Ohio State is unbeaten and currently stands atop the national rankings, but its title defense hasn’t started as seamlessly as most envisioned before the season kicked off.
After kicking off the 2015 campaign with an impressive 42-24 victory on the road against Virginia Tech, the Buckeyes have looked sluggish and sloppy in four consecutive victories over highly outmatched foes. And because of that, their once-firm grasp on the country’s No. 1 ranking is starting to loosen as teams such as Baylor, TCU and Utah surge.
If Urban Meyer expects his team to win the Big Ten and make another run at the College Football Playoff, he’ll need to see marked improvement in these areas.
Improve the Passing Attack
The biggest storyline of the offseason surrounded Ohio State’s intriguing quarterback quandary between Cardale Jones and J.T. Barrett, the two talented signal-callers who fueled the Buckeyes’ run to (and through) the first College Football Playoff. Both bring a championship pedigree to the position and are so talented that it didn’t feel it was possible to go wrong either way.
But through five games, neither Jones nor Barrett looks like the quarterback we saw in 2014. Jones, who’s getting the nod to start, is struggling with his accuracy and progressions. Barrett looks like a shell of the player who set the Big Ten record for total touchdowns in a season last year, completing just 55.3 percent of his passes for 193 yards with two touchdowns and…
Continue Reading: Ohio State Football: 5 Ways the Buckeyes Must Improve in 2015
