COLUMBUS, OH — Thanks to a dominating performance in a 34-10 win over No.25 Michigan State, the third-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes made a loud and clear statement as to why they are college football’s most complete team.
While all of college football continues to lay praise on the likes of Alabama, Clemson, Georgia and even Notre Dame, and sports fans in general ready to get on some online basketball betting with the NBA set to tip off, the best team in the country may be making a strong case for it’s ninth national title–and third this millennium–in the form of THE Ohio State Buckeyes.
There were questions abound down in Columbus following the “retirement” of head coach and favorite son, Urban Meyer when he handed over the reigns to Ryan Day following the Buckeyes 28-23 win over Washington in the Rose Bowl.
Was he ready? Can he follow in Meyer’s footsteps? Can he recruit like Urban, etc.
After being undefeated in his first seven games down in Columbus, that answer is a resounding yes, and it looks like he will not be going anywhere for a long time. Former Georgia transfer QB Justin Fields looks like a bonafide Heisman contender, tailback J.K. Dobbins looks like the best RB not named D’Andre Swift in the country and Binjimen Victor looks like a NFL-level elite receiver in the making.
On defense, DE Chase Young looks like a top-five–if not the top overall prospect in the 2020 NFL Draft–sorry Tua fan boys!–and DB Jeffrey Okudah looks like the latest Buckeye defensive back to carry on the “Silver Bullets” tradition of DB’s from Ohio State to go in the first round following in the footsteps of Eli Apple, Malik Hooker, Marshon Lattimore and Denzel Ward.
In years past under Meyer, the Buckeyes had a tendency in playing down to their competition and losing to inferior teams such as Purdue and Iowa in consecutive years, while it is just a small sample size under Day, that does not look to be the case, as this team looks more balanced on offense in running a modern-day spread, mixed with traditional Big 10 power football and up-tempo with pace, and a stout defense that–unlike under Meyer–doesn’t look so suspect to giving up big plays or making mistakes in coverage.
For some strange reason, Michigan State has always been a bugaboo for great Ohio State teams going back to 1998, when the Buckeyes were upset by the Plaxico Burress-led Spartans of yesteryear, or losing to the likes of Kirk Cousins and Connor Cook. Not this year.
As the Buckeyes head to Chicago to face Northwestern, Ohio State looks head and shoulders above the rest of the field. While it may sound a little presumptive and a bit of a overreaction, this team has no visible or noted weaknesses to exploit, a favorable schedule–with the exception of games vs. Wisconsin, Penn State and That Team Up North–growing confidence. Those ingredients alone make them not along dangerous, but the most complete in the country.
Period.