COLUMBUS, Ohio - This is a difficult week to ascertain questions about the opponent. With all due respect to Miami (Ohio), this team won't provide much of a challenge to Ohio State, and so for the Buckeyes, this is a week about reflecting on the first few games and seeing where they need to improve before they get into the bulk of their Big Ten slate coming up against Nebraska, Michigan State and Northwestern.
With Ohio State expected to score a lot of points this week and fill up the stats sheets, we'll get into some important stats and observations from the first few games of the season and see how they'll impact Ohio State moving forward. Check back to BuckeyeGrove.com on Sunday to find out the answers to these questions.
Can Chase Young stay on his record-breaking pace?
Through three games, Chase Young has gotten to the quarterback five times. With 1.5 sacks against Florida Atlantic and Cincinnati as well as two sacks against Indiana, Young is not only on pace for a personal best, but for a record breaking season in Ohio State history.
Former Ohio State defensive end Vernon Gholston holds the single season sack record for Ohio State with 14 sacks in 13 games. With five sacks on three games, extrapolated to a 13 game season in which Young plays in this year's Big Ten Championship Game, that would translate to a a nearly 22 sack season for the junior and make him Ohio State's second leader in sacks behind Mike Vrabel's 36 sacks from 1993-1996.
While it's unlikely to happen and unfair to expect Young to stay on pace for 22 sacks, against Miami (Ohio), there's no reason Young can't continue to boost his stat sheet, but only needing 10 sacks to break the Ohio State single season record, one sack per game doesn't seem like to much of an ask for one of the best defensive ends in the country.
Can the rushing defense remain one of the best in the nation?
Don't look now, but Ohio State is currently tied with San Diego State for the No. 3 rushing defense in the nation. Only allowing an astounding 1.7 yards per carry on just over 30 carries per game, the Buckeyes are only behind fellow Big Ten competitors Wisconsin (1.3 YPC) and Michigan State (0.9 YPC).
The run defense has by far been one of the most improved aspects from Ohio State's defense last season which gave up 4.6 yards per carry. While the Buckeyes haven't faced some of the top tier rushers that they'll run into later this season (Jonathan Taylor, anyone?), Cincinnati's Michael Warren II and Indiana's Stevie Scott aren't slouches, so Ohio State has shown some serious grit having these impressive numbers for the rushing defense.
It's hard to predict what will happen with the teams above Ohio State in rushing defense, it seems fair to say that Ohio State will be able to keep doing what they've been doing against Miami (Ohio).
Will Justin Fields play deep into the second half?
Through the first three games of the season, Justin Fields has stayed in the game longer than most though he would, playing late into the fourth quarter and only giving the last couple drives to Chris Chugonov and Gunnar Hoak even when the game has gotten long out of hand for the opposing team.
Like Florida Atlantic, we may be looking at another situation against Miami (Ohio) where the game is out of reach by the end of the first quarter. Now that Fields has more experience having played nearly three full games worth of snaps, when is it time to start pulling the plug on him in blowouts?
This may be the week where we get a full quarter of Chugonov or Hoak. With Nebraska the following week in the back of everyone's mind, the coaching staff can look for opportunities to give the starters some rest before a big road trip
Will Blake Haubeil be a dependable option for Ohio State?
Blake Haubeil has become somewhat of a forgotten man this season. With the offense converting on seemingly every red zone opportunity, Haubeil has made each of his 19 extra point attempts this season, but is only 1-for-2 on his field goal attempts. He made a 46-yard attempt against Florida Atlantic but shanked a 32-yard field goal against Indiana on a good hold.
Haubeil has not shown the consistency you'd like to see for a team that is quickly establishing itself as a serious championship contender. Last season, Haubeil converted 10 of his 13 field goal attempts, missing from 33 and 44 yards as well as having a kick blocked. He hasn't been asked yet to make a kick in crunch time for the Buckeyes, so we don't yet know what type of clutch factor he has.
Don't think I'm calling for Haubeil to be benched here for Ohio State, though. On the contrary, the Buckeyes would actually benefit from letting Haubeil have some more in-game action. It will only benefit the Buckeyes in the long run when they're depending on him for a game-winning kick.
Against Miami (Ohio), the Buckeyes might score on every possession and Haubeil may not be able to kick, but with every made extra point and field goal attempt the staff will only be more sure that Haubeil will be the guy for them when the time comes.
Can Demario McCall finally get involved in the offense?
Going into this season, it was expected that Demario McCall would be the No. 2 running back behind J.K. Dobbins. Three games and 215 yards later for Master Teague II, it appears that won't be the case for McCall.
He's shined on special teams and has come close to taking a couple of returns to the house, but on offense, he's only received nine carries in three games, so it's unclear where McCall's role is in this offense. Going into his fourth year with Ohio State, it unfortunately seems at this point that his role in the offense is not having a role in the offense.
It's useless to speculate as to why coaches are keeping him off the field, but if McCall can't see a decent number of carries against a team like Miami (Ohio) where the starters mostly won't be seeing the field in the second half, it's time to shut the door in 2019 on McCall being a significant part of the Buckeyes' offense.
