Heading into the 2024 season, the Ohio State offense was expected to take another step forward with a new quarterback and top-of-the-line weapons. The offensive line was expected to get better. Through six games, the offense looks good enough to get the job done.
After the first loss of the year to Oregon, 32-31, the Buckeye offense took a slight tumble in the statistical rankings. Now, Ohio State’s 43.5 points per game is sixth in the country. The passing offense is now 18th (294.3 yards per game), the rushing offense is 22nd (208.7 yards per game), and the total offense is sixth (503 yards per game).
Buckeye Bye Week Breakdown: Offense Doing its Job
Quarterback is Enough
Comparison is the thief of joy. Don’t look at who the third-leading passer in the nation is, Buckeye fans.
Bad faith argument aside, (Kyle McCord has attempted 117 more passes), Will Howard has been very good for the Ohio State offense. His predecessor leads him in passing yards by 586 yards but, again, McCord has thrown the ball 71% more. Howard has him in completion percentage (73.3% vs. 65.6%).
On paper, they are not similar. On the field, they are not similar.
Thus far this year, Howard has been great for the Buckeyes thanks to his ability to manage the game and take care of the football all while being able to fit passes in narrow windows. He has three interceptions but it could have been avoided if he trusted his receiver.
On the biggest stage, he was great against Oregon. His defense let him down and he had to take his 28-for-35, 326-yard, two-touchdown performance in a loss.
Moving forward, Howard has shown that he can win the game. On that final drive against the Ducks, he made clutch throws. Unfortunately, he will be blamed for Ryan Day’s clock mismanagement.
Great Running Back Duo
Against Oregon, the Ohio State offense had to move away from the run game. As a result, it put up a season-low in rushing despite two touchdowns.
The one-two punch of Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson has been as dynamic as any. Judkins leads the way with 491 yards and six touchdowns off 71 carries. Henderson, meanwhile, has run for 424 yards and four scores off 52 carries.
Both players have home-run-hitting ability. In terms of runs of 10-plus yards, both backs have broken through for 14.
There is certainly a timeline where both Judkins and Henderson end up with over 1,000 yards on the ground. Henderson’s freshman season was the last 1,000-yard season from a Buckeye back (2021). The last time the program had multiple 1,000-yard players, Carlos Hyde, and Braxton Miller led the Buckeyes to a 12-2 season in 2013.
Pick Your Poison
Only two programs in college football have two receivers with at least 525 receiving yards. Washington has one pair and the Ohio State offense has the other.
Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka have been as good as advertised. Smith, the true freshman, leads the way with 553 yards and seven touchdowns off 32 catches. His yardage and touchdown marks are second-best in the Big Ten to this point. Of his 32 catches, 14 were of greater than 15 yards and four of his touchdowns were as well, including a 70-yard explosion against Western Michigan.
Egbuka has been back to his 2022 form. He is sitting with 526 yards and six touchdowns off 40 catches to this point. He’s been just as explosive as Smith. 15 of his receptions were 15 yards or more. He has four such touchdowns including a 68-yarder against Marshall.
Smith and Egbuka are the only two receivers with more than 15 receptions to this point.
Ohio State failed to field two 1,000-yard receivers last year after doing so in 2022. With at least six games remaining, it looks like this year’s team will be able to get back to that mark.
Recently, Smith joined Egbuka on the Biletnikoff Award watchlist. There is a little work left to do if either wants to keep the award in Columbus after Marvin Harrison, Jr. won it last year.
Trenches Better…But Beat Up
Last year, the offensive line struggled, highlighting the immobility of McCord. This year, it’s been significantly better.
Josh Simmons has developed into an NFL-ready left tackle. Donovan Jackson missed the first two games due to injury and has taken time to get back to form. Seth McLaughlin has been well worth the effort to get his transfer commitment. Tegra Tsabola has been solid at right guard. Josh Fryar has been better in terms of PFF grading at right tackle and hasn’t been responsible for blowing up plays.
Austin Siereveld played at left guard in place of Jackson and has served as a rotational body with Tshabola at right guard and has actually looked good.
The issue now is Simmons is more than likely lost for the season. In the loss to Oregon, he suffered a non-contact injury to his knee, and in his press conferences, Ryan Day has said it was not a good injury. Zen Michalski took over in his place and was serviceable. However, for the remainder of the season, there will be a dropoff in terms of ability.
It will be interesting to see who steps up at left tackle. Since there is an off week this week, Justin Frye will have time to get his offensive line ready.
The run game has taken a massive step forward thanks to the Ohio State offensive line, improving to 5.9 yards per carry from 4.2 yards a year ago. In total, the unit has allowed five sacks (four sacks of Howard).
Once again, all eyes will be on the line when it suits up against Nebraska on October 26.
Looking Ahead
Six games down, six games remain on the schedule for the Ohio State offense. This is how the next six opponents currently stack up on defense:
- Nebraska: Seventh in scoring (11.5 points per game), 13th in total defense (272.5 yards per game), 32nd in passing defense (188.3 yards per game), seventh in rushing defense (84.2 yards per game)
- at Penn State: Ninth in scoring (14.5 points), eighth in total defense (262.5 yards), 14th in passing defense (167.5), 14th in rushing defense (95.0 yards)
- Purdue: 130th in scoring (39.0 points), 125th in total defense (456.7 yards), 87th in passing defense (227.8 yards), 126th in rushing defense (228.8 yards)
- at Northwestern: 28th in scoring (19.0 points), 61st in total defense (348.7 yards), 114th in passing defense (261.2 yards), ninth in rushing defense (87.5 yards)
- Indiana: 11th in scoring (14.8 points), sixth in total defense (255.7 yards), 21st in passing defense (171.8 yards), sixth in rushing defense (83.8 yards)
- Michigan: 57th in scoring (22.3 points), 44th in total defense (336.2 yards), 111th in passing defense (259.8 yards), third in rushing defense (76.3 yards)
There are some solid defenses left on the schedule. Five of the final six teams have a rushing defense currently ranked in the top 14 in the nation. However, the passing offense should be able to continue playing well with a couple of the worst secondaries in the country waiting.
The obvious “circle that matchup” games left are at Penn State and Michigan. Penn State is poised to be in the top five and is starting to punch its ticket to the College Football Playoff. Michigan is The Game to win. Even though the team is about 90% worse than last year’s team, it’s still Michigan.
Northwestern and Purdue have struggled this year with the Boilermakers sitting as one of the worst teams in the FBS this year.
Nebraska and Indiana will be interesting. The Cornhuskers are the first game in the six-game homestretch with the Hoosiers in the penultimate week. Both look good, albeit flawed. Either way, they’ll give Ohio State a better test than in recent memory.
