Game Preview: Bowling Green at Ohio State
Brandon Zimmerman via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
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Bowling Green Falcons @ Ohio State Buckeyes – Ohio Stadium Noon ET
It started as soon as the Buckeyes finished off Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl on January 1st. Everyone knew the Ohio State football team would look completely different for the 2016 season. Slowly over the next couple of days, players declared for the NFL leaving the roster full of young and inexperienced players.
In the end, the Buckeyes had 12 players from the 2015 team drafted with five of those players going in the first round. The
GLENDALE, AZ – JANUARY 01: Defensive lineman Tyquan Lewis #59 of the Ohio State Buckeyes (left) celebrates a fourth quarter sack with defensive lineman Tracy Sprinkle #93 (right) during the fourth quarter of the BattleFrog Fiesta Bowl against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at University of Phoenix Stadium on January 1, 2016 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images)
off-season has been full of the national and local media doubting how the Buckeyes will be able to contend this year with ONLY six returning starters. Now is the time to see how this team comes together.
In his four years as head coach at Ohio State, Urban Meyer has had his team ready to go from the on-set. The Buckeyes wins in their first game of the season under Meyer have been by an average score of 43-17. The opener for the 2014 season, which also replaced almost the whole team, was the only time Ohio State appeared to struggle as they only beat Navy 34-17. Many people chalked up the struggles to a combination of young players and gimmick offense but guess what…this year the Buckeyes face a gimmick offense with a young team. Sure, the Texas Tech spread is a little more normal than the triple-option of Navy but it is something the Buckeyes have had to specifically prepare for.
Eight new starters on defense will be thrown into the mix right away as the high powered Bowling Green offense rolls into town. This offense did not score any less than 27 points in a game last year and will give the inexperienced secondary and linebacker crew some fits throughout the day.
With Oklahoma and Baker Mayfield looming two weeks away, is there any better way to start the season than with Bowling Green and Tulsa? Let’s get the 2016 season started!
The Intangibles
TV: BTN (Kevin Kugler/Jim Miller/Lisa Byington)
Radio:
Ohio State IMG Radio Network/97.1 WBNS (Paul Keels/Jim Lachey/Matt Andrews)
Online:
BTN2GO 97.1 WBNS (Audio)
Social Media:
@OhioStAthletics @BG_Football
Series Record: 4-0 (Last Meeting: OSU 35 – BGSU 7, Oct 7, 2006)
Previewing the Falcons
If you are a fan of teams throwing the ball 70 times a game, this Bowling Green Falcons offense is made for you.
It’s hard to ignore the fact they lost their head coach Dino Babers to Syracuse or the fact that they have to replace Matt Johnson who threw for 4,946 yards and 46 touchdowns after he graduated. You can also throw in the fact they lost running back Travis Greene to graduation after rushing for 1,299 yards and 15 touchdowns. All of these things add up to a recipe of a team which will struggle on offense under most circumstances.
First year head coach Mike Jinks will be looking to make his mark, after only coaching collegiately for three years, and he has more than enough talent offensively to make some waves. Jinks is a former high school coach and had been the running backs coach under Kliff Kingsbury at Texas Tech for the past three years. With that said, he is going to have a heavy Texas Tech influence on his offense which fits perfectly with what Bowling Green has the personnel for.
Knapke and his throwing ability will test the young secondary.
At quarterback will be redshirt senior James Knapke (6’2”, 236 lbs) who will be replacing Johnson for the second time in his career. Knapke started in 2014 after Johnson went down with an injury which cost him his season. In his one year of starting, Knapke attempted 280 passes for 3,173 yards and had 15 touchdowns with 12 interceptions.
During the 2014 season, Knapke played against Indiana and Wisconsin. Against Indiana, he had a field day on that porous Hoosier secondary as he completed 46 passes for 395 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. Against a tougher defense in Wisconsin, Knapke struggled completing only 13 passes for 163 yards and one interception.
His main target throwing the ball will be senior Ronnie Moore (5’9”, 170 lbs) who caught 72 balls for 951 yards and six touchdowns in 2015. Moore will lead a very deep but inexperienced wide receiver room. For his career, Moore has 156 catches, 2,188 yards, and 18 touchdowns.
Starting alongside of Moore at wide receiver will be redshirt junior Teo Redding (6’1”, 167 lbs), sophomore Deric Phouthavong (6’4″, 207 lbs), and sophomore Scott Miller (5’10”, 160 lbs). Redding has the most experience of the group catching 13 balls last season for 222 yards and three touchdowns.
At running back will be senior Fred Coppet (5’9”, 213 lbs) who is very experienced even though he backed up Greene last season. In three years as a back-up, Coppet has accumulated 1,804 rushing yards with 11 touchdowns.
The offensive line will be returning three starters after losing two All-MAC performers from 2015. Former right guard Alex Huettel graduated and left tackle Jacob Bennett (r-Sr) was injured during fall camp and will miss the entire season. Redshirt senior Logan Dietz (40 career starts) and redshirt junior Tim McAuliffe (27 career starts) will look to anchor the line and give Knapke time to throw.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Falcons return quite a few key players from a defense who will without a doubt be looking to improve.
The defensive line will be anchored by redshirt junior Terrance Bush (6’2’, 252 lbs) from the defensive end position. In 2015, Bush had 50.5 tackles, eight tackles-for-loss, and five sacks.
The linebacker crew returns all three of their starters from last season who all performed well, all while appearing a little undersized for their position. Redshirt junior Austin Valdez (6’1”, 236 lbs)
Valdez, the leading tackler from 2015, will look to shut down the Buckeye running game.
was the defensive leader from the middle linebacker position registering 101 tackles, 11 tackles-for-loss, one sack, and two interceptions.
On the outside at linebacker, the Falcons have redshirt seniors Trenton Greene (5’9”, 214 lbs) and James Sanford (6’1”, 200 lbs). This productive duo combined for 166 tackles, 13 tackles-for-loss, four sacks, one interception, and two forced fumbles. Sanford is listed as a co-starter with redshirt sophomore Jack Walz III (5’11”, 197 lbs).
In the secondary, the Falcons lose both safeties but return redshirt senior Alfonso Mack (5’11”, 178 lbs). Mack, who was in his first year of starting, showed his playmaking ability intercepting six passes while racking up 49 tackles with 3.5 of those coming for a loss. Joining him in the backfield will be senior Will Watson at cornerback, sophomore Jamari Bozeman at free safety, and redshirt freshman Antonyo Sotolongo at the rover position.
Previewing the Buckeyes
There is not too much to say about the Buckeyes which hasn’t been regurgitated by every media outlet for the past seven months. The Buckeyes only have to replace their running back, three wide receivers, tight end, three offensive linemen, three defensive linemen, two linebackers, and three defensive backs. No big deal, right?
Have no fear Buckeye Nation, as hard as that all sounds they do return a few very important key players and vital positions. At quarterback, the Buckeyes will once again be led by redshirt junior J.T. Barrett. In 1.5 years as starter for the Buckeyes, Barrett has racked up 3,826 passing yards and 45 touchdown passes. In addition to his throwing, Barrett has added 1,620 yards and 22 touchdowns on the ground. He will be leaned on heavily by the coaching staff to get the young offense going early.
At running back the Buckeyes will turn to redshirt freshman Mike Weber and junior Curtis Samuel to replace Ezekiel Elliott. Weber is widely expected to be the every down back but I don’t think this will be a situation where the staff feeds him like they did Elliott and Carlos Hyde (except versus MSU) over the last couple of years. You will see Weber with the most carries but expect to see a lot of Samuel moving over from his starting spot at H-back to receive some carries throughout the game. This serves two purposes, it gives Samuel a chance to run the ball where he has averaged 6.9 yards per carry over his first two years and it allows the Buckeye staff to get Dontre Wilson onto the field.
Samuel will look to flex his muscles from multiple positions this year.
Wilson, who finally seems to be healthy, is a major playmaker which many have forgotten about due to him only playing 13 games over the past two years. As a freshman, Wilson had 670 yards from scrimmage and five touchdowns. On top of that, he added another 523 yards in kick-off returns. Expect Wilson to be a major part of the Buckeyes this year doing a little bit of everything, especially in the return game.
The offensive line will be anchored by a couple of All-B1G performers in Pat Elflein (r-Sr.) and Billy Price (r-Jr.). These two will be counted on to keep first year starters Isaiah Prince (So.), Jamarco Jones (Jr.), and Michael Jordan (Fr.) composed and focused.
On defense, the Buckeyes will be led by one of the best middle linebackers in the nation, junior Raekwon McMillan. In his first year of starting, McMillan had 119 tackles, four tackles-for-loss, and 1.5 sacks. He will be flanked by a couple of guys starting full-time for the first time in their careers; juniors Chris Worley and Dante Booker.
Worley, who started over Darron Lee in 2014 against Navy, has racked up 28 tackles over his first two seasons switching back and forth between linebacker and safety. He was able to hold off
The young defense had a chance to shine in January against Notre Dame.
sophomore Jerome Baker for the starting job. Booker was technically in a battle with talented redshirt freshman Justin Hilliard but never really seemed to be in danger of losing his job. In his first two years on campus, Booker has had 29 tackles.
The strength of the Buckeye defense may be the defensive line led by defensive ends Sam Hubbard (r-So.) and Tyquan Lewis (Jr.). In 2015, his first year of starting, Lewis led the Buckeyes with eight sacks while adding 54 tackles and 14 of those coming for a loss. The former linebacker, safety, and tight end, Hubbard is taking on the tall task of replacing Joey Bosa who he backed-up last year. In that back-up role, Hubbard racked up 6.5 sacks and eight tackles-for-loss. These two, along with back-ups Jalyn Holmes (Jr.) and Nick Bosa (Fr.), will be counted on to get to the quarterback early and often in an effort to protect the new secondary.
The secondary will be led by one returning starter, junior Gareon Conley who was outstanding in his first year as a starter in 2015. Starting opposite of first round pick Eli Apple, Conley had 49 tackles and two interceptions. Joining him in the secondary will be redshirt sophomore Marshon Lattimore at cornerback, junior Damon Webb at free safety, and redshirt sophomore Malik Hooker at strong safety. Of this group, Webb has the most experience playing nickel back the past couple of years. Lattimore has always flashed his game-changing potential but has yet to show he can stay healthy. Hooker was a spring game standout and will look to bring his exciting style of play to the strong safety position.
Three Key Matchups
- Bowling Green Offense vs. Ohio State Defense: While the high-flying Falcons offense only technically returns four starters (Moore at WR, Dietz/McAuliffe/Hunter at OL), they are not short on players with in-game success and experience. Knapke (3,173 yards passing in 2014), Coppet (1,804 career rushing yards), and Moore (2,188 career receiving yards) will put pressure on the Buckeye defense early and often. How will the eight first-time starters react to this high-paced offense?
- Bowling Green Defensive Backs vs. Ohio State Wide Receivers: Outside of Mack, the BGSU secondary is relatively inexperienced. This inexperience could be easily overcome as they are tested by a pretty good passing attack everyday in practice where they see throw after throw. On the other side, you have an even more inexperienced wide receiver corps in Ohio State. Outside of Wilson, Samuel, and senior Corey Smith (combined 103 catches…53 less than BGSU’s Ronnie Moore), the Buckeye pass catchers are a highly-touted bunch but very unproven. The Buckeye WR corps struggled to get open last year. Will they be able to turn a corner this year? If they are, they need to prove it against the inexperienced BGSU secondary.
- Mike Jinks vs. Urban Meyer: One is a man who is three years removed from coaching high school football with no collegiate head coaching or coordinator experience. The other is a man who owns a 154-27 record with three national championships and numerous coach of the year awards. As lopsided as this matchup looks, it is potentially the most dangerous matchup of the day as Jinks has a chance to not only shock the world but jumpstart his collegiate coaching career. You better believe that Bowling Green is going to come out ready to try anything to knock off the Buckeyes and Urban Meyer. Expect Jinks to do anything in his power to put pressure on Meyer and his young team.
Prediction
It may be a little sloppy at first…don’t be surprised if there are some growing pains in the first quarter as Coach Warriner and Coach Beck get a better feeling for what they have. We may even see something like 7-7 after the first quarter but in the end the Buckeyes will get it going. We will see Barrett throwing the ball around a lot more than in the past and Hubbard and Lewis will get to Knapke a lot. Final Score: OSU 49 – BGSU 17.
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