Ohio St Buckeyes 2022 College Football Preview
July 26, 2022
2021 Recap
Record – 11-2
ATS – 6-6-1
The Buckeyes hit a speed bump in week two when they fell to the Oregon Ducks (L 35-28) but then proceeded to go FULL OHIO ST and rattle off nine wins in a row. Then came speed bump #2, a SHOCK the WORLD moment, as Michigan defeated Ohio St for the first time since the invention of the color TV **. The season came to its conclusion as Ohio St and Utah treated us to a classic Rose Bowl in which the Buckeyes prevailed in a 48-45 thriller.
** fact check could be true, sure sounds about right
Ohio St Buckeyes 2022 Outlook
OFFENSE
The Buckeyes moved the ball like a TREMENDOUS MACHINE LY and averaged a whopping 45.7 PPG (#1 FBS) and 561 YPG (#1 FBS). QB CJ Stroud was an instant star in his freshman campaign and put up monster numbers (4,435, 44 TD). Stroud loses two of his top-three WRs to the NFL but will happy to see #1 Jaxon Smith-Njigba back for duty and he’s one of the best weapons in college football (1,606, 16.9, 9 TD LY). Ohio St has a small handful of highly-recruited specimens waiting to dominate so we expect the THROW GAME to be potent once again. The RB room is one of the best and deepest in the country and it features #1 RB TreVeyon Henderson who’s comically-explosive and coming off a big year (1,248, 6.8, 15 TD; 11.6 YPC, 4 TD). The OL isn’t the most-experienced bunch in terms of career starts but they have a couple of legit studs and plenty of gazillion-star recruits. They may not average 46 PPG but this is still one of the most potent offenses in the country. GET CHO POPCONE!
DEFENSE
The defense wasn’t up to Ohio St standards for the 2nd consecutive season LY (#59 FBS total defense, #38 scoring defense) but the Buckeyes return eight starters and made a great hire in former Oklahoma St DC Jim Knowles who worked wonders with the Pokes LY. The DL gets rave reviews from the INTREPID Phil Steele but they were mediocre LY (along with the LB unit) and the Buckeyes were gashed for 200+ yards three times on the ground, including about five miles ** vs Michigan. The lofty expectations are based on a embarrassment of riches in terms of recruiting rankings but these guys gotta do it on the field, yo. The back seven looks solid with Oklahoma St transfer Tanner McCalister added to the mix, and the secondary boasts a pair of fine holdovers in CB Denzel Burke (12 PBU LY) and leading tackler safety Ronnie Hickman. We project overall improvement but they’ll need to fire up that pass rush if they wanna be ‘excellent’ or ‘elite’. Nobody on the team had more than 5.5 sacks in 2021.
** fact check close to true
SPECIAL TEAMS
Ohio St will be fine with the return of punter Jesse Mirco (40.9 net LY), KR Emeka Egbuka (29.0), and outstanding PK Noah Ruggles who hit 20/21 FG attempts (74-74 XP) in 2021.
Schedule Analysis
Overall – It’s trickier than you might think. They open the season with Notre Dame (H) and get a rough draw from the West (Wisconsin, Iowa). The good news is that they only play four road games and get Michigan at home.
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – September 17 – at Toledo
This contest precedes the yuuuge Big Ten opener (Wisconsin) and Toledo looks like the best team in the MAC. We’ll avoid laying the points in this spot.
Season Win Total
per BetOnline July 25
Over 10.5 -220
Under 10.5 +180
MEGALOCKS says:
No leanage.
That looks about right to us. If you can find a rogue price of ‘170’ or so it’s probably worth taking a small taste of the ‘over’.
MEGAmazing Tidbits
The Buckeyes are a ridiculous 63-4 playing in Columbus over the L10Y and their 40-4 mark in true road games over that time horizon might be even more impressive.
MEGALOCKS Outlook:
This team certainly has the roster to win a National Championship. The schedule has more than a few land mines but we’ll call for a Big Ten Championship and another trip to the College Football Playoff.
Want more Ohio St football ?
WEBSITE
https://ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sports/m-footbl/
FORUM
http://www.buckeyeplanet.com/forum/forums/buckeye-football.2/
http://ohiostate.247sports.com/Board/Ohio-State-Buckeyes-Football-Message-Board-Forum-121
https://www.elevenwarriors.com/forum/ohio-state-football
http://www.scarletbuckeye.com/index.php?forums/football-talk.2/
https://ohiostate.forums.rivals.com/forums/the-horseshoe-lounge.14/
NEWS
http://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-state-football
http://www.landgrantholyland.com/
https://www.espn.com/college-football/team/_/id/194/ohio-state-buckeyes