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Football Kent State vs. Ohio State By Tony Gerdeman |
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When Kent State and Ohio State play on Saturday, it will mark only the second meeting between the two schools.
The first time they played was 2002, and the Buckeyes won that game 51-17.
Though it was the first time Jim Tressel faced the Golden Flashes as the head coach of the Buckeyes, it wasn't the first time he had faced them overall. At Youngstown State, Tressel compiled a 4-3 record against Kent State.
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Ohio State's all-time record against Ohio teams is 173-48-15.
The Buckeyes come into this game ranked #3 in both polls and are in the midst of a school-record 24-game regular season winning streak. This will be the highest-ranked opponent Kent State has ever faced.
Kent State is 0-8 all-time against the Big Ten and 0-20 all-time against ranked opponents.
When Kent State Has The Ball
The Kent State offense begins with sophomore running back Eugene Jarvis. Jarvis is 5th in the nation in rushing yards per game, averaging 141.8 yards per contest. He is currently third in the nation in total rushing yards with 851. Because of his size (5'5" 170), he hides behind his offensive line and bursts upon the linebackers before they even know he's there. He's not as quick or as fast as last year's diminutive dynamo Garrett Wolfe and he isn't the jitterbug that you would expect at his size, but he produces.
The Ohio State defense is allowing only 46.5 yards rushing per game, which is second in the nation. Jarvis won't approach his average this week. He may only reach about a third of it.
Eugene Jarvis will also be very involved in the passing game via screens and swing passes. He actually leads the team in receptions with 15. He is averaging 13.4 yards per reception and has scored twice through the air, so when the ball gets thrown to him, something good usually happens.
Kent State runs multiple offenses--very similar to what Ohio State does. Because of this, the Buckeyes should be able to play a straight 4-3 defense if the team health allows it. However, after shutting down the Purdue running game running mostly 3-man fronts and a nickel backfield, there's no reason to go overly heavy up front against this Kent State team.
But whatever formation Kent State is running, the defense will need to keep an eye or four on Eugene Jarvis. One way or another, the ball is in his hands about 50% of the time.
Distributing the ball to Jarvis and company will be junior quarterback Julian Edelman. Edelman was a second-team All-MAC quarterback last season and showed up on the Davey O'Brien Watch List this season. His play hasn't matched the accolades of late, but it's not because of effort. Edelman has a way of making plays where there are no plays to be made. He can be difficult to get a hold of and he is not afraid to run. In fact, he is averaging 59.7 yards rushing per game this season.
His passing has been average at best this season, as he is only completing 51.8% of his passes and is currently 11th in the conference in passing efficiency.
Kent State will run a multitude of wide receiver screens and their receivers are very dangerous after the catch. Fortunately for the Buckeyes, the Ohio State defense defends the screen incredibly well. As long as Kent State isn't breaking any tackles, the Buckeyes should not have any problems defending the pass.
The Golden Flashes have a -7 turnover margin and Edelman is having some issues with throwing the ball into double coverage. He has thrown eight interceptions to his six touchdowns this season. In his attempts to always make a play, Edelman will frequently force a pass where it cannot go.
Added to Edelman's own issues, there have also been protection problems. Kent State has given up 16 sacks in their first six games and none of the defenses this team has played would be considered daunting.
If you believe Kent State's head coach Doug Martin, the Golden Flashes won't keep the first-teamers in for the entire game, choosing instead to get experience for younger players and avoid injury for the veterans. If this is the case--and even if it isn't--look for the Buckeyes to do the same. This is essentially a bye week for the Buckeyes and there will be a lot of young players getting plenty of time on defense.
With regards to special teams, Kent State is third in the nation in kickoff returns, averaging 29.2 yards per return. They have returners by committee, employing five different players in the return game.
Every other aspect of the special teams is fairly suspect, except for punt return defense, where the Flashes are only giving up 3.2 yards per return.
When Ohio State Has The Ball
The Buckeyes will also look to use this week as a chance to rest, but not before attacking early and often.
Quarterback Todd Boeckman threw three interceptions last week while attempting to go deep downfield. This week will provide him an opportunity to work out any kinks that the staff may think he has. He obviously won't play all four quarters; the only area of mystery here is if a third quarterback will take any snaps for the Buckeyes.
Kent State is one of the best defenses in the MAC, but they are still giving up 24.8 points per game.
The Golden Flashes are allowing 143.8 yards rushing per game, and you can probably expect the Buckeyes to better that by plenty. With running back Chris Wells' agitative ankle, we will see a healthy doses of Maurice Wells, Brandon Saine and probably walk-on Marcus Williams.
While he is in the game, middle linebacker Cedrick Maxwell will be shadowing the football. He is leading the team with 47 tackles and 6.5 tackles for loss. He gets to the line quickly and can slip into the backfield very well. And at 5'10", he's a lot like Eugene Jarvis in that people don't see him until it's too late.
The passing game will probably be shut down some time in the third quarter, so don't expect any huge numbers from Brian Robiskie or Brian Hartline this week.
Kent State has veteran cornerbacks in Jack Williams (31 starts) and Rico Murray (15 starts), but the safeties are both freshmen. Because of this, there is availability for the passing game to go down field. This youth of the secondary will provide Todd Boeckman a great opportunity to look off the safeties and attack the defense.
The middle of the field is usually open against the Flashes, and when they try to close it, they leave the edges extremely vulnerable. Passes to the flats will cause problems when the defense is overcompensating in the middle.
But then, every pass should cause problems this week.
A.J. Trapasso and Andrew Good were both excellent last week on kickoffs, forcing three touchbacks. For comparison’s sake, place-kicker Ryan Pretorious had only managed four touchbacks in his 32 kickoffs this season.
The Buckeyes will get some continued work on kickoff return coverage and hopefully they will play as well as they did last week against the dangerous Purdue return game.
How It’ll End Up
It’ll end up ugly.
Expect to see an abundance of quarterback Rob Schoenhoft in the second half, and expect him to be handing the ball off to Maurice Wells and Brandon Saine.
One of them, Schoenhoft included, should probably break a long run sometime in the second half.
If Chris Wells wants to get 100 yards rushing this week, he’ll have to do it by the end of the first series in the third quarter, because he won’t play beyond that point.
Todd Boeckman will look fine this week and he will take care of the ball—but he’ll still be aggressive, which will only help this offense down the road. He should have his usual two touchdown passes this week.
The defense will play extremely well and this will be the first chance to get some extended looks at younger players on defense.
Linebacker Brian Rolle will make some noise. Most likely a colliding-type of noise.
And, in probably the biggest surprise ever, free safety Anderson Russell will hold onto an interception this week.
Nah.
This game is essentially a spring game in the middle of October.
Here’s hoping it’s as entertaining as thirteen spring games for the fans in attendance, because that’s about how much it cost to get in.
Ohio State 41 – Kent State 0
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