Midseason trends: Ohio State offense

It's the bye week.

As Ohio State rests for the second half of its season, let's take a look at what the Buckeyes' offense has done so far this season, and what could be up next starting Oct. 23.

The Good: Simply, C.J. Stroud.

Through five games, the redshirt freshman quarterback has thrown 18 touchdowns compared to three interceptions, averaging 339.8 passing yards per game, sixth best in the country; and 16.3 passing yards per completion, fourth best in the country.

Since he returned to the field after missing the Akron game due to his sore shoulder, Stroud has only seemed to get stronger, throwing 736 passing yards, 10 touchdowns and no interceptions while completing 73% of his passes against Rutgers and Maryland.

With both Jack Miller III and Kyle McCord seeing the field in garbage time and against the Zips in Week 4, Stroud is starting to show why he was picked to be the starting quarterback in fall camp.

The Bad: There really isn't anything bad that Stroud and the rest of the quarterback room can control.

The redshirt freshman ended his interception streak at three games, not turning the ball over once in his past two games. His tendency to overthrow receivers has died down too with a rested shoulder and more confidence in and around the pocket.

The "bad" thing is that Stroud hasn't performed against any of the top defenses in the conference.

While he has a matchup against the Big Ten's worst pass defense in Michigan State, allowing 301.7 yards per game, the top defense Stroud has faced this season has been Rutgers at No. 7, with matchups against Michigan (No. 4), Penn State (No. 5) and Nebraska (No. 6) ahead of the regular season.

The Question: How will Stroud respond?

Over the past two weeks, the redshirt freshman quarterback only seems to be gaining steam. He's hit receivers in stride, not forcing plays down the field, but putting it in spots to where his receivers can make plays; even if it means checking down to a running back or a tight end.

So coming out of a bye week after another week if rest, it will be interesting to see if the momentum continues or if the quarterback starts to come back down to earth.

With what he has in his arsenal and the confidence he has shown though, it seems like Stroud's just getting started.

The Good: Again, it comes down to one player: TreVeyon Henderson.

He's just one of four players in the country to have at least 11 touchdowns, averaging 8.7 yards per carry — fourth best in the NCAA. While he only has two games of at least 100 yards in the ground game, including a 277-yard performance against Tulsa, the freshman back has scored one touchdown in each of his six games played, including six in his last three games.

No matter if it's through the running game or in the passing game, Henderson is deadly in space, showing home--run speed when he gets to the second level of opposing defenses, seemingly gaining steam with each touch that he gets.

The Bad: Again, there are some aspects of this that have been good.

Ohio State has more depth in its running back room than it normally does. Master Teague IV is behind Henderson with 44 carries for 252 yards and three touchdowns, followed by Miyan Williams — 32 carries for 249 yards and a touchdown — and Marcus Crowley — 20 carries for 103 yards.

But Williams has been unavailable for the last three games with an undisclosed injury, something, he tweeted out during the Maryland game, that he would come back from.

When Williams was healthy and available, there did not seem to be much consistency between who was behind Henderson. Williams, who started the season as Ohio State's No. 1 running back, averaged only just over 10 carries per game in each of the three games he played this season.

The Question: Will Henderson be ready for an increased workload?

With the last few games being blowouts in favor of Ohio State, Henderson has not had to do as much as a No. 1 running back normally would.

The freshman has averaged nearly 12 carries per game, but has only three games in which he's recorded more than 10 and one game that he has eclipsed 20.

Facing Maryland, Ohio State saw what a normal workload of Henderson could be: 16 carries and four receptions for 169 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns. But as the games get tougher and more responsibility is put on the freshman, will he be able to handle the weight of 16-to-20 carries each night?

The Good: This has pretty much been a three-man room over the course of the 2021 season.

Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson and Jaxon Smith-Njigba have combined for 84 of Ohio State's 123 catches (68.2%) for 1,492 of the team's 2,113 total receiving yards (70.6%) and 16 of the team's 20 receiving touchdowns (80%).

Olave and Wilson are sixth and 12th, respectively, in the country in receiving touchdowns, combining for 13 this season.

The Bad: There's really not anything bad here.

Ohio State has three weapons that would be No. 1 receivers on many other teams in the Big Ten, not allowing opposing defenses to zero in on one to eliminate the passing game entirely.

All three are superb route runners, finding open space to allow Stroud to thread the needle in the passing game and hit all three of these receivers in stride.

Olave, Wilson and Smith-Njigba have been the key to the run that the Ohio State offense has been on over the past two weeks.

The Question: Will Emeka Egbuka get involved more?

The No. 1 wide receiver in the 2021 class has not seen a lot of attention in the pass game so far, bringing in four catches for 116 yards through six games — most coming from an 85-yard reception against Akron.

The freshman has shown his skills in spurts at kickoff return, averaging 34.4 yards per return, including a long of 67. He's elusive in space and is incredible hard to bring down.

As the season continues, don't be surprised if Egbuka comes up in a few big spots for the Buckeyes passing game moving forward, already showing what kind of weapon he can be at times in his first season.

The Good: Let's start with Jeremy Ruckert.

His run blocking ability has remained consistent from his last two seasons with the Buckeyes. He's averaging about 21 snaps per game in run blocking situations, grading out over 60 in four of his six performances, according to Pro Football Focus.

Ruckert has also been looked at much more in the passing game, recording 11 receptions for 139 yards and a touchdown in his first six games after only 13 catches for 151 yards in all of 2020.

Mitch Rossi has also emerged as one of the room's key options in blocking situations, taking control of that tight end/full back hybrid to help both in the passing game and the run game, earning his first career touchdown on a check down from Stroud against Rutgers.

The Bad: After recording nine touchdowns in 27 receptions combined over the past two years, Ruckert has not been as much of a red zone threat as he normally is.

His only touchdown of the season so far has been against Rutgers: a 19-yard post in the middle of the field from Stroud.

Other than that, Ruckert and the rest of the tight end room has recorded only two of Ohio State's 20 receiving touchdowns this season.

The Question: Will tight ends be trusted more?

Ruckert was targeted four times in Ohio State's win against Maryland, but only recorded one reception for 18 yards, adding a drop — only his second drop of his collegiate career.

It seems as though Stroud is not trying to force the ball down field in the passing game like he was early in the year, trusting his ability to check down and let other players get involved like the running backs and the tight ends.

Ruckert is also very impactful in the middle of the field as a receiver. It will be interesting to see if, in a season where he's being trusted with more responsibility in the passing game, if Stroud will continue to go to him.

The Good: Ohio State's line full of of converted tackles — Nicholas Petit Frere, Paris Johnson Jr., Thayer Munford and Dawand Jones, along with center Luke Wypler, have been solid this season.

In the run game, Ohio State is No. 3 in the country, averaging 6.24 yards per rush, behind Florida and Coastal Carolina.

The line has also become much deeper with the emergence of sixth-man Matthew Jones, who took over for Munford when he was out with a right ankle injury.

It's a group that has adapted and adjusted to keep an offense as protected as possible, allowing Ohio State quarterbacks to complete 65.1% of its passes for a passer efficiency rating of 187.76: third-best in the country.

The Bad: This isn't as bad as it could be, but Ohio State is tied with Michigan State, Louisville and Arizona State in allowing eight sacks in its first six games for a combined loss of 64 yards.

However, Ohio State is second in the country in tackles for loss allowed, giving up an average of 2.33 per game: second to Michigan.

Also, when opposing defenses hone in on the run game, Ohio State can struggle stopping the rush, allowing less than two yards per rush in the first half against Maryland.

The Question: Will Ohio State continue to find stability even in the midst of rotating offensive linemen?

Day has said in the past that he has trust in six or seven offensive linemen to play consistent and impactful minutes for Ohio State this season, and the Buckeyes have shown that ability to change things up through six games.

Six offensive linemen have recorded more than 100 snaps this season, while Wypler, Petit-Frere, Johnson and Jones each have more than 300.

This is not normal, and one that could signify inconsistency. Instead, Ohio State is finding a way to play its talent, even on the line with all the versatility it has.