Saturday Spotlight
(4) Ohio State Buckeyes at (15) TCU Horned Frogs
Ohio State: Two weeks in a row and they’ve steamrolled their opponents. They scored 77 in their opener against Oregon State and just last week against Rutgers, they scored 52 and held their opponent to a single field goal. What I’ve been impressed with has been the play of the young quarterback Dwayne Haskins and how he’s got command and control of this offense. When I watch him play, I first noticed how he’s able to scan out the whole field and make all the throws. He can hit the tight end over the middle of the field, he can hit the receiver in stride down the field and it’s safe to say he can make all of the passes and he’s accurate. I knew he could be a special player when I saw him take a few snaps last year against Michigan. I don’t think many expected the Buckeyes to get off to a strong start after everything that’s happened with Urban Meyer, but let’s give some credit to Ryan Day, the interim head coach in the first three games has done a tremendous job at keeping the team focused. When I look at Ohio State’s defense, Nick Bosa has become such an exciting player to watch and it’ll be fun to see play live. This is the final tune-up before Urban returns and they’ll travel to Dallas to face the Horned Frogs of TCU.
TCU: Over the past few seasons, they have had one of the best offenses in college football, plain and simple. There were definitely some questions surrounding them entering the year. The first was how good would new quarterback Shawn Robinson be? And the most important one was how would they replace the four starters they lost on the offensive line? They’re off to a good start so far! After two games, they’re averaging 48 points per game and Robinson has done well in the first two games. He’s a dual-threat quarterback meaning he can run it and pass it and he’s effective in doing both. The guy that truly makes this offensive engine run is running back Darius Anderson and he’s a back that you don’t hear much about in the game. He’s one of the best running backs in the Big-12 and he was the Frogs’ leading rusher although he missed the final three games of the season in 2017. The defense has always been the bread and butter of this team and it always will be as long as Gary Patterson is coaching them. Yes, they can score on people with ease, but they can stop offenses from scoring on them as well. This is definitely a test for them if they want to be mentioned as one of the elite teams with Ohio State in town.
Ohio State Player To Watch: Johnnie Dixon– He’s the veteran of this receiving core for the Buckeyes and he always has a knack for making some big-time catches when the team needs it (perfect example is the Penn State game last season). He’s such a reliable target over the middle of the field and he doesn’t seem to drop much.
TCU Player To Watch: Ben Banogu– He decided to return for his senior season and his presence alone gives the Horned Frogs one of the best pass rushers off the edge and he’ll be needed tonight to try and limit Haskins. He can play defensive end and outside linebacker and his specialty is getting to the quarterback and he can also stop the run.
Final Analysis: This is definitely a true home game for the Buckeyes tonight and they’ll be battling a team looking to get a non-conference win that can look nice on their resume when the first set of playoff rankings come out in October. If the Buckeyes don’t get off to a quick start, it could be a long night for them. TCU needs to play mistake-free football against a defense that loves to force turnovers.
Prediction: Ohio State 38 TCU 27
