After losing to Oregon and narrowly defeating Nebraska at home, a lot of people started to have some doubts about this Ohio State football team. The Buckeyes had another tricky test this past weekend as they went on the road to take on #3 Penn State. Fox college football analyst Joel Klatt is someone that had some concerns about Ohio State, but not after seeing the dominant performance from the offensive line on Saturday.
“I had my doubts. I had my doubts,” Joel Klatt said during an episode of his podcast. “And I come out of that game, watching those four quarters of football and the way that they played up front, against that defensive front and in that environment, and now I'm bullish. I think Ohio State is absolutely national championship caliber based on what they did in those four quarters with their offensive line.”
The Ohio State football team immediately went down 10-0 in that game, and they had their backs against the wall in one of college football's toughest environments. There were a lot of question marks surrounding the offensive line, and they rose to the occasion.
“They came in as a mess, and they left as an answer,” Klatt said of the Ohio State offensive line. “Cohesive and ready to go, 40 carries, 176 yards, including what you're watching right now, which is just running it right down Penn State's throat when they got the ball with about five minutes to go on their own one yard line. Defense creates a big stand, and then they just decided to run the football, and they ended the game with the ball on the field. That is a championship mindset.”
Ohio State is dangerous when they can run the football
The Ohio State football team has one of the best rosters in college football. They have so many weapons, but they have been waiting for their offensive line to do its job. On Saturday, everyone did their job.
“Okay, when you know that you're going to run the football and they know you're going to run the football and you still do it. That is eating up front,” Klatt said. “And they played terrific. I was so impressed with how they played with that brand new offensive line. And trust me, when I say it was brand new, it was brand new. Jenny had talked to Donovan Jackson. I had talked to their coaches all week long. And there was a lot of ‘well, we'll see. We'll see how this goes.' Again, Donovan Jackson had never played tackle before in his life, and he's sitting out there at left tackle against Penn State. Now, was it perfect? No, was he dominant the entire game? No, no, he wasn't. They give up at one point. There was like three straight third downs that they gave up sacks, but when it counted, they could run the football.”
Joel Klatt admitted that he came into this game with some concerns about Ohio State, but if they can run the ball like they did on Saturday, they will be tough for anyone to beat.
“Ohio State, with the ability to run the football is a scary football team,” Klatt said. “That's just the bottom line, because you know that they're going to be able to throw it. You know that they're going to be able to be creative. You know that they've got weapons on the outside with [Emeka] Egbuka and Jeremiah Smith and [Brandon] Inniss caught a touchdown, and Carnell Tate went for 100 against Nebraska, they're loaded on the outside. We know that. We know their backs are great. The question was about this offensive line, and those questions were serious, and they were answered in an emphatic way and in a positive fashion for the Buckeye fans. So I came into this game with serious doubts that this was a national championship caliber team. I left that game, this is absolutely a national championship caliber team based on the way that those five guys played up front.”
With the win, Ohio State improved to 7-1 on the year and their two toughest games are now behind them. The Buckeyes will close the season with games against Purdue, Northwestern, Indiana and Michigan. The Buckeyes have to watch out for the Hoosiers, though, as they are 9-0 and ranked #8 in the country.
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