Looking back at Ohio State’s schedule, it’s hard to get a read on this team. The win to start the year against Texas seems unimpressive, the win at Washington might not be as solid as we thought, and beating up on Minnesota is precisely what Ohio State should do.
Even with all of that prior knowledge, I’m starting to believe that this year’s Ohio State team is better than the one that just won a national championship.
After losing Jim Knowles to Penn State this offseason and losing most of the defensive line to the NFL, the question marks for this defense were immense. Bringing in Matt Patricia to lead your defense was another questionable decision. Obviously, Patricia has coached some phenomenal defenses, most notably during his time in New England, but since then, it’s been a rockier road for him.
That’s what has made this year’s defensive jump for Ohio State so impressive. He’s doing things scheme-wise that no other coach in college football is doing. It helps to have guys like Caleb Downs, Arvell Reese, Sonny Styles, and Caden Curry on your defense that you can ask to do so many different things. Specifically with Downs and Reese, the number of ways you can trick opposing offenses with how you lineup these two is the greatest gift a defensive coordinator can receive.
Also, I don’t mind watching Knowles struggle after taking the money to stay in conference. Giving up 42 points to 0-4 UCLA, uh, uh-oh.
Everyone knows Ohio State’s defense is playing at a historic level, but the offense is finally starting to play at a national championship level as well. Ryan Day remembered that he has Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate at receiver, and if you throw it to them downfield, it’s going to have a really high success rate.
This past week, especially, it was comforting to see the connection grow between Tate and Julian Sayin. Day did a great job of scheming Tate open more, and he took advantage of the extra attention Minnesota added to Smith.
It’s also not very surprising to see Max Klare’s best game coinciding with Sayin finally throwing the ball downfield. He had 5 catches for 63 yards, but more importantly, he was involved far more in the middle of the offense, showing that Day has more trust in Sayin to take riskier shots in that portion of the field.
The more we see from Sayin and Bo Jackson, the more my confidence in this team grows. The defense will be the reason Ohio State could win a championship; however, the offense will determine how great this team truly is. Next week on the road at Illinois might be a test for this team.
Which Illinois will Ohio State have to deal with? If it’s the one we’ve seen the last two weeks, then the Buckeye defense might be in for its most challenging test of the season.
This news was originally published on this post .
About the author
Renovação trava e Real pode vender Vinícius Júnior para Arábia Saudita por valor recorde
3CTG8WW Madrid, Spain. 04th Oct, 2025. Vinicius Junior of Real Madrid C.F. seen in action during the La Liga EA SPORTS match between Real Madrid C.F. and Villarreal C.F., at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. Final score: Real Madrid 3 - 1 Villarreal C.F. (Photo by Gustavo Valiente/SOPA Images/Sipa USA) Credit: Sipa US/Alamy Live NewsO futuro de Vinicius Jr. no Real Madrid está incerto. Em meio a uma negociação que se arrasta há meses, o atacante e o clube merengue ainda não chegaram a um acordo pela renovação. O contrato atual é válido até junho de 2027. PUBLICIDADE PUBLICIDADESegundo o jornal espanhol “El Debate”, a diferença salarial entre o desejado pelos empresários do brasileiro e o que o Real Madrid está disposto a pagar tem travado as conversas. A publicação indica que o impasse gira em torno de três milhões de […]
Chris Jones on Mistake in Chiefs Loss to Jaguars: ‘It’s a Teaching Point for Me’
Chris Jones took ownership of his mistake on the decisive play in the Kansas City Chiefs' loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars last week, when the three-time All-Pro defensive tackle thought Trevor Lawrence was down and stopped on the play, only to watch the Jaguars quarterback scramble to his feet and into the end zone.Lawrence's touchdown with 23 seconds remaining gave the Jaguars a 31-28 victory over the Chiefs."It's a teaching point for me. A little adversity. I can't think the play is over, you know what I mean?" Jones said Thursday, the day he typically speaks to local reporters. "It's a learning lesson. I thought it was over, thought we had him down."The Jaguars faced first-and-goal at the 1-yard line following a pass interference penalty. But they did not have any timeouts, so if Lawrence had been tagged down on […]
FIFA tem notícia bizarra da Copa do Mundo para os fãs de futebol
Lionel Messi celebra a vitória na Copa do Mundo em 2022. (Foto: AP Photo/Martin Meissner/ Alamy )A novidade, claro, já tem precedentes, pois a Copa do Mundo de 2022 no Catar foi realizada no inverno, devido ao calor extremo do verão no país. E em 2034, a caravana do futebol seguirá para a Arábia Saudita, onde a situação será semelhante. PUBLICIDADE PUBLICIDADEMas o presidente da FIFA, Gianni Infantino, quer tornar possível, de forma geral, que a Copa do Mundo aconteça no inverno. Em uma reunião com os Clubes de Futebol Europeus, ele declarou: “Estamos constantemente discutindo isso. Não se trata apenas de uma Copa do Mundo, mas de uma visão geral. Até mesmo em alguns países europeus é muito quente em julho.”Infantino deseja reformular todo o calendário do futebol: “O melhor mês para jogar futebol é junho, mas na Europa […]
Fotbalisté Alžírska se jako čtvrtý africký celek kvalifikovali na MS
41. týden Dnes kvalifikace - čtvrtek 9. října Finsko - Litva Finsko - Litva 2 : 1 37. týden 8.9.2025 kvalifikace - pondělí 8. září Chorvatsko - Černá Hora Chorvatsko - Černá Hora 4 : 0 8.9.2025 kvalifikace - pondělí 8. září Izrael - Itálie Izrael - Itálie 4 : 5 8.9.2025 kvalifikace - pondělí 8. září Řecko - Dánsko Řecko - Dánsko 0 : 3 8.9.2025 kvalifikace - pondělí 8. září Kosovo - Švédsko Kosovo - Švédsko 2 : 0 8.9.2025 kvalifikace - pondělí 8. září Bělorusko - Skotsko Bělorusko - Skotsko 0 : 2 8.9.2025 kvalifikace - pondělí 8. září Švýcarsko - Slovinsko Švýcarsko - Slovinsko 3 : 0 8.9.2025 kvalifikace - pondělí 8. září Gibraltar - Faerské o. Gibraltar - Faerské o. 0 : 1 36. týden 7.9.2025 kvalifikace - neděle 7. září Turecko - Španělsko Turecko - Španělsko 0 : 6 7.9.2025 kvalifikace - neděle 7. září Německo - Sev. Irsko Německo - Sev. […]
South Africa stun India to win Women’s World Cup thriller
Nadine de Klerk hit 84 not out off 54 balls as South Africa stunned hosts India by three wickets at the Women's Cricket World Cup in Visakhapatnam.De Klerk, whose total included five sixes and eight fours, put on vital lower-order partnerships after skipper Laura Wolvaardt hit 70 off 111 balls as South Africa scored 252-7 in 48.5 overs. That was in reply to India's 251 all out in 49.5 overs. De Klerk took 2-52 and Chloe Tyron picked 3-32 in 10 overs as the Women in Blue were down to 102-6 at one stage.Richa Ghosh's 94 off 77 balls - including four sixes and 11 fours - helped take India to a competitive total before the Proteas registered a winning chase. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player India's Kranti Gaud somehow took a stunning caught and […]
Algeria Qualifies for 2026 World Cup for First Time Since 2014
Algeria has become the fourth African country to qualify for the 2026 World Cup — and all of them are from the north of the continent.A 3-0 win over Somalia on Thursday guaranteed Algeria first place in Group G in African qualifying with a match to spare and a return to the World Cup for the first time since 2014.Algeria, captained by Riyad Mahrez and led by former Switzerland coach Vladimir Petkovic, joined neighboring nations Morocco and Tunisia as well as Mohamed Salah's Egypt in securing a spot in next year’s expanded 48-team tournament being held in the United States, Canada and Mexico.It will be the fifth time for the Algerians at the World Cup — and they’ve only ever progressed from the group stage once, in 2014 when they lost to Germany in the round of 16.A total of […]
Related
Renovação trava e Real pode vender Vinícius Júnior para Arábia Saudita por valor recorde
3CTG8WW Madrid, Spain. 04th Oct, 2025. Vinicius Junior of Real Madrid C.F. seen in action during the La Liga EA SPORTS match between Real Madrid C.F. and Villarreal C.F., at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. Final score: Real Madrid 3 - 1 Villarreal C.F. (Photo by Gustavo Valiente/SOPA Images/Sipa USA) Credit: Sipa US/Alamy Live NewsO futuro de Vinicius Jr. no Real Madrid está incerto. Em meio a uma negociação que se arrasta há meses, o atacante e o clube merengue ainda não chegaram a um acordo pela renovação. O contrato atual é válido até junho de 2027. PUBLICIDADE PUBLICIDADESegundo o jornal espanhol “El Debate”, a diferença salarial entre o desejado pelos empresários do brasileiro e o que o Real Madrid está disposto a pagar tem travado as conversas. A publicação indica que o impasse gira em torno de três milhões de […]
Chris Jones on Mistake in Chiefs Loss to Jaguars: ‘It’s a Teaching Point for Me’
Chris Jones took ownership of his mistake on the decisive play in the Kansas City Chiefs' loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars last week, when the three-time All-Pro defensive tackle thought Trevor Lawrence was down and stopped on the play, only to watch the Jaguars quarterback scramble to his feet and into the end zone.Lawrence's touchdown with 23 seconds remaining gave the Jaguars a 31-28 victory over the Chiefs."It's a teaching point for me. A little adversity. I can't think the play is over, you know what I mean?" Jones said Thursday, the day he typically speaks to local reporters. "It's a learning lesson. I thought it was over, thought we had him down."The Jaguars faced first-and-goal at the 1-yard line following a pass interference penalty. But they did not have any timeouts, so if Lawrence had been tagged down on […]
FIFA tem notícia bizarra da Copa do Mundo para os fãs de futebol
Lionel Messi celebra a vitória na Copa do Mundo em 2022. (Foto: AP Photo/Martin Meissner/ Alamy )A novidade, claro, já tem precedentes, pois a Copa do Mundo de 2022 no Catar foi realizada no inverno, devido ao calor extremo do verão no país. E em 2034, a caravana do futebol seguirá para a Arábia Saudita, onde a situação será semelhante. PUBLICIDADE PUBLICIDADEMas o presidente da FIFA, Gianni Infantino, quer tornar possível, de forma geral, que a Copa do Mundo aconteça no inverno. Em uma reunião com os Clubes de Futebol Europeus, ele declarou: “Estamos constantemente discutindo isso. Não se trata apenas de uma Copa do Mundo, mas de uma visão geral. Até mesmo em alguns países europeus é muito quente em julho.”Infantino deseja reformular todo o calendário do futebol: “O melhor mês para jogar futebol é junho, mas na Europa […]
Fotbalisté Alžírska se jako čtvrtý africký celek kvalifikovali na MS
41. týden Dnes kvalifikace - čtvrtek 9. října Finsko - Litva Finsko - Litva 2 : 1 37. týden 8.9.2025 kvalifikace - pondělí 8. září Chorvatsko - Černá Hora Chorvatsko - Černá Hora 4 : 0 8.9.2025 kvalifikace - pondělí 8. září Izrael - Itálie Izrael - Itálie 4 : 5 8.9.2025 kvalifikace - pondělí 8. září Řecko - Dánsko Řecko - Dánsko 0 : 3 8.9.2025 kvalifikace - pondělí 8. září Kosovo - Švédsko Kosovo - Švédsko 2 : 0 8.9.2025 kvalifikace - pondělí 8. září Bělorusko - Skotsko Bělorusko - Skotsko 0 : 2 8.9.2025 kvalifikace - pondělí 8. září Švýcarsko - Slovinsko Švýcarsko - Slovinsko 3 : 0 8.9.2025 kvalifikace - pondělí 8. září Gibraltar - Faerské o. Gibraltar - Faerské o. 0 : 1 36. týden 7.9.2025 kvalifikace - neděle 7. září Turecko - Španělsko Turecko - Španělsko 0 : 6 7.9.2025 kvalifikace - neděle 7. září Německo - Sev. Irsko Německo - Sev. […]
South Africa stun India to win Women’s World Cup thriller
Nadine de Klerk hit 84 not out off 54 balls as South Africa stunned hosts India by three wickets at the Women's Cricket World Cup in Visakhapatnam.De Klerk, whose total included five sixes and eight fours, put on vital lower-order partnerships after skipper Laura Wolvaardt hit 70 off 111 balls as South Africa scored 252-7 in 48.5 overs. That was in reply to India's 251 all out in 49.5 overs. De Klerk took 2-52 and Chloe Tyron picked 3-32 in 10 overs as the Women in Blue were down to 102-6 at one stage.Richa Ghosh's 94 off 77 balls - including four sixes and 11 fours - helped take India to a competitive total before the Proteas registered a winning chase. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player India's Kranti Gaud somehow took a stunning caught and […]
Algeria Qualifies for 2026 World Cup for First Time Since 2014
Algeria has become the fourth African country to qualify for the 2026 World Cup — and all of them are from the north of the continent.A 3-0 win over Somalia on Thursday guaranteed Algeria first place in Group G in African qualifying with a match to spare and a return to the World Cup for the first time since 2014.Algeria, captained by Riyad Mahrez and led by former Switzerland coach Vladimir Petkovic, joined neighboring nations Morocco and Tunisia as well as Mohamed Salah's Egypt in securing a spot in next year’s expanded 48-team tournament being held in the United States, Canada and Mexico.It will be the fifth time for the Algerians at the World Cup — and they’ve only ever progressed from the group stage once, in 2014 when they lost to Germany in the round of 16.A total of […]
Be the first to leave a comment