| Getting punched in the mouth was exactly what this Ohio State team needed. They are frighteningly athletic, but rolling into that game against Penn State wasn't going to be good for them. They got tested, and survived. That momentum tsunami they threw at TCU in the 3rd quarter, right when the Horned Frogs seemed to be gaining control, was something to behold. It also answered any lingering doubts about whether Haskins was what he appeared to be, or just an athletic freak who could post gaudy numbers against overmatched opponents. Completing 73% of his passes, for 344 yards against a Gary Patterson defense should put those doubts to rest. The Frogs sold out to stop the run, and wanted to see what Haskins could do, and he responded. The flip side is that while it's not as though the Buckeyes were shut down on the ground, TCU's attack did do a pretty good job holding the running game, particularly Mike Weber, in check. The line needs to do better against a team like Michigan, more equipped to play that same style, with far better players in the secondary in one on one coverage. But this isn't Michigan week. It's Tulane week. The Green Wave were a team I picked in the preseason to take a huge step forward. I had them reaching the AAC Conference Championship Game. While obviously that's still on the table, there are some issues. An overtime loss Wake Forest, after how we saw the Deacons play Boston College last week, is nothing to be ashamed of, losing at UAB last weekend dinged them. The hope was that Jonathan Banks was getting things ironed out at the end of 2017, with his two highest passing totals of the season coming in the final two weeks. But thus far in 2018, he looks like the inconstant passer we saw for much of 2017. Take away the FCS game, and against Wake Forest and UAB, he's completing only 40% of his passes. He was 7-24 in the UAB loss. He somehow still threw for 180 yards on a crazy 25.7 ypc rate. His 7 completions were for 44, 21, 44, 24, 6, 11, 30. But in addition to his interception, he had two fumbles, one returned for a touchdown, and the Green Wave were outgained by nearly 100 yards. It's actually surprising they only lost by 7. Not only is he not passing, but he's in there for his rushing, and after rushing for over 40 yards in 8 of the 10 games he finished last year, he has 29 rushing yards TOTAL through three games this year. This version of Jonathan Banks isn't good enough to get Tulane bowl eligible, let alone win a division or push the Buckeyes in the Horseshoe. To start they need to get Terren Encalade involved. The 5th year senior was Tulane's leading receiver each of the past two seasons, and after catching 8 balls for 189 yards and 2 touchdowns, along with a 38 yard run, in the opener against Wake Forest, he's only had 3 touches for 59 yards over the past two weeks. After seeing Wake Forest on Thursday night last week, maybe their defense is just that bad though. Probably not even going to risk playing Bosa in this one. |