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Ohio State football picked up a huge 44-31 win over then No. 10 Penn State on Saturday. It was the Buckeyes' first ranked win since Week 1, when they took down Notre Dame, who are now unranked at 5-3. However, despite pulling out the win in Happy Valley, there is a bit of cause for concern as far as Ohio State should see.
As the Buckeyes look forward, they'll look back on this and spot some big issues they need to fix before they get set to face off with likely fellow undefeated Michigan in a few weeks.
Here are three reasons Ohio State football should be concerned despite the 44-31 win over Penn State.
3. C.J. Stroud looked less than stellar
You won't see it in his stats, as he threw for 354 yards and a touchdown, but for large portions of the game, C.J. Stroud didn't look himself. He was as usual able to connect with Marvin Harrison Jr., but in the moments the Buckeyes needed him most across the first three quarters, Stroud looked to be a step off.
It didn't appear to be anything physical, so there's no injury worry for the Buckeyes, but perhaps Stroud just wasn't in the right headspace for whatever reason. His Heisman campaign was definitely affected a slight bit negatively by his performance, but we'll see if he bounces back.
2. J.T. Tuimoloau can't do this every week
Former No. 1 overall recruit in his class J.T. Tuimoloau had a coming-out party against Penn State, racking up two sacks, two interceptions, a forced fumble and recovery, and a touchdown of his own. In fact, 21 of the Buckeyes' 44 points came directly off Tuimoloau forced turnovers.
As good as Tuimoloau is, that kind of performance is just unsustainable. It is just not possible for him to pull off that amazing a game week in week out, and it may not be possible for him to ever cause that much havoc again. Be grateful you got to witness one of the greatest defensive line performances in recent college football history, but also recognize that there's a reason perfomances like that are so rare.
What happens next time C.J. Stroud is a bit off for large portions of the game and the defense doesn't force force turnovers? If Tuimoloau wasn't exactly as good as he was, does Ohio State even win that college football game? We've already mentioned that 21 of Ohio State's points came off him personally, and the score spread was just 13. What would happen if, say, Michigan's offense jumps on the Buckeyes' defense like they did last year, and the offense isn't playing at 100% capability?
1. This was the first test, and Ohio State football nearly failed
Since Week 1 in that Notre Dame game, there aren't any teams on Ohio State's schedule you could say are particularly good aside from Penn State. It also gets lost in the final score that Penn State held a lead with under 10 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, but turnovers allowed Ohio State to take the lead and then pull away.
The next time Ohio State football is really challenged, which will likely be against Michigan, they may not be able to rely on the other team making mistakes. Luckily there are a few games between Ohio State and that test against Michigan, because they need a get right game or two before then.
