Welcome Home, but
As another offseason draws to a close, we are three days away from the start of the 2022 CFB season. Excitement is definitely in the air and this year will feature a pair of Buckeye great for a homecoming of sorts against Notre Dame.
Former Buckeye stars Coach Freeman and Coach Laurinaitus will return home donning the Irish green and gold. They will also be looking to upset the Buckeyes in each of their debuts.
Coach Freeman coming off of a successful year got the head coaching job after Coach Kelly departed for LSU. He then hired his old teammate Laurinaitus as a Graduate Assistant for the defense.
The Goal is Disruption
This will be a big test for the Buckeyes, who suffered two losses last year to stout defenses with talent on the edge. This time around they face the All-American, Isaiah Foskey.
Aside from Foskey, the front seven is solid and they will look to disrupt Coach Day’s offense. On the backend, there might be a few question marks, but we shall see how they fare.
Stroud has JSN and friends on the perimeter, the chimera of RB’s and a mystery at TE. If they can stop the run and make the new starters on the perimeter outside of JSN make plays, there is a chance.
Offensive Adversity?
ND just named Tyler Buchner the starter at Quarterback. He will lead this years offense and is a bit of a mystery.
Joining him in the backfield are Chris Tyree and Logan Diggs. They will be leaned on to change things up and to lessen the offensive burden on Buchner.
The reason? The injury bug has taken away two of his veteran options at WR after losing Avery Davis (ACL) and Joe Wilkins Jr. (foot). Luckily they have Michale Mayer at TE to help lift the offense.
Buckeye Defensive Resurgence?
After a disastrous defensive showing in 2021, there is a ton of anticipation for the 2022 version. Resurgence or Regression? Feast or famine?
With an embarrassment of talent and a new defensive coach, they made the necessary changes to repair a struggling defense that often underperformed.
With a young team with a new QB, WR’s and RB’s they should be able to contain things, but the risk of the unknown is something to keep an eye on. The Irish have a star TE in Mayer, so things will get interesting.
This is a certain group, but there will be a few new faces that will find ways into the game. This will be the test to hopefully set the tone on this side of the ball for the entire year.
Offensive Firepower
The offense will be deadly again with the return of CJ Stroud at QB. The trio of Henderson, Williams and Hayden will be a threat and JSN returns to lead his Zone 6 brethren to another stellar year.
You would think losing Wilson and Olave in the first round in last years draft would hurt, but Zone 6 has stockpiled a nice group of players to take over for instances like this.
Enter MHJ, Fleming and Egbuka. This is going to be a make or break year for those just mentioned. There were reports of a six-man rotation, but until I see it I’ll reserve judgment.
Cade Stover and Gee Scott Jr. are the two TE’s to keep an eye out for. Stover was voted captain and Scott will be a matchup nightmare in the seams.
Definitely excited and could go on and on but I’ll cut it short. I can talk about the obvious, but the unknowns are what intrigues me. Breakout candidates galore.
Finally, this O-Line will have to be aggressive and consistent to have any succes at crating balance with play calling. They will be raked to stop the All-American and his fiends from harassing Stroud and his teammates.
Predictions:
- The defense shows dramatic improvement under Knowles (at least 1 INT and 1 sack; 4 TFL’s)
- The offensive line dominates the LOS (at least 100 yards rushing & 280 yards passing)
- A few players breakout and/or show flashes (Egbuka/Fleming/Scott on offense & JTT/Sawyer/Hancock on defense)
Final Score:
42-20 Ohio State Buckeyes defeat the Notre Dame Fighting Irish
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