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It is possible that the Ohio State entered the 2018 university football season with an easy program that has improved even more in the last two weeks.
Of course, playing TCU in Arlington on Saturday night has a chance to provide a real challenge (ABC, 8pm). And a trip to Happy Valley to play at Penn State on September 29 will make a lot of air flow. However, the Appalachian state led the Nittany Lions to overtime on the same ground in a dead heat two Saturdays ago.
Before the start of the season, a road match on October 20 at Purdue had a chance to be interesting. Boilermakers have improved so much last season. This year's Purdue team is 0-2 against North West and East Michigan.
November 10th at Michigan State? No safe things in East Lansing. But Utah State nearly won there two weeks ago, before Sparty lost as a road favorite to Arizona State. Michigan is the annual final of the regular season? The Wolverines were intimidated by Notre Dame before marking a late touchdown to make the scoreboard more respectable.
Handicappers and punters who are trying to get an idea about the Buckeyes may be looking through misty glasses for a moment. And it's a volatile team in the best of times. Last year's version was impressive with Wisconsin wins / wins in the Big 10 Championship and USC in the Rose Bowl. But it was after the regular season defeats against Oklahoma and Iowa … with the Iowa debacle missing the point by 52 points.
Ohio State could create an illusion of being equal to Alabama this year by rolling a slate smooth. Or, the Buckeyes could be as good as Alabama and the other Final Four teams. We will not know until January.
To begin to assess the true Ohio State Championship potential, we suggest you focus on the following stats regarding the September testers vs. TCU and Penn State:
- Differential parking
- The yards-by-game of the opponents
- Percentage of completion of opponents
- Interceptions of opponents launched
You know that the offense has talent. Can defense defeat good opponents? Last season's home loss to Oklahoma saw a loss of 490-350, a 6.8-yard rating per game. Baker Mayfield completed 77% of his passes with no interceptions.
It is very safe to assume that the Ohio State will not have to face the winner of the Heisman 2018 Trophy this week or Penn State. But these are road games and last year's terrific defensive statistics against the OUA were compiled as a seven-point favorite in Columbus when the Ohio State was ranked second in the country.
The putrid attack from Iowa (ranked 117th in 2017), won 487-371 yards per 7.0 yards per game and 66 percent without interceptions at the Buckeyes season last.
If there are skeletons in the OSU 2018 closet, these categories are the ones where you will find them.
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