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Ohio State football: Plenty to go, but Buckeyes No. 1 right now.
By Joe Cox
Published:
In the modern climate, asking in October who is the top college football team in the nation is about like asking who leads a political poll a couple months ahead of election day. The front-runner would rather be ahead than behind, but the important matters will be played out in days ahead.
That said …
Ohio State is the best college football team in the nation right now, regardless of what the AP poll says.
Yes, the Buckeyes haven’t faced a ton of terrifying competition. In fact, other than Notre Dame in Week 1, the other 5 teams Ohio State has boat-raced couldn’t put together an all-star team to challenge the Buckeyes. But meanwhile …
Alabama escaped by 2 yards with its football life in a home game against a Texas A&M team that lost by 18 points to Mississippi State the week before. They also had to put together a last-minute drive to hold off a mediocre Texas squad.
Georgia came off a one-score win at a Missouri team that probably wouldn’t be a competitor in the Mid-American Conference, much less a P5 league. They also struggled mightily against Kent State.
Ohio State’s offense is the most potent in the nation, leading FBS teams in scoring and 2nd in yardage despite having had WR1 Jaxon Smith-Njigba unavailable for almost all of the first half of the season. Ohio State has been without running backs TreVeyon Henderson or Miyan Williams for roughly half the season. Obviously, as the numbers suggest, that’s been no real problem.
The defense was the expected Achilles heel of this team. But new coordinator Jim Knowles is getting focused performances from his group. Ohio State hasn’t been dominant on defense — this isn’t 2021 Georgia 2.0. But with a dominant offense, the defense has been more than sufficient to avoid upsets. When the offense was actually slowed — again, only by Notre Dame — the defense more than held its own.
Meanwhile, what if the injury issues that have slowed Ohio State are actually HELPING the Buckeyes? After all, the last time the Buckeyes won the national title, it was a QB3 who went from holding the clipboard to taking down Alabama. After all, this Ohio State offense is comfortable now with Henderson, Williams or Dallan Hayden running the ball. The receiving corps has not one star in Smith-Njigba, but at least a trio of targets, with Emeka Egbuka and Marvin Harrison Jr. as dependable options — to stay nothing of Julian Fleming and Cade Stover, who have also used the thin receiver situation as excuses to show play-making skills.
CJ Stroud is the one X factor, the Heisman favorite who makes the offense go. But Ryan Day has been smart in getting Kyle McCord more than a few snaps. Would Ohio State be itself without Stroud? Probably not, but there’s a good chance the offense would be serviceable — more so than Alabama without Bryce Young or Georgia without Stetson Bennett.
Certainly, the back half of Ohio State’s season will be more challenging than the first half. Penn State and Michigan await, and the B1G title game adds another matchup that could be difficult. Obviously, Alabama and Georgia have more than enough talent and coaching wizardry to straighten out their mid-season difficulties.
But right now, in mid-October, Ohio State is the best team in college football. Will that hold up? That’s the answer no one knows. But as good as Ohio State has been, a healthy roster should be even better. Time will tell.
Veteran college writer Joe Cox covers Ohio State and college basketball for Saturday Tradition.