Despite a few major victories, it feels like the Ohio State Buckeyes have yet to be tested.
The Buckeyes remained the No. 1 ranked team in college football this week after a dominant victory against the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Saturday night in Columbus.
But one bizarre stat proves how wild this run has been for Ohio State.
Quarterback Julian Sayin has the same number of incompletions through five games as his defense has given up points. The first-year quarterback is 101-for-126 passing, meaning he has thrown just 25 incompletions in his college career.
Comparatively, the Buckeyes have only given up 25 total points in their first five games with big wins over Texas and Washington, but also defeating Ohio University, Grambling State and Minnesota.
This is the definition of complementary football. Ohio State’s offense has been firing on all cylinders while their defense takes care of business on the other side of the ball.
The Buckeyes have proven that they can win low-scoring affairs, such as their Week 1 “grind it out” 14-7 victory against Texas. They’ve also proven that they can go toe to toe with any offense in America, dropping a whopping 70 points on Grambling State and Minnesota on Sunday.
Sayin is proving that he’s developing into one of the best quarterbacks in college football. He leads the nation in completion percentage. The Alabama transfer has ensured that both Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate are well fed offensively, leading him to success.
When Ohio State hired Matt Patricia as their defensive coordinator, it was met with some skepticism. Jim Knowles ditched town for Penn State after helping the Buckeyes win a national title. Ohio State head coach Ryan Day turned to Patirica, who was an elite NFL defensive coordinator prior to flaming out as a head coach in the league.
Somehow, Ohio State’s defense looks better than they were a season ago. Safety Caleb Downs remains one of the best, most impactful players in college football. Caden Curry has seamlessly replaced Jack Sawyer, who was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers.
More impressively, linebackers Sonny Styles and Arvell Reese have exploded onto the scene, increasing their own NFL Draft stock throughout the first five weeks of games.
Ohio State has a few big tests on their schedule. On Saturday, they will face No. 17 Illinois on the road. While Penn State is not the team everybody expected them to be this preseason, Drew Allar is a veteran college football quarterback still looking for revenge against the Buckeyes. And everybody knows how important November 29th’s game will be.
But if the Buckeyes continue to play complementary football like this, it’s well within reach for Day’s team to reach the mountain top again this season.
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