Ten things to know about Ohio State before week three

Ohio State enters its first Big Ten game with a new head coach, a new defensive staff, a new quarterback and a lot to prove in 2019.

These are some narratives, facts and points of interest for Indiana fans to follow along with during the week-three matchup Saturday.

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Ohio State's storied program is going through some changes as new head coach Ryan Day enters his first Big Ten game as a head coach with a nearly entirely new defensive staff and a fresh face at quarterback.

These are some narratives, facts and points of interest for Indiana fans to follow along with as the Buckeyes travel to Bloomington.

Indiana fans are well aware of Ohio State junior running back J.K. Dobbins’ abilities, and yes, this weekend’s game will feature plenty of Dobbins again, as he’s the only established running back in that room after Mike Weber moved on to the NFL.

Dobbins’ breakout performance of his career came against Indiana in 2017, when he rushed 29 times for 181 yards in the season-opener. It was a different story in 2018, when Weber rushed for 70 yards behind Dobbins’ 84 as the two averaged just 3.9 yards per carry. Dwayne Haskins, a far less mobile quarterback than J.T. Barrett of 2017, passed for 455 yards in the 2018 game.

What transfer quarterback Justin Fields offers is the best of both worlds. He’s throwing at 76 percent through the first two games and has totaled 458 yards, six touchdowns and zero interceptions. On the ground, he’s averaged 4.9 yards per carry on 21 touches for three touchdowns.

Whether that will unlock Dobbins in some unique way is yet to be determined, but Dobbins has already ran for 232 yards on 38 carries and is setting up to face an IU defense that has allowed the seventh-most yards per game in the Big Ten.

Indiana defensive coordinator on stopping a dual-threat quarterback: “For what we do, we’ve always had to build ourselves around stopping the quarterback in the run game. They do some nice things in protecting their quarterback but also getting him in some one-on-one matchups. From our perspective, we feel like there are some things we are probably going to be able to take advantage of. Frankly, every time that guy has his hands on the ball, we’re going to try to get some pretty good shots on him.”

Tom Allen after having faced Dobbins twice at Indiana: “He demands a lot of our attention. I remember he started as a true freshman there in 2017. Didn't know much about him. Had to go back and watch his high school film to kind of figure out. I think going into that game, I think Weber had had some hamstring issues. We weren't really sure who was going to start, and then they put in Dobbins, and it was like, whoa. So he made a couple jump catches that were pretty elite for a true freshman. Just really strong. He's got great balance and vision, and he's just another great running back from Ohio State. They've got a bunch of them and had a bunch of them. You've got to swarm him – not one guy around him. You've got to get a lot of hats to the ball, and that creates challenges.”

If there was ever a time for Indiana to take advantage of an Ohio State defense, it would be this week. Ohio State has brought in a few new defensive staffers, including defensive coordinator Greg Mattison, who was at Michigan since 2011 and with the Baltimore Ravens before that.

There are other defensive coaches, as well, such as linebackers coach Al Washington, who made the move to Ohio State from Michigan too, and cornerbacks coach Jeff Hafley, who spent time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cleveland Browns and San Franscico 49ers as a secondary coach, who are hoping to show improvement on the field.

Hafley, who arrived in Columbus in January has caught headlines for his elite ability to recruit, alongside colleague and second-year wide receivers coach Brian Hartline. Highlighting Hafley’s recruiting efforts are current Tennessee Titans running back Dion Lewis, who went to Pittsburgh thanks to Hafley, and Leonte Carroo, who burned some IU defenses while at Rutgers. Now, he has guided Clark Phillips, Lathan Ransom, Cody Simon, Cameron Martinez, Lejond Cavazos, Kourt Williams and Luke Wypler toward Columbus in 2020 for what is one of the top recruiting classes in the country.

Washington has also found success in recruiting, more so at Michigan in 2019 than Ohio State in 2020, but both coaches are hoping to match those efforts with production on the field in their first seasons. So far, it’s been a fast start for the staff entirely, as Pro Football Focus ranks Ohio State second in the country in defensive grades.

With a nearly entirely new defensive staff comes a change in philosophy, and changes in philosophies, as Indiana discovered when Tom Allen became the defensive coordinator before the 2016 season, can breed new looks on the defensive side of the ball.

Allen introduced the husky position – a linebacker-defensive back hybrid – into the IU defense in 2016, which resulted in a 4-2-5 defense. Now, Ohio State is doing the same thing, but it calls the husky position the “bullet.” Several college defenses are choosing this route, and each of them have different names for the hybrid spot.

Like Marcelino Ball, Brendon White is the first bullet in the Ohio State defense, which suits his skillset best, as he floated around the roster without a position until the 2019 offseason.

White will likely play more of the linebacker role versus the defensive back role that Ball tends to lean toward, but for the most part, they serve similar duties for their defenses. So far this season, White has tallied six tackles, one sacks and one pass deflection.

With all of the changes surrounding the defensive side of the ball for Ohio State, one thing remains – Larry Johnson coaching the defensive line in Columbus, where he’s been since 2014 after coaching at Penn State since 1996.

Defensive end Chase Young is the staple of that defensive line and is a leader, if not the leader, for that program. A certain NFL first-round selection in 2020, Young has already totaled three sacks after recording 9.5 during his sophomore season. At 6-foot-5, 265 pounds, Young already has a body for the NFL and will mostly be taking snaps against sophomore right tackle Caleb Jones, who has graded out as one of the top performers along the IU offensive line through two games in 2019.

But there’s more than just Chase Young on that defensive line, and headlining the remaining corps is Tyreke Smith, who lines up opposite Young and can also rush from both edges. Jonathon Cooper, who can work inside and outside is the No. 2 defensive lineman on the Buckeye line.

The defensive line is where the defensive efforts begin for Ohio State, and so far, it's anchored the defense in a big way. That will be Indiana's biggest challenge offensively.

Indiana running backs coach Mike Hart on running against Ohio State: “Ohio State always has a great defense. Their D-line, Coach Johnson over there, phenomenal athletes, phenomenal players. They’re going to have guys up front. Their backers are great. They have great players, but it all starts up front for them. That D-line is strong, and they do a really good job. We just need to control the front, and we’ll see what we can do.”

As Ohio State progresses through Ryan Day’s first season, the differences between him and Urban Meyer’s philosophies will become more apparent, but one of those differences early in the season is that Day has a pro-style type of mentality on offense.

Certainly that is derived from his time in the NFL, coaching the Philadelphia Eagles in 2015 and the San Francisco 49ers in 2016, but Justin Fields has worked more under center than quarterbacks during the Meyer Era.

Kane Woomack explains the rest.

“They do a lot of similar things as they did in the past. I think maybe he does have a more pro-style flare than what they had with Urban Meyer. I think part of that is because of all the quarterback run games that Urban Meyer had, dating back to even when he was at Utah. You see some more of those things – under center and the pistol. Even a few of their route concepts have some West Coast mentality to them a little bit, but they’re pretty aggressive in their play action run game and shots downfield. I think they do a good job of trying to force you downhill and create some of those one-on-one matchups. Obviously, there are some things they leave at risk while doing that, and we’ve got to take advantage of those things.”

As Tom Allen said, there are always running backs coming up behind the lead back, but it’s never seemed this bleak before. Going into the season, there was no set No. 2 tailback behind J.K. Dobbins, but if anyone has grabbed a hold of that position more than anyone, it’s redshirt freshman Master Teague.

Going into the first week, Ohio State running backs coach Tony Alford said it would likely be Demario McCall, and after McCall, it was Crowley. But Teague has made the most of his opportunities, rushing for 109 yards on 19 carries, and if Ohio State can’t add a top-tier running to the 2020 class, Indiana might be seeing a lot of Teague next season as well.

Former Indiana head coach Kevin Wilson is still the offensive coordinator in Columbus, despite Ryan Day’s meteoric rise to head coach. Wilson also coaches the tight ends, so most would have written off the idea of using tight ends in the passing attack in 2019 after the tight end careers outside of Ted Bolser during the Wilson Era in Bloomington.

But that door appears to be ajar, as sophomore tight end Jeremy Ruckert, who Urban Meyer said was the best tight end he’d ever recruited, continues to mature. In Ohio State’s first game against Florida Atlantic, Ruckert caught two touchdown passes on four receptions, but he didn’t catch a pass against Cincinnati.

Indiana, particularly against Ball State, showed that it can be vulnerable in the middle of its defense when it comes to opposing passing attacks. Ruckert could have a big day Saturday if Kevin Wilson and Ryan Day choose to look his way.

Ohio State senior wide receiver entered the 2019 season needing 48 catches to break David Boston’s record for most career pass receptions in program history, and so far, he’s brought in 11. Against Indiana, Hill has only caught a total of six passes.

Hill has a skillset that matches up well with Indiana’s defense, but teams have been taking away the crossing pattern that has proven to be Hill’s bread and butter. Tom Allen and Kane Wommack will likely try to replicate those methods, but Hill is one of the best in the country at what he does specifically.

True freshman receiver Garrett Wilson was a focus during the 2019 offseason by many Ohio State fans and media because he enrolled early in January, but also because he was a five-star recruit and the No. 2 wide receiver in the 2019 class.

Wilson made a couple standout catches during the spring game in April, which had many folks prepared to see him in a large role this season, but that’s proving to be a slower process than anticipated, as he’s only had one reception. That catch was a fantastic stab above a leaping defender for a touchdown, but the Buckeyes have not gone his direction often because of the options they have at receiver this year.

Wilson will be a receiver Indiana fans will come to now, though, as he leads Brian Hartline’s new movement at the position. Four top-100 wide receivers will follow Wilson in 2020.

There are two Hoosiers that play for Ohio State with fairly regular playing time. The first is wide receiver Austin Mack, who was rated as the No. 2 Indiana prospect coming out of Fort Wayne during the 2016 recruiting cycle.

Mack’s career has seen some inconsistent paying time and a slow trajectory despite his influence as a leader within the locker room. Last year appeared to be the season he would put it together, as he caught 26 passes for 331 yards through eight games, but a foot injury ended his season early. So far this year, he’s caught five passes for 45 yards and appears to be the backup to Binjimen Victor and Chris Olave.

The second Hoosier is linebacker Pete Werner, who has seen substantial playing time after making a good impression on the defensive staff. The Indianapolis Cathedral graduate played in 12 games in 2018, tallying 58 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, three sacks and two forced fumbles, but his performance often led some to believe linebackers like Teradja Mitchell or Baron Browning would surpass him in 2019. Mattison and Washington have been bullish on him, though, and he’s rewarded them with nine tackles and one tackle for loss in 2019.

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