I had this written out, for the most part, right around Monday evening. Then came the Braxton injury, and my delete button got quite the workout. After exploring all the doomsday situations without Braxton, and watching the rest of Buckeye Nation go through the five stages of grief, I realized this team is still going to be very, very good, and it all starts with the Navy game.

As I said in my guest post, the Navy game is a possible “trip up” game for this team, and my point stands that it will be a huge test for the new Buckeye defense. Navy returns their quarterback, who was their leading rusher with over 1300 yards last season, to a team that was second in rushing yards per game in the country last year. Even with Butkus Award Winner (no, I’m not still bitter…) Ryan Shazier anchoring the linebackers last year, poor tackling was a major problem for this team. With Navy’s Triple Option attack, the defensive line and linbackers will be tested big time. The line will be solid, and it will be up to them to prevent the ball carrier, whoever it may be, from getting to the defensive secondary. Navy will run the ball, and they will run the ball well against Ohio State. There’s no way to sugar coat it; that’s just the way Navy is. They don’t throw often – their starting QB, Keenan Reynolds, only had 128 attempts for the entire season last year, with only 8 touchdown passes. Navy will only throw the ball in necessary positions, i.e. 3^rd and 5 or more. Winning first down will be huge for the Buckeye defense. Keep Navy from getting 4 yards on first down, putting them in second and long, and the Navy offense will start to get in tough positions for their scheme to handle. We won’t see Chris Ash’s new secondary tested against Navy from a pass defense perspective. We will likely see them have to make open field tackles, something this team struggled with last year.

The Buckeye offense will be interesting, mainly because of who will be at quarterback. As of writing this, JT Barrett will be the starting quarterback over Cardale “I Ain’t Come Here to Play School” Jones. Given that fact, I will write this as if JT will be starting on Day 1. It’s been said that Barrett was a better pure passer coming out of high school than Braxton was, and now Barrett has had a year and a half to develop and learn the Tom Herman/Urban Meyer system. We saw what Braxton could do after one full year under the system, so I don’t expect Barrett to struggle with the offense. However, JT hasn’t seen real game action since halfway through his senior year of high school, prior to tearing his ACL that season, and redshirting last season. He has been getting reps all offseason, since Braxton sat out to avoid what happened Monday, but the first drive or two might be a tad overwhelming for the young signal caller. I don’t doubt his abilities, but don’t look for the offense to take a lot of big shots early on. Tom Herman will likely look to establish rhythm and to get Barrett to relax. Ezekial Elliot will most likely be Barrett’s partner in the backfield at the running back position, with Dontre Wilson playing the “Harvin” role. Expect these two to get the ball early and often against Navy. I expect we will see screens to Dontre to get him the ball quickly and allow him to make one move and get upfield. The biggest safety valve for a young quarterback is always the tight end position. Jeff Heuerman, one of Braxton’s favorite targets from 2013, is a senior in the position, and will likely see many passes thrown his way. Navy lost both of its leading tacklers in the inside linbacking core, but return their outside linebackers. This will potentially leave the middle of the field open for Heuerman and the TEs for short routes, and when (not if) Elliot, Wilson, Barrett, or other runners get to the second level, they will be able to make moves and get more yardage. Once Barrett is relaxed and into the flow of the game, expect the offense will open up more.

Navy Players To Know

QB Keenan Reynolds

FB Chris Swain

WR DeBrandon Sanders

OLB Chris Johnson

Prediction:

This might be a clencher early on for Buckeye fans to open the season. I fully expect Navy to score, but even with a new QB, I expect Ohio State to score more. I’ll take the Buckeyes.

Ohio State 31

Navy 17