Hard to believe, but the season is absolutely flying by. After today’s game against Bellarmine, Ohio State will have played about a quarter of its entire schedule for the year. Despite only playing the 2 games, the Buckeyes have had plenty of things to overcome. From a devastating injury to a sleepwalked first quarter, we’ve seen a lot so far. Today we'll see if the Buckeyes can get up for another cupcake opponent on short rest. And, in no small way, see just how healthy this team is after a ton of players were held out for the Cleveland State game.

Following the team this past week, it’s become really apparent just how much better the recruiting has gotten of late. In terms of top 100 (for all that means) talent, there’s not a better Ohio State roster in recent memory. In terms of effective talent, we’re seeing a bunch of freshman get meaningful playing time that is not in vain. Hopefully, the Buckeyes can keep this up against a Bellarmine squad that is caught in the purgatory of the upper part of the lower tier of Division I lacrosse.

This season, Bellarmine has been utterly shellacked by Duke (expected), and thoroughly dominated Mercyhurst (surprising). The Knights’ stats reflect this fascinating anomaly. Bellarmine is a team that is dangerous with the ball, but is reliant on volume and possession to really score. As we'll see, they’re really good in one phase while being poor to middling in the others.

Offense

Bellarmine is an attack-dominant team. The Knights are reliant exclusively on their starting three of John Alie (#23), Joe Alie (#25), and Ezra Moore (#28). This group accounts for 17 of the 25 goals scored by Bellarmine in two games, and 30 of the 41 points. No other player has more than 3 total points this season. Ohio State’s going to have to really put the clamps down on them, but there’s not a better group in the | country to do it. Bobby Van Buren’s injury notwithstanding.

The Knights play fast and loose with the ball. They’ve turned it over more than 20 times per game, on average, while getting outshot by 15 per game. That Duke game certainly hurt them, statistically, but Bellarmine is also only getting 53% of its shots on cage this season. That’s very, very bad. That makes their shooting percentage of .362 absolutely mind-boggling. The Knights won’t hit the cage that much, but will score when they do. Utterly absurd levels of offense here.

Ohio State can play compact and give their SSDMs a big of a break as things will center around the attackmen much more than the middies. This will be one of the only games where that is true.

Defense

While also a bit lopsided due to the Duke game, where they allowed 23 goals, the stats for Bellarmine’s defense are not kind. The defense allows 63% of shots to hit the net, which is very high. Teams are converting 34% of their total shots, which is ludicrous. And, as mentioned, the defense is allowing 15 more shots per game to be taken on their net versus the opponent’s net, That will get you beat. Soundly.

Moving deeper, the defense is getting somewhat decent goalie play. Nolan Hudnut (#45) got obliterated against the Blue Devils, but still is at 67 for the season in save percentage. That’s a good number for the murderer’s row of players he had to face from Durham. It’s hard to have decent output when you’re facing that many shots (47 per game).

Ultimately, this should be a fairly easy day for the Buckeyes’ offense. That’s good, because there was a lot of problems last week. Particularly against the zone that Cleveland State threw in there as a change up. I thought things would be a bit different now with a new OC, but there’s a distinct lack of preparation for zone defense. That's going to be a problem as teams get better. Hopefully Ohio State can figure something out. Having Marinier do his best Steph Curry impression is great, but eventually teams with better athletes will be able to lock him down. Then they’re going to have to be better schematically. Much better.

Faceoffs

Bellarmine is not great at faceoffs. But they’re also not bad. Niko Madden (#18) is at .500 on the year, even with the Duke game. That means a step up in competition for Jack Oldman, who has been legitimately stellar through 2 games. I am somewhat optimistic, but also remember how much he fell off late in the year last season. So we’ll see how this year progresses. But if Oldman can make it work, then the Buckeyes’ chances get a lot better for a deep run. I think we’ll have a much better idea of how good Oldman is in 2026 after this afternoon’s game.

Special Teams

As you might expect with 3 good attackmen, Bellarmine is good at Man Up. They’re scoring about 42% of the time on Man Up. That’s well above average. Conversely, they’ve allowed teams to score about 37% of the time, which is also above average. There’s not much else to say. Ohio State’s special teams have been exceptional, but that’s largely a result of the absolute cupcake schedule thus far. We'll see how they shape up today.

Overall

This is not like the other games Ohio State has played in 2026. Bellarmine is a legitimate step up in competition, even though they have some trials and tribulation each season. The Knights make their way up to Columbus hoping to keep building on the win they had last week against Mercyhurst. Depending on injuries, Ohio State should be well suited to ensure that does not happen. Furthermore, the Buckeyes should be in a spot where they can show that last Saturday’s slog on offense was just a blip.

In fairness, Ohio State is playing at a championship level. On paper. Against no one of note. Shooting .360, winning over 75% of your faceoffs, and holding teams to under .200 shooting will really make you look like a world beater. Until you start playing better teams. Then we'll see. That starts today. I think this game could be close at first, especially as the Buckeyes don’t have the midfield quality of Duke. But the attackmen are first rate, even without Melendez, and should be able to score in bunches. I don't think the Knights can get anywhere close to enough shots to make this a game for 4 quarters.

Final prediction: Ohio State 18, Bellarmine 9.

Go Bucks!

Game is on B1G+ at 3 p.m.

Maybe they'll actually play at the outdoor stadium, too.