The difference between Ohio State's offense this season and now?
Well, statistically, not much.
Without star quarterback Braxton Miller and the key cogs that made them so explosive last season, the Buckeyes average 45 points and 524 total yards a game (they averaged 46 points and 512 yards in 2013).
Which, of course, is a drastic difference compared to how Ohio State looked in the infancy of this season — especially in its loss to Virginia Tech.
"I had a lot of concerns across the board, I was really concerned about the offensive line," head coach Urban Meyer said. "I don’t want to act like I’m not surprised, because I am somewhat surprised and pleased.
"But you go back to the first game and if you said ‘You’ll be this way after Game Five’ I didn’t see that happening for quite a while."
Instead,the Buckeyes find themselves on the upswing after blowing out Kent State, Cincinnati and Maryland by an average score of 56-17.
Ohio State will try and sustain such momentum against Rutgers Saturday.
Notes:
- Meyer said it's critical Ohio State starts fast this week against Rutgers: "I don’t normally say good things about our staff because they’re expected to the right thing, but for whatever reason the last three games, they’ve jumped out early coming out of the locker room ready to play and that sets the tempo for the game. We started getting that reputation last year and obviously this year, we did not have it in the first two games. That’s gonna be a huge emphasis again this week."
- Meyer on Rutgers quarterback Gary Nova: "That quarterback had a hell of a day against our rivals, so we’ve got our hands full. We feel they have very quality receivers … we’re gonna be very aggressive, we’ve got to get this quarterback down because he’s playing the best he’s ever played right now."
- Meyer said Rutgers offers competition on Ohio State's recruiting front: "Oh yeah, ever since (they joined) the Big Ten. I would say when we first got there, not as much. But now they’re definitely (competition)."
- Meyer on cornerback and New Jersey native Eli Apple: "You don’t see the wide eyes that you saw the first game. He was a very immature player a year ago, he’s a mature guy. He still has to play a lot better than he is."
- Meyer said redshirt quarterback J.T. Barrett had a wide-eyed look to him at the start of the season, too: "Oh my gosh yeah. He’s fine now. First game, yeah he had the typical Alex Smith look. Alex was the same way. He’s fine now."
- Meyer said freshman running back Curtis Samuel will return to action after missing time with a bruised thigh. Samuel missed Ohio State’s blowout win of Maryland two weekends ago.
