Checking in on friend of the program and offensive wunderkind Tom Herman, via ProFootballFocus:
Herman has the Cougars off to a 5-0 start, including a 34-31 win at Louisville in Week 2 and a No. 24 ranking in the AP poll this week — the first time they have been ranked since the end of the aforementioned 2011 season.
How has he sped up the process? It begins and ends with his specialty: offense. After highly productive stints at Rice, Iowa State, and the past three seasons at Ohio State, Herman has transformed Houston’s offense into the nation’s sixth-best in both points-per-game (46.4) and total offense per game (573.4 yards). Under Herman’s direction, junior QB Greg Ward Jr. (+18.4 grade) is excelling in the dual threat role much like J.T. Barrett did last season for Ohio State. Ward Jr. is averaging 371 yards of offense per game, which includes 110 per game on the ground, completing 72.5 percent of his passes — good for N0. 2 overall in the nation — and 19 total TDs. All of this is good enough to make Ward PFF’s No. 2 overall rated QB behind Cal’s Jared Goff.
PFF points out that last year, under Herman's offensive leadership, the Buckeye offense ranked fifth nationally in points-per-game (44.8) and ninth in yards-per-game (512) with the J.T. Barrett earning a +14.8 grade.
The article also notes that Herman has been sorely missed in Columbus this year:
This season, though, has been a different story. While many believe the Buckeyes are going through the motions, the bottom line is they have struggled at times offensively and looked out of sync even though they returned a majority of their offensive starters. In 2015, Ohio State currently sits at 27th in points-per-game (36.8) and 26th in yards-per-game (460). Furthermore, both Barrett (-4.9 grade) and Jones (-12.8 grade) have struggled to repeat last season’s success.
According to the piece, Herman's Cougars are expected to be 9-0 heading into a home showdown with also undefeated conference foe Memphis come Nov. 14. Good lookin' out, Coach. Give 'em hell.
MOD EDIT: This is a dupe. Dupes are bad. Everyone laugh at the MOD who got called out for creating a dupe. Bad MOD.
