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Feldman: Seven reasons why Ohio State is excelling in a different way this season
By Bruce Feldman Oct 22, 2019
I got my first up-close look at Ohio State last week and man, was it impressive.
My FOX Sports TV crew did a few of the Buckeyes’ games last year as well as in 2017. Those teams were also loaded with NFL talent but I think something is a little different about this bunch. The vibe feels a little looser, more comfortable. Granted, you probably shouldn’t read too much off of one week, but those other teams felt a little more combustible than this one. I’m not saying the 2019 Buckeyes are a lock to go 15-0 and steamroll their way to the national title, but right now, I wouldn’t pick anyone else against them.
Here are my takeaways from a few days with a close-up view of the Buckeyes.
1. In 2017 and 2018, Ohio State had Top 5 talent but had its season de-railed after getting thumped by a big underdog on the road, first at Iowa and then last year at Purdue. Last Friday night’s game at Northwestern, a four-touchdown underdog, seemed to have some of those same overtones. The Wildcats were even wearing all black unis with gold trim, just like the Hawkeyes and the Boilers had when they gutted the Buckeyes.
The night before the game, I asked Ryan Day what they had worked on this week in hopes of avoiding such a dud performance.
Day told me they’d been talking
ad nauseam since February about how important it is to show up ready every time out because the Buckeyes are going to get everyone’s best shot, and that the bull’s eye would get bigger every week. He said what the coaching staff harped on in the week leading up to the Northwestern game was having a “White Belt” mentality, which he explained means starting right from scratch again and wiping the slate clean.
“We’re halfway through the season, but we can’t forget how we got this momentum going,” he said. “And that starts right with playing tough, playing with energy, taking care of the football and tackling well. All of the fundamental things that got us going this way. You can’t all of a sudden forget about those things because that’s when you get yourself jammed up. Things that can get you off the path are lack of focus, lack of discipline. It’s the coaches’ responsibility to make sure that we challenge them even when maybe they haven’t been challenged every play during a game yet.”
Star defensive lineman Chase Young said that he and cornerback Jeff Okudah got the defense together after practice last Wednesday and reminded them, “We know we can’t let up. One game can ruin everything for us. We just can’t let that happen again.”
Against Northwestern, the Buckeyes made sure not to give the Wildcats any hope, dominating every phase of the game.
2. Young doesn’t have a shot to win the Heisman, but he might be the most dominant player at his position in college football. He’s tied for the lead in sacks and at times is unblockable. As I can attest from observing the Buckeyes from field level, his energy and aura are also helping fuel this team.
Ohio State’s great D-line coach Larry Johnson says Young’s greatest improvement is his use of hands. However, the junior said that was still one of the three areas where Johnson told him he can still get better when they got together last week to review the first half of the season. “You can never really perfect it,” Young says. “Just gotta keep doing it over and over and over again.”
I asked Young about his freakish get-off, which at times enables him to be two steps into the offensive tackle before the Buckeyes’ other D-linemen are out of their stances. He said that’s an area where he feels like he’s gotten a lot better. “When I came in I had a real short first step,” he says. “It was slow and I popped straight up. It took a lot of time. It’s been a process. Nick (Bosa) had a real choppy first step (when he first got to Ohio State), and now he’s exploding off the ball.”
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