The Ohio State Buckeyes enter the 2022 season with potentially the most high-powered offense in college football, led by two Heisman candidates in QB CJ Stroud and WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Can new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles elevate the defense and help take the Buckeyes to a national championship, or are they Rose Bowl bound again?
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2021 Season Review
Opened the season with a win against Minnesota, then had a massive showdown scheduled with Oregon in Week 2
The Ohio State defense was exposed in Week 2 — Oregon rushed for 270 yards on a Buckeye defense that looked slow and confused
Despite CJ Stroud throwing nearly 500 yards in that game, many fans (myself included) could tell his throws were too late, early, or just off, and it showed when he and the team struggled against Tulane in Week 3.
After sitting out in Week 4 to heal up a shoulder injury, he came back playing lights out. And a weak schedule consisting of Akron, Rutgers, Indiana, and Maryland helped him and the defense try to right the ship
Sneaked out close wins against Penn State & Nebraska in back to back weeks, setting up a gauntlet to end the season
Their offense was unstoppable in their matchup versus Purdue, but again the defense struggled, giving up nearly 400 yards passing
They then blasted a hot Michigan State team in a 56-7 rout, where Stroud looked like a Heisman winner, and the defense had some hope
Setting another classic version of The Game, Ohio State went into Ann Arbor apparently a little too confident, as they were dominated by Michigan. They couldn’t run the ball (or wouldn’t?)The OL was getting Stroud killed but Ojabo & Hutchinson, and Michigan rushed for 290 yards, with Hassan Haskins having 5 TDs.
With that being said,
2022 Season Preview
#2 AP POLL
Departures
WRs Chris Olave & Garrett Wilson
DT Haskell Garrett
OL Thayer Munford & Nicholas Petit Ferire
TE Jeremy Ruckert
CB Sevyn Banks (transfer portal)
Key Returners
QB CJ Stroud
RB Treyveon Henderson
WRs Jaxson Smith Njigba & Marvin Harrison
OL Paris Johnson / Luke Wypler / Dawand Jones
CB Denzel Burke
DL JT Tuimoloau / Jack Sawyer / Zach Harrison / Tyleik Williams
All 7 LBs that started last year return.
New Faces
DC Jim Knowles
#1 ranked class in the conference, #4 in the country
LB CJ Hicks & S Sonny Styles (‘22 class)
DB Tanner McCalister follows Knowles from Ok St.
New O-Line Coach Justin Frye
Schedule
Notre Dame → W
Arkansas State → W
Toledo → W
Wisconsin → W
Rutgers → W
@ Michigan State → W
Iowa → W
@ Penn State → W
@ Northwestern → W
Indiana → W
@ Maryland → W
Michigan → W
Overall Record → 12-0
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