For the 3rd time in 5 seasons, Ohio State will open with a Big Ten conference game. And Minnesota, though unranked, has enough weapons to worry the No. 4 Buckeyes on Thursday night in Minneapolis.

Most of OSU’s biggest questions entering Game 1 concern the defense, and that defense will be tested by a Golden Gophers squad returning  an experienced quarterback and a stud running back.

Second-year coordinator Kerry Coombs saw Ohio State’s defense go from allowing 13.7 points and 260 yards per game in 2019 — before he arrived — to 25.8 points and 402 yards per game under his leadership in 2020. Allowing 304 passing yards per game was a significant part of the issue, and the Buckeyes faithful are wanting to see those numbers turn back around, pronto.

Here are 3 areas of concern specific to Minnesota for which OSU’s defensive players will need to have answer:

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1) Can they handle Tanner Morgan?

Minnesota QB Tanner Morgan has had an up-and-down run with the Gophers. In 2019, he was up, leading the squad to an 11-2 season and passing for over 3,200 yards and 30 touchdowns. But 2020 wasn’t quite that smooth.

But, the thing is, two trends will butt heads on Thursday:

  1. OSU gave up 400-plus passing yards last year to Michael Penix Jr. (Indiana), Trevor Lawrence (Clemson) and Mac Jones (Alabama). Basically, the 3 best QBs that OSU saw lit up its secondary.
  2. Morgan is 1-5 at Minnesota when throwing more than 30 passes in a game (the only win coming against Georgia Southern in 2019).

Surely, if the Buckeyes can’t work to the 156 yards per game passing allowed in 2019, they could approach the 2018 average of 245 instead of the 304 allowed last year. Meanwhile, Minnesota’s history suggests the Buckeyes should keep plays in front of them and force Morgan to put together long drives. Holding Morgan below 300 yards while forcing Minnesota to throw often would be a good start.

2) What about Mo?

The Gophers don’t just have an experienced QB, they have a deadly running back in Mohamed Ibrahim, who rushed for 1,076 yards and 15 touchdowns in just 7 games last season, leading the Big Ten.

However, even with the defensive struggles of last season, OSU did well against the run. It allowed 150 rushing yards only twice, in the opening win against Nebraska and the closing loss to Alabama. Meanwhile, in the 3 games where opposing QBs diced up the OSU pass defense, the Buckeyes allowed only a combined 200 yards rushing.

Last year’s top individual rushing game against the Buckeyes was 85 yards by Nebraska quarterback Adrian Martinez. A good goal would be holding Ibrahim below that total — if the Buckeyes can do it, it bodes well far beyond Game 1.

3) Sack attack led by Zach?

Only once last season, in the hard-fought win at Penn State, did OSU manage more than 3 QB sacks in a game. Considering that the Buckeyes had 54 sacks in 2019, that was more than slightly disappointing.

Given the apparent emergence of Zach Harrison and the chance to see opening-game performances from much-hyped freshman DLs Jack Sawyer and JT Tuimoloau, Buckeyes fans are anxious to see who can drop the hammer on Morgan. Sure, part of State’s problems last year were in the secondary. But many more of them were based on a defensive front that couldn’t quite do enough to support the secondary.

Being able to put Minnesota behind the chains repeatedly is another facet of the game that could bear fruit well beyond the opener — in fact, well into the postseason. We’ll see if OSU can get 4 or more sacks on Thursday — if so, it’s another step in healing Coombs’s defense.