Five Things: Sizing Up The Numbers Behind Ohio State's 5-1 Record At The Midpoint Of The Regular Season Slate

By Chris Lauderback on October 17, 2021 at 10:00 am
TreVeyon Henderson is good at football.
Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
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While fans typically dread trudging through an open week on the schedule, Ryan Day's squad used the Saturday off to heal key players and prepare for a backloaded regular season schedule. 

Ohio State enters the second half of said schedule with all its goals intact thanks to a first half that, despite a loss in week two to Oregon, saw the Buckeyes win five games in increasingly impressive fashion, signaling momentum and triggering optimism. 

So how did Ohio State get to this point? 

Five Things takes a look at the key factors and numbers from the first six games of Ohio State's 2021 season. 


BARNES-TORMING

Ohio State's defense stunk it up over the first two weeks, in a win over Minnesota and the loss to the Ducks, giving up 66 combined points and 913 yards while generating a weak two sacks and one turnover. 

The predictable scheme was further hurt by a lack of clarity on exactly who were the best players at one linebacker spot, throughout the secondary and even at defensive tackle. 

Day responded aggressively by stripping defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs of his play-calling duties in favor of secondary coach Matt Barnes. That meant game three against Tulsa was a transition week as Barnes called a more diverse game, with a lot more Cover 2 and blitz packages. The Golden Hurricane still put up 501 total yards but fans could still feel progress. 

OHIO STATE 2021 DEFENSIVE METRICS - FIRST SIX GAMES
OPPONENT OPP AVG PPG OSU PTS ALLOWED OPP YDS/PLAY AVG OSU YDS/PLAY ALLOWED OSU SACK ADJ YPC ALLOWED OSU SACKS OSU TFL OSU TO FORCED
MARYLAND 24.4 17 6.3 4.5 3.7 5 9 2
RUTGERS 27.0 13 4.9 4.9 4.0 1 3 3
AKRON 21.3 7 5.0 3.1 4.0 9 12 2
TULSA 24.3 20 6.4 6.1 3.8 2 6 2
OREGON 35.8 35 6.6 6.9 7.1 0 1 0
MINNESOTA 24.4 31 5.3 5.4 4.3 2 4 1

With another week of preparation and time to get used to Barnes' preferences, Ohio State's defense was much stiffer over the final three games of the regular season's first half. 

With Cameron Martinez, Cody Simon, and Tyleik WIlliams forcing their way into larger roles, alongside Ronnie Hickman, Denzel Burke, Haskell Garrett and others, the defense came alive forcing a combined seven turnovers against Maryland, Rutgers and Akron after causing just three against Minnesota, Oregon and Tulsa. 

Similarly, the defense cranked out 24 tackles for loss and 15 sacks over the final three games of the season's first half after just 11 tackles for loss and four sacks in the first three games. 

Stopping the run was key to the defense's resurgence, as was a knack in converting turnovers into points via four straight games with a pick six. 

Tougher tests loom but there's no question the defense is riding a wave of positive momentum heading into preparations for Indiana next Saturday night. 

OH!-LINE

Expected to be a strength heading into the season, Ohio State's offensive line has been exactly that, despite some retooling in fall camp. 

Dawand Jones proved too good to keep off the field, paving the way for Thayer Munford's own idea that he move to left guard from left tackle, and make room for Nicholas Petit-Frere to slide from right tackle to left tackle. Paris Johnson Jr., likely Ohio State's starting left tackle next year, slotted in at right guard and Luke Wypler handled center duties partially due to Harry Miller's ongoing injury issues. Swiss Army knife Matthew Jones showed he's really a starter but settled for mostly backup duties along the interior except for when Munford was unable to go for parts of a couple weeks. 

The unit did work in the first six games, helping keep C.J. Stroud clean and open holes for all of the running backs, primarily TreVeyon Henderson. 

OHIO STATE OFFENSIVE LINE METRICS: 2012-2021 YTD
SEASON SACKS ALLOWED/GAME NATL RANK RUSH YPC NATL RANK
2021 1.33 23 6.22 3
2020 2.63 91 5.96 3
2019 2.50 99 5.63 6
2018 1.64 31 4.21 76
2017 1.57 36 5.78 9
2016 2.15 68 5.47 17
2015 1.46 37 5.62 9
2014 1.87 50 5.75 11
2013 1.57 40 6.80 1
2012 2.42 90 5.20 20

There's still plenty of football left to be played but at the halfway point of the regular season slate, Ohio State's giving up just 1.33 sacks per game, good for 23rd nationally. If they sustain, it would be the best mark by a Buckeye offensive line since at least 2007. 

The run blocking has been even better as Ohio State, heading into yesterday's games, ranked No. 3 in the country averaging a ridiculous 6.22 yards per carry. 

The team's top five running backs - Henderson, Miyan Williams, Master Teague, Marcus Crowley and Evan Pryor - tallied 175 rushing attempts through the first six games and only lost 11 combined yards against 1,270 gained. That seems good.  

RONNIE ROCKET

Everyone expected Ronnie Hickman would be in the rotation this year but only liars and soothsayers had him pegged as Ohio State's most valuable player on defense. 

The third-year, former four star talent out of Wayne, New Jersey projected as a rotational piece at the bullet spot and he's filled that role at times but he's mostly, technically, a strong safety now that the Buckeyes feature a ton of Cover 2. 

At the regular season's midpoint, Hickman leads the Buckeyes with 50 tackles, putting him on pace to become Ohio State's first player with at least 100 stops since Raekwon McMillan in 2016. 

Ronnie Hickman's 8.33 tackles per game tie him for No. 7 in the Big Ten.

Hickman's 8.33 tackles per game rank 48th nationally and stand seventh in the Big Ten. No other OSU defender is in the nation's top-100 or the Big Ten's top-25. 

Hickman also co-leads the Buckeyes with two picks, one of which he took to the house. 

It's hard to imagine where Ohio State's defense would be without Hickman's strong start to the season. 

TREVEY-GONE

Through six games, true freshman running back TreVeyon Henderson has been even better than advertised. 

The Hopewell, Virginia product didn't even have a senior season in high school due to COVID-19 but that certainly hasn't slowed his rise to stardom. 

Henderson started the season as a backup and had just two carries in the season-opener against Minnesota but he also cranked out a 70-yard touchdown off a screen pass, giving fans a taste of things to come. 

Despite recording eight carries or less in three of six games thus far, and two more under 20 rushing attempts, the kid entered yesterday's games ranked No. 21 in the country averaging 102 rushing yards per game. 

Before yesterday's games, Henderson ranked No. 15 nationally in rushing yards with 612 despite recording eight carries or less in three of six games.

His lone game with over 20 carries, 24 against Tulsa, produced a freshman school-record 277 yards. 

Again, before yesterday's action, Henderson's 8.74 yards per carry ranked fourth nationally and first in the Big Ten while his nine rushing touchdowns also clocked in at No. 4 in the country. 

Across 69 rushing attempts-to-date, Henderson's lost just five yards. He's also proven a lethal option as a receiver out of the backfield with seven grabs for 154 yards with the noted 70-yard touchdown along with a 26-yarder. 

STROUD STACKING UP

Turns out, never attempting a collegiate pass and logging just eight snaps before trotting on the field as a first-year starting quarterback is hard. 

No question, C.J. Stroud struggled at times over the first few weeks as inexperience, a shoulder injury and pressure combined to produce some ups and downs. 

After taking a week off to rest said shoulder, Stroud's been elite, carving up Rutgers and Maryland in back-to-back weeks completing 73% of his throws for 736 yards with 10 touchdowns and zero interceptions. 

Ohio State's scored on every drive with Stroud on the field the last two weeks, excluding pre-halftime kneel downs. 

The competition hasn't been great but it's hard to argue Stroud's game hasn't grown tremendously over the last few weeks. At this point, he's in the Heisman conversation and just for shits and giggles, here's how his first five games this year compare to those of Justin Fields last year. 

C.J. STROUD 2021 VERSUS JUSTIN FIELDS 2020 - FIRST FIVE GAMES
GUNSLINGER COMP / ATT COMP % TD / INT PASS YPG SACKED RUSH YPG TOTAL OFFENSE / GAME
JUSTIN FIELDS 107 / 137 78.1 15 / 3 281.4 15 47.8 329.2
C.J. STROUD 104 / 157 66.2 18 / 3 339.8 4 3.4 343.2

Stroud's obviously benefitted from an easier schedule than Fields in this comparison but he's also truly just five games into his career whereas Fields had a full season as a starter under his belt entering 2020. 

Stroud's early inaccuracy shows up here but so does his ability to get the ball downfield. Also, Stroud doesn't hold the ball as long as Fields did and that comes through in the sack numbers. 

Clearly, Stroud's not looking to run the ball and of course Fields was more effective there but when you roll up the total offense numbers, Stroud's stacking up. 

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