Tale of the Tape: UNLV

How much of the Army West Point game was Ohio State fixing some offensive issues and how much was the fact that the Buckeyes were facing an overmatched opponent? Probably a measure of each. But there has to be cause for happiness that the Buckeyes were able to find some success with an efficient J.T. Barrett going 25/33 for more than 300 passing yards and two touchdowns. K.J. Hill emerged as a favorite target in the game with a game-high eight receptions while Parris Campbell seems to be falling into a role of being the Curtis Samuel-type of player on offense in that often mis-labeled H-position. Will the Buckeyes be able to keep up the forward momentum against a UNLV defense that has yielded approx. 200 passing per game. Teams have made it a priority however to attack UNLV on the ground and the team has given up 432 rushing yards, 309 coming against a FCS team. The Buckeyes had to go without Johnnie Dixon against Army because of a hamstring issue but the Buckeyes are hopeful to have him back soon. Barrett and tight end Marcus Baugh almost hooked up on a long touchdown last week but the throw was largely behind Baugh and while he made the catch, coming off of stride cut what should have been a long play short. It just appears the two are working on getting their timing down and that big play will happen soon, maybe as soon as this week. Austin Mack scored his first career touchdown last week, just a week removed from having to go through and pass the concussion protocol.

UNLV has smaller corners with two of the three starters (UNLV employs the OR on its depth chart as well) coming in below six-foot. The unit as as whole is not very young though, which is a good thing when coming into a potentially hostile place like Ohio Stadium. Of course, the stadium is as loud as fans want to make it and playing a lesser opponent may not create a deafening environment. Safety Chauncey Scissum is a big player at 6-foot-2, 210 pounds and is a transfer from Syracuse. He has 30 games (seven starts) under his belt but last played in 2015 before this season. He has one of UNLV's two interceptions on the year (the other coming from the LB corps). While the Ohio State passing game is not exactly 'right' at this point, this Ohio State offense is going to be the biggest challenge that UNLV has faced this year and this will be the most talented roster that they will go against all season long. Last year means nothing when looking at this year but when UNLV played Josh Rosen and UCLA a year ago, Rosen did not exactly go off on this team throwing for 267 yards and one touchdown in a 42-21 Bruins win. One little wrinkle that the Buckeyes could face is UNLV looking to play press. That is something that the Buckeyes see often in practice in 1s-v-1s, but still something that they have not seen much from an opponent thus far.

Ultimately the Buckeyes are going to want to get those passing reps in against live talent that is not wearing scarlet or gray. It may be a little much to hope for 100-percent success by the passing game but the coaches are just looking for more growth from the offensive unit and will push hard to get that work in over the next couple of weeks in games that should not be highly contested. EDGE: Ohio State