Facing one of the toughest quarterbacks in the country, Trace McSorley, I knew our defense was going to be hardly tested, especially with the absence of Nick Bosa. Mcsorley did play hard, but the Ohio State defense was able to perform and keep Ohio State in the game. I felt our defense could’ve played a little better then we could have. It was obvious in the whole game that Mcsorley was gonna run, but our defense just couldn’t seem to get it fully figured it. All in all, I am proud of the defense and I thank them for playing their hearts out and being the main factor for the win. Our secondary next week will be down with Isaiah Pryor being suspended for the first half and Damon Arnette possibly being injured after going down this week, but I think the secondary and the whole defense will be able to handle Indiana.

I had a feeling coming into this game that Dwayne Haskins and the offense would have trouble dealing with the loud noise of Penn State whiteout. The first half didn’t produce much with multiple 3 and outs and only 1 touchdown that came off a Penn State turnover. However, the second half was a step up and Haskins and the offense got into a much needed grove. Haskins got used to the noise and threw 2 second half touchdown to Benjamin Victor and K.J. Hill. As well, J.K Dobbins carried the running game vs. Penn State with a rushing and receiving touchdown. If our offense was able to get a W in this type of crowd, I feel we are almost unstoppable moving forward.

With the first game without Bosa, I knew that our defense was gonna be okay because not only are we loaded on our D-Line, but we were playing a simple team like Tulane. Our defense once again proved to be dominant, totaling 4 sacks and 14 total tackles for loss. Next game against Penn State will be the toughest offense that Ohio St. has played so far, and with the absence of Nick Bosa, I am a little curious of how our defense will hold up.

Our starters haven’t lost a beat by scoring 42 points in the first half, with WR Parris Campbell having 8 receptions for 147 yards and 2 touchdowns, and well as RB J.K. Dobbins running in for a TD. The thing I took from this week is that QB Dwayne Haskins is putting up numbers similar to other college football quarterbacks such as Tua Tagovailoa and Will Grier, who are in the Heisman race. Haskins has 1194 Passing Yards and 16 Passing Touchdowns, and recorded 5 total touchdowns in the first half alone against Tulane. I feel Haskins should definitely be in the Heisman conversation. However, I feel that our second strings didn’t do so hot against a team like Tulane who is 1-3. Tulane is around as talented as Rutgers and Oregon St, and I feel they should’ve did a lot better then they did.

I was a little worried about our defense heading into this game because we haven’t faced as quick and fast moving offense as TCU. However, the defense really surprised me. Even though we did get a fumble recovery in the end zone for a touchdown in the first half, we still struggled with the fast wide receivers and hurry up offense. However, the second half was a different story as we were able to keep up with their speed and were able to stop them, including 2 interceptions, one for a touchdown, and some sacks. I still feel that our secondary needs a little work as there were some pass interferences we had that were not called. All in all I am proud of the defense, but I hope that an injured Nick Bosa, who went down in the third quarter with a groin injury, doesn’t have too long of a recovery time and that our great D-Line can be back in full force soon.

Facing one of the toughest defenses yet, our offense needed to step up their game. This was the first game this year were Dwayne Haskins was regularly pressured, but he was still able to throw for 344 yards and 2 touchdowns, throwing 24-38. I was a little disappointed from WR Austin Mack, who was not able to catch some easy passes that Haskins threw, but his other big catches made forgive him. The running game still looked very strong as J.K Dobbins and Mike Weber both had 18 carries for a combined 195 yards. Even Haskins was able to run an option and get a touchdown. I think this experience on having a true road game against a ranked opponent will only help us succeed more in the upcoming games.

Compared to last week, our defense has really improved. I am absolutely in love with our defensive line, starting from Nick Bosa to Chase young. All of our front seven, including the bench, are able to pressure the quarterback as well as stop any kind of run that goes up the middle. Our front seven looks just as good as last week, but our secondary is what I was worried about. I am pleased to say our secondary has improved, only allowing the Rutgers quarterbacks to 11/30 completed passes. Our secondary also managed to get 2 interceptions, one from Kendall Sheffield and one from Shaun Wade. Rutgers aren’t the greatest, and our defense will face a tougher offense in TCU next week at Arlington, Texas.

Ohio State’s offense has not missed a beat. Quarterback Dwayne Haskins adds to his Heisman resume by racking up 223 yards for 4 more touchdowns, with only missing 3 of his 23 passing attempts. With the dominating performance from the offensive starters, our back ups such as quarterback Tate Martell and running back Brian Snead had plenty of opportunities to get reps in almost the whole second half. Martell was 10/10 throwing with 121 pass. yards and 1 touchdown, while rushing for 95 yards on 8 attempts with 1 touchdown. With all the reps that our already loaded bench has been able to play, this will only make our team depth more talented, especially on the offensive side of the ball.

Week 1 against Oregon State had its ups and downs. On the offensive side of the ball, Ohio State looked as good as they have in a while. With the absence of J.T Barrett at quarterback, it was speculated how the offense would do. However, sophomore quarterback Dwayne Haskins stepped up and threw 22-30, 313 yards, and 5 touchdowns. As well, the running backs have not missed a step as Senior Mike Weber ran for 186 yards and 3 touchdowns. However, the Ohio State defense needs some improvement. Allowing 2 touchdown runs of more than 75 yards, both the D-Line and the Secondary are to blame for allowing 392 yards and 31 points to a team that went 1-11 last season. With 4 out of 7 of the front seven being new starters, we hope that they will only get better from here.