Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

Week Three Preview: Ohio State Buckeyes

The Ohio State Buckeyes have had some what of a rocky, but very intriguing off-season. There is a lot of turnover in Columbus as Urban Meyer “retired” after the Buckeyes Rose Bowl win over Washington and star quarterback Dwayne Haskins, along with eight other Buckeye draft picks, will be suiting up on NFL Sundays. The Buckeyes also lost two other scholarship quarterbacks to transfer. Seems like all of this noise and movement would cripple a program.

However, Ohio State is not just any program. The demise of Ohio State may be very over exaggerated and extremely premature. Yes, Urban Meyer is no longer on the side line and the defensive staff has been overhauled, but the Buckeyes elevated Ryan Day to head coach and hired Jeff Hafley and Greg Mattison to be co-defensive coordinators (DL coach Larry Johnson was the only defensive assistant Day retained) to revamp a unit that was plagued by big plays most of the year. Yes, Dwayne Haskins is no longer behind center, but in comes former five-star quarterback Justin Fields as an immediately eligible transfer from Georgia. Oh, and the Buckeye roster is still loaded with four and five-star talent. So this year’s Buckeye team, while they have more questions to answer about themselves as usual should still be in the conversation for a Big Ten title as well as a College Football Playoff berth.

Week Three: Ohio State Buckeyes

Date & Time: Saturday, September 14, 2019 at 12:00PM EST

Venue: Memorial Stadium, Bloomington, Indiana

TV: Fox

Buckeyes at a Glance

Head Coach: Ryan Day

Entering his first full year as Ohio State’s Head Coach

Overall Record: 3-0 (as an interim HC in 2018)

At Ohio State: 3-0 (as an interim HC in 2018)

Last Season: 13-1 (8-1) Big Ten and Rose Bowl Champions

Buckeyes Returning Leaders

Passing: Justin Fields (@Georgia) (2018: 27-39, 69.2 Comp %, 328 Passing Yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs)

Rushing: J.K. Dobbins (2018: 230 attempts, 1,053 yards, 4.58 avg, 10 TDs)

Receiving: K.J. Hill (2018: 68 receptions, 865 yards, 6 TDs)

Tackles: Jordan Fuller (2018: 81 TKLs, 2.5 TFLs, 1 INT, 4 Passes Defensed)

Buckeyes Preseason Predictions

Athlon: 2nd in the Big Ten East

Lindy’s: 2nd in the Big Ten East

Phil Steele:

Street & Smith’s: 1st in the Big Ten East

S&P+: Ranked 7th

Impact Newcomers for the Buckeyes

Justin Fields, Quarterback- Fields is the name people have heard the most as an impact newcomer for the Buckeyes. After Haskins left early for the NFL, the Buckeyes reached into the transfer portal and pulled out the former five-star recruit. Fields played in 12 games last year at Georgia in a back-up or in a ‘wildcat’ package. He completed 27 of his 39 passes for 328 yards and four touchdowns. Fields is also a threat with his feet, scoring four times on the ground as well. He is immediately eligible at Ohio State and is classified as a sophomore, so he has three years of eligibility left.

Fields was in Columbus for for spring practice and had an up and down spring game. He completed only four of his 13 passes, but those four went for 131 yards, including a 98-yard touchdown strike. He added 38 yards and a touchdown on eight carries.

Garrett Wilson, Wide Receiver- Wilson was the second rated receiver and the 20th overall prospect in the 2019 recruiting class. Wilson is a smaller receiver at 5’11.5”, but has 4.6 speed and a 36-inch vertical. He enrolled early at Ohio State and had a solid spring game hauling in four passes for 44 yards and a score. Ohio State lost a trio of receivers to the NFL and will need some fresh blood to step in and bolster the rotation. Wilson looks like he can be that guy that can give Day’s offense at least four games, if not more.

Jonah Jackson, Offensive Line- The Buckeyes lost four players off their offensive line to the NFL after the 2018 season, so Ohio State once again turned to the transfer portal. This time landing Jonah Jackson, a graduate transfer from Rutgers. Jackson should land the starting left guard job. Jackson played in 29 games, including 16 starts, with the Scarlet Knights. Last season he earned an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention as well as being named a team captain. Jackson also excelled off the field and was named an Academic All-Big Ten honoree.

Jackson was one of the most sought after players in the transfer portal and the 6’4” 305-pound redshirt senior should bring some stability to the interior of the Buckeye line.

Zach Harrison, Defensive Line- Harrison was another five-star recruit and a top-15 prospect nationally. The Buckeyes will have to replace Nick Bosa, who was injured most of the year last season, and Dre’Mont Jones who had 13 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks. Ohio State is still loaded along the defensive line, don’t make the assumption that they aren’t, but Harrison could fight his way into the rotation.

Offensive Preview

Anytime a team loses their Heisman caliber quarterback, three of their top four rushers, three of their four leading receivers and three starting offensive linemen, it usually induces a little bit of panic. However, the Buckeyes are not in panic mode. In fact, if I were an Ohio State fan I’m excited about the intriguing battles that will be taking place in fall camp.

Urban Meyer’s thumb print is still all over this program and the recruiting classes he stacked will continue to pay off, at least for a couple more years. He did not leave the cupboard bare.

All eyes will be on Justin Fields, who will try and replace Haskins behind center. Fields is a 6’3” 223-pound transfer from Georgia. Out of high school he was the second rated quarterback in the country behind Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence. The talent is there, the question is can he harness it. Fields won’t bring a canon like Haskins, but he can throw the ball well and adds a dimension with his legs that Haskins didn’t.

Behind Fields is where things get a little dicey. Due to Ohio State reaching out into the transfer portal for Fields they lost Tate Martell (Miami) and Matthew Baldwin (TCU). This leaves Day and offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson with Chris Chugunov, a transfer from West Virginia who has just 45 pass attempts to his name and Kentucky transfer Gunnar Hoak who has just five games of experience and 26 passing attempts, as their scholarship quarterbacks. If Fields stays healthy, there isn’t a depth problem.

Another question for the Buckeyes heading into the fall will be rebuilding the offensive line that saw four players move on to the next level. According to Phil Steele’s College Football Preview the Buckeyes projected starting offensive line is senior Branden Bowen (6’7” 312 lbs) at right tackle, Rutgers graduate transfer Jonah Jackson at right guard, sophomore Josh Meyers at center, who played in 10 games as a freshman, Gavin Cupp, a 6’4” junior who has seven games of experience at left guard and Thayer Munford who started all 13 games for the Buckeyes last year at left tackle. It may take a few games for this new group to gel, but they will still be one of the better offensive lines in the Big Ten.

The backs running behind the offensive line will be led by junior J.K. Dobbins, whose career started with a bang in 2017 against the Hoosiers rushing for 181 yards on his way to a 1,400-yard season as a true freshman. Dobbins didn’t quite have the sophomore season he wanted to as he saw his yard per carry average drop almost three full yards from 7.23 in 2017 to 4.58 in 2018. Dobbins still finished with over 1,000 yards (1,053) and 10 touchdowns.

The Buckeyes will have to find some runners to backup Dobbins as Mike Weber jumped to the league. Weber ran for 954 yards and five touchdowns last season. The early candidates to backup Dobbins are Demario McCall, a junior with some explosiveness, and sophomore Master Teauge. McCall has 491 yards and four touchdowns in his career at Ohio State. Teague ran 17 times for 106 yards and a score as a true freshman last season.

The Buckeyes will also have to replace three wide receivers who left for the NFL including Parris Campbell who caught a whopping 12 touchdowns, but the group is still led by a strong group of upper classmen with a few dynamic youngsters sprinkled in.

Ohio State caught a break when second leading receiver K.J. Hill decided to return for his senior season. Hill had a breakout season catching 70 passes for 885 yards and six touchdowns. Hill has the tools, should he stay healthy, to take over that number one receiver role.

Binjimen Victor and Austin Mack return to start at the other receiver positions after combing for 47 receptions, 685 yards and five touchdowns. It’s their time to shine. If either of them falters the backups will be ready to take advantage. Jaylin Harris, Mack’s backup, had only two receptions last year, while true freshman Garret Williams could add speed off the bench and be a factor behind Victor.

The Buckeyes return a pair of tight ends who really weren’t used much in the passing game a year ago in sophomore starter Luke Farrell (20 rec. 205 yards one TD) and junior Rashod Berry (nine rec. 78 yards 2 TDs) and sophomore Jeremy Ruckert, who only caught one pass. The low numbers aren’t due to a lack of talent, that’s there, the Buckeyes just will look to utilize it more often than they have in the past.

Defensive Preview

Life without a Bosa on the defensive line is strange for people watching the Buckeyes, but that doesn’t mean it has to be bad. Ryan Day revamped the defensive side of the ball after the Buckeyes finished 71st, yes you read that right, in total defense by giving up 403.4 points per game. Their defense, or lack there of in a loss against Purdue kept the Buckeyes out of the College Football Playoff. The hope is that new co-coordinators Greg Mattison and Jeff Hafley can plug the holes.

The defensive line should still be a strength for Ohio State as Chase Young returns for his junior season after posting a team-high 14.5 TFLs and 9.5 sacks as a sophomore in place of an injured Nick Bosa. Senior Jonathan Cooper will start opposite Young on the edge. Cooper added 6.5 TFLs and 2.5 sacks last season.

In the middle of the defensive line seniors Robert Landers and Davon Hamilton will try and open holes for the linebackers to run through and make plays. The two combined for 22 tackles, 8.5 TFLs, but only one sack.

The glaring weakness of the Ohio State defense last season was at linebacker and there are still questions about how successful this group can be in 2019. This unit lacked speed and athleticism a year ago and fell prey to the big play, especially on the ground. The good news is that everyone is back. Senior Malik Harrison finished tied for the team lead in tackles in 2019 with 81, while juniors Tuf Borland (67) and Pete Warner (58) took spots three and four.

The Buckeyes are deploying a new ‘Bullet’ position, similar to IU’s Husky, in 2019 which may give them more of a nickel (5 defensive back) look. It’ll take a linebacker off the field, but it may allow the defensive coordinators to play more of their best athletes.

In the secondary, the Buckeyes return co-leading tackler safety Jordan Fuller however, will need to improve a unit that struggled in man-to-man coverage.

Free safety Fuller will be joined by junior Brendon White as the boundary safety. White played in all 13 games, including five starts, in 2018. He finished with 46 tackles, four TFLs and two pass break ups.

On the corners, senior Damon Arnette and junior Jeffery Okudah will try and be more physical after being shredded in man-to-man coverage and forcing Ohio State to play more zone. Arnette had 40 tackles and was second on the team with seven passes defensed (6 PBUs and a an INT). Okudah led the team in passes defensed with eight, but did not have an interception. He also added 34 tackles. Shaun Wade will provide some veteran depth as he picked off three passes in 2018.

Special Teams Preview

The buckeyes return most of their specialists from 2018. The only opening is at kick returner where Jonnie Dixon leaves, but DeMario McCall should slide right into that spot.

Kicker Blake Haubell returns after taking over for an injured Sean Nuernberger. He made 10-of-13 field goals with a long of 47. He will also be the primary kickoff man after booting 103 kickoffs for a 60.5-yard average. He will only had 33 touchbacks, but Ohio State sky kicks most of the time to try and pin teams down inside the 25-yard line.

Punter Drue Chrisman had a stellar sophomore year averaging 43.21 yards per punt with a 41.8 net average. Opponents fair caught 25 of his 61 punts and he pinned teams inside their own 20-yard line 29 times. Ohio State also did not let up a blocked punt in 2018.

K.J. Hill is back as the primary punt returner after averaging 5.4 yards per return. Although, with Hill as the potential number one receiver, Ohio State could use someone else back there as well. DeMario McCall should take over the kick return duties after averaging 19.5 yards per attempt on 10 returns.

Past 2019 First Glance Previews

Week One: Ball State

Week Two: Eastern Illinois

The Huddle

First Glance: Week Three Open Big Ten Play with New Look Buckeyes Coming to Memorial Stadium