in the Buckeyes 34-17 season-opening win against Navy, and Thomas went 63 yards for a score in the blowout of Kent State.
Jeff Heuerman was supposed to be the go-to tight end for the Buckeyes, but Nick Vannett has suddenly become a threat down the middle with three touchdowns on the year. Vannett has freakish size at 6’6″, 260 pounds and has been targeted twice as much as Heuerman so far on the year.
OFFENSIVE LINE: C+
The offensive front five has been a work in progress all season, but they have shown marked signs of improvement since their disastrous performance against Virginia Tech. They simply had no answer for the blitz schemes and overall pressure being thrown at them, which led to the Hokies sacking Barrett a whopping seven times in the 35-21 defeat. Overall, Ohio State is 78th nationally in sacks allowed per game (2.17) which might be cause for alarm when they travel to East Lansing in a few weeks to face a Michigan State team currently tied for third in the nation in team sacks per game.
DEFENSIVE LINE: A
Sophomore defensive tackle Joey Bosa is another young talent having a breakout year for the Buckeyes. He currently finds himself in the top 20 nationally in both tackles for loss (9.0) and sacks (5.5) midway through the year. Bosa is a tall, lean defensive lineman at 6’5″ 278 pounds and routinely wins the battle in the trenches with a double dose of speed and strength. Expect him to take home first team all-conference defensive honors when those awards are announced, and should be in contention for a few national awards on that side of the ball as well.
When you combine Bosa’s exploits with that of other physical lineman on the unit which includes Adolphus Washington and Michael Bennett, you realize that defensive line is perhaps the biggest strength this team possesses.
LINEBACKERS: B
The linebacking corps is another unit with a great deal of youth, which is a scary thought for other teams in the conference over the next few years. Two freshmen have emerged as regular contributors to the success this team has had on defense in 2014, as Darron Lee and Raekwon McMillan have become fixtures on the field. Lee leads all OSU linebackers in tackles for loss with six and is tied with McMillan for the team sack lead amongst players at the position with two.
Aiding these two talented youngsters are senior middle linebacker Curtis Grant and junior Joshua Perry who tends to line up on the weak side. Between the four of them, they have a combined 15.5 tackles for loss. Overall, the Buckeyes are tied with Wisconsin for 34th in FBS, averaging 6.8 tackles for loss per game. With Bosa creating havoc in the backfield up front and an athletic group of guys lining up behind him, the defensive front seven is a major X-factor critical to this team’s postseason ambitions.
SECONDARY: B-
If there’s one unit that could aptly be described as Jekyll and Hyde, it’s the secondary. Despite being tied for 13th in the nation with ten interceptions on the year, they’re also worryingly susceptible to the big play. Against Cincinnati, they gave up three touchdown passes of 60 yards or more, including a 78-yard bomb in the third quarter that cut Ohio State’s lead to 33-28 before they scored 17 unanswered to close out the game.
There’s a mix of youth and experience in the Buckeye secondary. Both senior Doran Grant and freshman Eli Apple have picked off opposing quarterbacks twice, leading the team in that category. Apple has one of three defensive touchdowns for Ohio State this year, recovering a fumble and taking it to the house. You could make the argument they had their best game of the year against Rutgers, holding Gary Nova to a mere 192 yards passing with no touchdowns and one interception.
KICKING GAME / SPECIAL TEAMS: C
If not for the horrifyingly poor performance from kicker Sean Nuernberger in week two against Virginia Tech, there may have been the outside possibility that the Buckeyes could’ve come away with a win and remained undefeated. Nuernberger missed both field goals he attempted in the game, including a 27-yarder. Barrett would’ve probably had a lot less pressure on him if he only needed to lead the team down the field in position for a game-winnning field goal with the score 28-27 than having to get a touchdown to tie. Overall on the season, he’s six for nine. I guess when you’ve been dominating teams the way the Buckeyes have been doing, any perceived misgivings about the kicking game become a tad less magnified. Still, this could become a liability in close games.
Punter Cameron Johnston hasn’t exactly been busy this year considering how often the Buckeyes either put it in the end zone for six or between the uprights for three, but his net punting average of 40.15 yards ranks 20th in the nation. In fact, Ohio State has only punted the ball 13 times all year which is the lowest number in FBS. Dontre Wilson has been the primary kickoff and punt returner, but Jalin Marshall has chipped in a few times as well. In fact, Marshall’s 51-yard punt return against Kent State is the season long.
Onward to State College for what should be a raucous environment in Beaver Stadium. It will be the first time Barrett has experienced a hostile crowd of this magnitude, and if the Buckeyes can come away with their sixth win of the year you will indeed have seen another step in his development as a leader of the offense.
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