Ten Things People Will Be Saying After The Western Michigan Game

Week two is here, and with it brings a night game against Western Michigan. We are still learning exactly what this Ohio State team looks like, but it’s always a fun process figuring it out.

With a team as talented as this one, something big is always just a snap away. And given the opponent on Saturday, there should be plenty of big snaps for the Buckeyes. It’ll be a long wait until the 7:30 pm kickoff, but there will be an afternoon of college football to bide your time.

If you’re not interested in waiting until about 11:00 pm Saturday night to get your conversation going, however, I can go ahead and tell you what people will be saying after the Western Michigan game. Just like I did for the Akron game.

“It’s only a matter of time for Brandon Inniss.”

Contrary to popular belief, Brandon Inniss isn’t going to return a punt for a touchdown this week, but he’ll continue to make it exciting. Western Michigan is going to try and keep the ball away from him, but he can cover ground quickly. He’ll make some gunners miss and the crowd will get rowdy. He’ll be a tackle or two away from springing one, which is why it’s only a matter of time for Brandon Inniss. (Don’t be surprised if he scores on offense, however.)

“Tyleik Williams is everywhere.”

Tyleik Williams leads all Big Ten defensive tackles with seven tackles this season. He tied his career-high in tackles last week against Akron, making tackles from the point of attack all the way to the sideline. His 53 tackles last year were the most for an Ohio State defensive tackle since Johnathan Hankins had 55 in 2012. He’ll continue to wreak havoc for the Buckeyes Saturday night and you’re gonna notice it.

“It was good to see the tight ends involved again.”

After only being targeted once in the season opener, that number will at least double this week for the Ohio State tight ends. And, unlike last week, there will actually be a tight end catch this week. Last year, Cade Stover was a fixture in the passing game. The Buckeyes are splitting tight end reps between three guys right now and still trying to figure out if they’ll have another fixture this year. It would be nice for somebody to emerge, but it may not be necessary. As Jim Tressel once said when he had Ted Ginn, Santonio Holmes, and Anthony Gonzalez, every pass that goes to a tight end is a pass that isn’t going to one of those guys. The same holds true this year. The receiver names may have changed but the first-round draft pick future sure hasn’t.

“Does this mean the defense is going to score every week?”

Even if the Buckeye defense doesn’t score a touchdown this week, they’ll still enter the open week averaging a touchdown per game. With a pick six and a fumble return for a score last week, the Ohio State defense is now outscoring opponents 14-6. Don’t be shocked when they increase that lead this week with another score somewhere. Maybe Lathan Ransom will become the first Buckeye defensive player with scores in back-to-back games since Neil Colzie did it in 1973.

“Just wait until Will Howard is a bigger piece of the running game.”

We have only seen a couple of glimpses of Will Howard as a runner. There was a 9-yard called QB run and a 19-yard scramble, not to mention the other running that he did to keep pass plays alive. But he will again show a little bit of leg in this one, but only as a tease. There will be games this year when he will be a larger part of the running game, and what he shows in this game will have you talking afterward.

“I’ve seen all I need to see of Arvell Reese.”

After a strong start last week, sophomore linebacker Arvell Reese will continue his momentum this week by routinely tracking down Western Michigan running back Jalen Buckley. There are some linebackers who allow their bad intentions to do their talking, and as well see on Saturday, it’s looking like Reese is one of those guys. He’s already emerging as a fan favorite. This game should only confirm many of those biases.

“I assume everything thrown to JJ Smith is gonna be caught.”

Even though Jeremiah Smith dropped the first pass ever thrown his way, there is still the ever-present expectation that anything thrown in his direction is going to be caught. It was fitting that his final catch of the day against Akron was a 45-yard one-hander while having his right arm pulled at by a defender. That’s the norm for Smith, which Buckeye fans have already realized. There are other things within the offense that Smith needs to tighten up, but as Ryan Day said last week, they’ll play through all of those mistakes. The faith is already unwavering that what is thrown JJ Smith’s way will be brought down for a first down or more. Not that I’ll need to tell you Saturday night.

“A healthy TreVeyon Henderson is a beautiful thing.”

TreVeyon Henderson made some moves against Akron that we didn’t get to see last year. Henderson is healthy and more explosive than ever. His straight-line ability is special but he showed more than that last week. He will do the same this week. With the offensive line being together another week, everything should continue to get smoother. Henderson averaged over eight yards per carry last week. Don’t be shocked if he does it again this week. He’s also due to take one the distance.

“This is the Caleb Downs I was promised.”

Caleb Downs’ debut as a Buckeye last week featured a few missed tackles. It was not what folks were expecting after eight months of promises that Downs was incapable of such things. Rest assured, that performance didn’t go over well with Downs himself. You can expect a more sound tackler this week. We will almost certainly continue to see him in the backfield as well. He will be making plays and people will finally get what they came for.

“This is the Quinshon Judkins I was promised too.”

Even though Quinshon Judkins only averaged 4.3 yards per carry last year at Ole Miss, the expectations for him this year are much higher. Imagine everyone’s dismay then when he went for just 4.2 yards per carry last week against Akron. A slow start in his Buckeye debut probably shouldn’t have been all that unexpected given the newness of his surroundings and the offensive line blocking for him. It also isn’t all that unexpected for his second game to be much better than his second. Judkins has now gone six-consecutive games without averaging more than 4.5 yards per carry. That will end Saturday night in a big way.

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