At the Open Week: Biggest Positive Surprise

The Buckeyes are sitting at 7-1 at the 'Open Week' and before the season started, many people would have been happy with that. Ohio State had a challenging start to the season with a week three game against TCU in Arlington (Texas) and a week five game at Penn State. Many felt that this team might drop one of those games and be sitting at this point with that 7-1 record. Nobody was really expecting the lone loss to come by the hands of Purdue, once the Buckeyes navigated that early season minefield.

But it is what it is and now the Buckeyes have the open week to get healthy and regroup.

This team can either learn from its mistakes and get better or let Purdue beat them a second time and maybe more down the stretch.

As we are now through our first eight games of the season, it is a good time to hit the pause button with the open week and look back at the first part of the season. Being optimistic guys here at BuckeyeGrove, we are going to take a look at the positives first. What has been the biggest surprise(s) to start this year? We each weigh in with a different pick to shed a little light on a season that has had a lot of positives, even if everyone is stuck in the most recent negative.

Kevin Noon: The obvious answer would be the quarterback play but going to try and go a different direction here while still staying somewhat related. I think that the play of the wide receivers has been a big reason why this team is sitting at 7-1 rather than 5-3 or something along those lines.

The elevation of Brian Hartline to the interim WR coach position has been a major win for this team and it sure does not hurt having a room full of third, fourth and fifth year players within the program. We saw flashes from guys like Parris Campbell, Terry McLaurin and Johnnie Dixon through the years to go along with steady performer K.J. Hill but this year has seen all of them run with the opportunity of having a strong-armed QB that can make all of the throws.

Sure, it would be great if there was more offensive balance and that is something that will get talked about later this week but just imagine where this team would be if it were having to rely upon a bunch of first and second year guys who were high on promise and short on actual production.

People are already talking about if Dwayne Haskins will be back for another run next season or not (put me in the 'He Gone' category) but this passing game will lose a lot with the graduation of several difference makers at the position. The good news will be if/when the Buckeyes give Hartline the full-time gig as the receivers coach and what he can do with the next crop of receivers looking to make their mark on the program.

Andy Anders: Kevin certainly made this answer seem like a big gob of low-hanging fruit. I won't deny that. My big positive surprise is redshirt sophomore quarterback Dwayne Haskins.

From the first time I watched Haskins throw a ball (like all of us) it felt he was destined for greatness at the position. He's the first player I remember being able to enjoy watch go through warm-ups, simply because he's so good at what he does that even at walk-through speed it's incredibly impressive.

He's been historically great for the Buckeyes this year too. Entering 2018 Ohio State had one 400-yard passing game in school history. Haskins has done it three games in a row. With 30 touchdown passes he's only six away from breaking the single-season school record, and at least six games remain. He'll easily set the yardage record too and is on track for a completion percentage record by six percent (minimum 100 attempts).

It's safe to say this is so far the greatest year ever by an Ohio State quarterback.

Cameron Thompson: Following the undeniable success of the quarterback and the receivers, I can say with confidence that the next pleasant surprise is the special teams. Now, take that assessment as you will, whether this selection is an indictment on the rest of the units not performing to potential or the special teams being actually really good. Either way, you'd be correct.

The kickoff and punt coverages have been solid for the most part and have keep opposing returners from reaching the end zone. Redshirt senior kicker Sean Nuernberger has performed very well for Ohio State remaining a perfect 216-for-216 in extra points in his Buckeye career while being 3-for-5 in field goals this year.

Nuernberger went down to injury unexpected in warmups against Minnesota. As a result, sophomore kicker Blake Haubeil came in and went 3-for-3 in field goals, not a bad performance in your first action in a tight game to perform like that. Then came Purdue, where he went 2-for-3 missing his first field goal on a 33-yard attempt. Even with a few missed field goals by the Buckeye kickers, the overall performance has been good with a total percentage of 72 percent and the emergence of Haubeil has helped in that regard.

Another aspect of the special teams that has emerged has been Drue Chrisman. So far this season, Chrisman has had 31 punts for a total of 1350 yards, that averages 43.5 yards per punt with his longest a booming 65-yard punt. Many of his punts have found their way inside the opponent's 20 or even 10-yard line to give a struggling defense the advantage of good field position.