Ryan Day held court with the assembled media yesterday and while the hottest topic was Ohio State's running game behind an offensive line still searching for consistency, an interesting subplot to Saturday night's tilt with UCLA is no doubt quarterback Nico Iamaleava getting another crack at the Buckeyes after they punished him and his Tennessee Volunteers teammates in last year's CFP first round matchup in Ohio Stadium.
Even as Iamaleava was overwhelmed by Ohio State's defense in a 42-17 victory for the home team, the then-freshman signal caller took some serious shots from the Silver Bullets but kept coming back for more.
His toughness was certainly noticed by Day and he's seeing more of the same on film this season.
"I can tell you that he's a tough player. He played tough in the playoff game here, and I'm watching him play the last few weeks, and man, he's physical, he runs hard, I mean, he takes some shots and he keeps coming back. And he's a competitor, man, I got a lot of respect for him as a player.
He throws, he's got a strong arm, and he's been doing a lot for his team. And you watch him on the field, he's a warrior. So we'll take all that into consideration, and look at everything, but we know this is a great challenge for our team, and it starts with him.– Ryan Day on Nico Iamaleava
Of course, toughness aside, Ohio State's defense dominated Iamaleava last December, holding him to 104 passing yards and a 45% completion rate while sacking the 6'6", 215-pounder four times. To his credit, Iamaleava did rush for 47 yards and two touchdowns - one just before the half cutting OSU's lead to 21-10 and another just before the end of regulation to provide the game's final score of 42-17.
Turning the page to this season, I took a snapshot of how the Silver Bullets have fared against power four quarterbacks and/or opposing offenses looking to deploy their signal-caller in the ground game.
| QUARTERBACK | RUSH ATT | RUSH YDS | YPC | LONG | RUN FOR 1ST DOWN | TD | SACK / YDS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARCH MANNING (TEX) | 10 | 38 | 3.8 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 1 / -1 |
| DEMOND WILLIAMS (WASH) | 13 | -28 | -2.2 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 6 / -46 |
| DRAKE LINDSEY (MINN) | 1 | -6 | -6.0 | -6 | 0 | 0 | 1 / -6 |
| LUKE ALTMYER (ILL) | 6 | -20 | -3.3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 4 / -26 |
| SIMMONS/O'NEIL (WISC) | 5 | -14 | -2.8 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 3 / -23 |
| ETHAN GRUNKEMEYER (PSU) | 4 | -39 | -9.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 / -39 |
| BROWNE/SINGLETON (PUR) | 5 | 32 | 6.4 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 / 0 |
Arch Manning was somewhat effective with his legs in the opener with three first downs on the ground including two on 3rd or 4th down and a long of 15. Manning tallied 38 rushing yards versus a season average of 22.6 per game.
Ohio State's defense did its best work against the best dual-threat quarterback it has faced so far when the Buckeyes swarmed Washington's Demond Williams Jr. in Seattle. OSU sacked Williams six times for -46 yards, holding him to to -28 rushing yards overall on 13 attempts. On his seven carries that weren't sacks, five went for two yards or less while one carry went for six yards and another for 10. Williams ran for just two first downs on the day although his 10-yard carry came on a 4th-and-1 snap to move the chains. Through nine games Williams is likely the best comp to Iamaleava as he's posted 108 carries for 489 yards (54.3 ypg, 4.5 ypc) with four touchdowns.
Three of the next four contests (Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, Penn State) saw the Buckeyes face quarterbacks decidedly not fleet of foot. Illinois signal-caller Luke Altmyer will take off on occasion (YTD 59 att, 108 yds, 3 TD) and Ohio State easily controlled him to the tune of six carries for -20 yards. On non-sacks, Sonny Styles stuffed him for no gain on a 3rd-and-1 snap and he managed six yards on a 2nd-and-15 play before Caleb Downs took him down.
Last weekend at Purdue, the Boilers quarterback tandem of Ryan Browne and Malachi Singleton had modest success with five carries for 32 yards including chain movers of 10, 10 and six yards with no sacks. Those two have combined for 377 yards on 3.9 per carry with five touchdowns so far this season.
With that as a backdrop, Iamaleava makes his return to The Shoe with 96 carries for 474 yards (52.7 ypg, 4.9 ypc) and four touchdowns through nine contests. He's still the same very ordinary passer with a completion percentage nearly identical to last season at 63.7% and his TD/INT ratio has gotten worse with a 12:7 mark to this point. He'll have his hands full against Ohio State's No. 2 ranked pass defense which sits No. 1 in yards per attempt (5.0).
It should be equally tough for Iamaleava on the ground considering how the Buckeyes handled Williams Jr. earlier this season. Ohio State ranks No. 7 nationally in yards per carry allowed (2.76). Iamaleava is coming off a 15-carry, 86-yard night in a loss to Nebraska last weekend and it should be noted he tore up Penn State with 16 carries for 128 yards and three scores (along with two passing touchdowns) in early October. It's also an interesting note that Ohio State has yet to allow a quarterback to run for more than 15 yards on any single play while Iamaleava has a rush of at least 15 yards in seven of nine games.
Make no mistake, Saturday night's matchup should be an OSU blowout. That said, ensuring Iamaleava is a non-factor is how you cut the head off the snake that is the UCLA Bruins.
