Ohio State Football Season Debrief & Takeaway

The Ohio State Buckeyes finished their season 10-2 with one loss in non-conference and one loss in the Big Ten. Their non-conference loss came against 15th ranked Oregon who will be playing in the Alamo Bowl. The championship-contending Michigan Wolverines handed the Buckeyes their second loss in the last game of the season.

In the second game of the season, Oregon was able to come into Columbus and steal a 35-28 win. Ohio State was not a complete team as they were towards the end of the season where their defense finally figured it out and came to play week in and week out.

Ohio State was in a prime position to make it into the Big Ten Championship as long as they were able to take care of the Wolverines, but they looked unusually outmatched by a strong Michigan run game. Michigan took advantage and now has a chance to compete for a national championship.

Let’s look at the takeaways from the 2021 Ohio State football season.

Offensive Takeaway

Heisman candidate CJ Stroud led the offense extremely well in his freshman season, throwing for 3,862 yards, 38 touchdowns, and only five touchdowns. His QBR of 89.8 led the NCAA. TreVeyon Henderson ran for 1172 yards averaging seven yards per carry and 15 touchdowns. He also added four touchdowns through the air.

Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba were incredible receiving core for the Buckeyes. They added 31 touchdowns all together with over 3,000 yards. Smith-Njigba and Wilson finished with over 1,000 yards.

They finished No.1 in points per game, yards per game, points per play, and yards per play.

Defensive Takeaway

The defense was very shaky in the start, but they figured themselves out throughout the season. Ronnie Hickman led the team in tackles with 96 and interceptions with two and also adding a touchdown on one of his interceptions. 

The Buckeyes defense ranked 14th in opponent points per play, 19th in opponent rush yards per game, and 23rd in opponent points per game. Relatively, these are good rankings but not for the high Ohio State standards.

Overall Takeaway

Any season that ends in a bowl game that isn’t competing for a national championship is a failure for these Ohio State Buckeyes. Although they didn’t make it that far, a No.6 final ranking and a trip to the Rose Bowl is nothing to hang their heads on. They blew out most teams this season and looked unstoppable for most of their games.

Experience is the biggest attribute for a championship team. The Buckeyes will return both CJ Stroud and TreVeyon Henderson next season which will help an already lethal offense. The Buckeyes will be fighting for a national championship next year behind these two leaders.

Notable 2022-2023 Matchups

The Buckeyes will host Notre Dame in the first game of their season on September 3rd in Columbus. For the Big Ten, the Buckeyes will play at Michigan State and at Penn State in back-to-back weeks. Their season will end, notably, with their yearly game against rival Michigan in Columbus on November 26.