Ohio State: Questions Buckeyes answered and questions remaining

Ohio State’s 40-28 victory over then-No. 15 TCU on Saturday night in Arlington, Texas, was a major hurdle for the Buckeyes.

They cleared it and saved the Big Ten’s bacon on a day when most of the league’s other teams were busy losing to Group of 5 teams, usually at home.

The Buckeyes improved to 3-0 and looked excellent in the second half against a quality opponent, and did so in essentially a road game.

OSU answered plenty of questions in JerryWorld, but as the Scarlet and Gray gears up for this week’s nonconference finale against Tulane, some questions remain as well.

So here are four questions Ohio State answered:

Is Dwayne Haskins the real deal?

Yes. Goodness, yes. Haskins was 24-for-38 for 344 yards and two touchdowns against the Horned Frogs’ usually excellent defense, and got some good air under some deep balls, especially one to Austin Mack for a first down on OSU’s first drive. Haskins has stepped in for J.T. Barrett very nicely and the Buckeyes offense looks like it hasn’t missed a beat. Haskins even scored a rushing touchdown, fighting through a tackle to reach the end zone.

How is J.K. Dobbins?

Totally fine. He wasn’t as explosive in Ohio State’s first two games as he was last season when he rushed for 1,403 yards. But on Saturday the sophomore gained 121 yards on 18 carries, a nice 6.7-yard average. The native of La Grange, Texas, still looked plenty strong right up to the end in his return to his home state — just check out this play:

Can the defense contribute points?

It’s always nice when your defense can put points on the board, and Ohio State has the playmakers on that side of the ball to do that. Against TCU, Nick Bosa (more on him later) forced a fumble which Davon Hamilton pounced on for a touchdown. Later, defensive tackle Dre’Mont Jones picked off a shovel pass attempt and returned it for a TD. OSU has three defensive touchdowns through three games.

How will Ryan Day do as interim coach?

Day did a very nice job, keeping the Buckeyes focused in the midst of the turbulence of head coach Urban Meyer’s three-game suspension. Day, the co-offensive coordinator, also kept that unit humming. The TCU game was an excellent display of balance: 38 pass attempts, 42 rushes, 526 total yards against a tough Horned Frogs D. Day showed guts as well, going for a 2-point conversion in the third quarter. It failed, but Day showed he was willing to make tough in-game decisions.

Now for four questions the Buckeyes still face:

How’s Nick Bosa?

This is the biggest question coming out of the TCU game. The defensive line is talented and deep but Bosa is the unit’s superstar and Buckeyes fans can’t help but wonder about the defensive end’s status after he left Saturday’s game with what was reported as an abdominal injury.

Can they get better on special teams?

The Buckeyes fell for a trick play by the Horned Frogs on a kickoff return:

The play was called back because it was a forward lateral, but this play is only the start of the concerns over this unit. The usually reliable Sean Nuernberger missed a field goal in the first half and the return units have been nothing special — OSU is tied for 75th in punt returns and tied for 46th in kick returns.

Is the secondary up to the task?

TCU’s Shawn Robinson was 24-of-40 passing for 308 yards and a touchdown against the Buckeyes. Ohio State intercepted him twice — neither by a member of the secondary. That’s not the kind of performance which will encourage OSU fans a couple of weeks after Oregon State passed for 196 yards and two TDs, mostly with a backup quarterback. Much better quarterbacks (like Trace McSorley on Sept. 29) are on the way soon.

Can OSU cut down on mistakes?

The Buckeyes only committed five penalties but missed quite a few tackles, and a few flaws on the offensive line led to Haskins facing a lot of pressure from the Horned Frogs. Only 16 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision have racked up more penalty yards than OSU, which has 170. The coaching staff has to address that.

Jim Tomlin

Longtime newspaper veteran Jim Tomlin is a writer and editor for saturdaytradition.com and saturdaydownsouth.com.