| PASSING | CP/ATT | YDS | TD | INT |
| 22/34 | 178 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 3/5 | 30 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1/1 | -2 | 0 | 0 |
| RUSHING | ATT | YDS | TD | LG |
| 10 | 25 | 0 | 9 | ||
| 12 | 25 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1 | -1 | 0 | -1 | ||
| 1 | -1 | 0 | -1 | ||
| 9 | -24 | 0 | 9 |
| RECEIVING | REC | YDS | TD | LG |
| 6 | 79 | 0 | 26 | ||
| 4 | 57 | 0 | 38 | ||
| 6 | 29 | 1 | 14 | ||
| 2 | 18 | 0 | 17 | ||
| 3 | 15 | 0 | 12 | ||
| 1 | 12 | 0 | 12 | ||
| 1 | 8 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1 | -2 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2 | -10 | 0 | 0 |
| PASSING | CP/ATT | YDS | TD | INT |
| 18/25 | 234 | 4 | 0 | ||
| 1/1 | -2 | 0 | 0 |
| RUSHING | ATT | YDS | TD | LG |
| 22 | 94 | 1 | 17 | ||
| 12 | 61 | 1 | 51 | ||
| 8 | 49 | 0 | 21 | ||
| 4 | 27 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 2 | 11 | 0 | 6 |
| RECEIVING | REC | YDS | TD | LG |
| 2 | 65 | 1 | 33 | ||
| 4 | 59 | 1 | 29 | ||
| 4 | 38 | 2 | 25 | ||
| 2 | 21 | 0 | 12 | ||
| 3 | 21 | 0 | 11 | ||
| 1 | 14 | 0 | 14 | ||
| 1 | 9 | 0 | 9 | ||
| 1 | 7 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1 | -2 | 0 | -2 |
5 Things from FAU game according to www.elevenwarriors.com Dan Hope
NO SHORTAGE OF OHIO STATE TIES
One of the big storylines leading up to this week’s game will be the return of Fickell, who was a star nose tackle for the Buckeyes from 1993 to 1996 and a member of Ohio State’s coaching staff for more than 15 years. Fickell initially coached for the Buckeyes as a graduate assistant in 1999, then returned to become the special teams coordinator at his alma mater in 2002. He quickly climbed the ranks to become Ohio State's co-defensive coordinator in 2005, and served as both defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for each of his final 12 seasons on the Buckeyes’ coaching staff with the exception of 2011, when he worked as the team’s interim head coach.
Fickell has actually coached against Ohio State once before; he was the defensive line coach at Akron in 2001, when the Buckeyes defeated the Zips 28-14 at Ohio Stadium. But this will be his first game back in Columbus as an opposing head coach. He is entering his third season as the head coach at Cincinnati, his first permanent head coaching gig.
Luke Fickell returns to Ohio Stadium for the second game of his third season as Cincinnati's head coach. David Butler II – USA TODAY Sports
Former Ohio State linebacker Marcus Freeman, who played for Fickell in Columbus from 2004 to 2008 and was a graduate assistant for the Buckeyes in 2010, is also entering his third season at Cincinnati as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.
Other members of Fickell’s coaching and support staff who previously worked at Ohio State include safeties coach Jon Tenuta, who coached Ohio State’s defensive backs from 1996 to 1999 and was the Buckeyes’ defensive coordinator in 2000, and director of football sports performance Brady Collins, who was previously an assistant strength and conditioning coach for Mickey Marotti at Ohio State. Marotti’s son, Mitch, serves as an operations and video assistant for the Bearcats.
Cincinnati’s roster also includes three former Ohio State players who transferred to play for the Bearcats. Most notably among them, wide receiver L’Christian “Blue” Smith – a four-star recruit out of high school – transferred to Cincinnati this offseason after just one year with the Buckeyes. Fellow wide receiver Garyn Prater, who was a walk-on for the Buckeyes, also transferred to Cincinnati to become a scholarship player for the Bearcats after two seasons at Ohio State. Joe Schroer, a reserve defensive tackle for the Bearcats, was a walk-on at Ohio State for the 2016 season before transferring to Cincinnati.
None of them saw playing time in Cincinnati’s season opener against UCLA, so it’s uncertain whether any of the former Buckeyes will see the field against their former team on Saturday.
MOST OF THE ROSTER IS FROM OHIO
With 74 total Ohio natives on its roster, a majority of Cincinnati’s players grew up inside state lines.
Many of those players hail from the southwest quadrant of the state, but the Bearcats have drawn players to the Queen City from all over Ohio.
Notable Columbus-area players on Cincinnati’s roster include safety Darrick Forrest, who played with Malik Harrison at Walnut Ridge and led the Bearcats with nine tackles in their season opener; field goal kicker Sam Crosa, who played at Dublin Scioto; and Ethan Tucky, a regular in the defensive end rotation who played at Delaware Hayes.
TALENTED BACKFIELD TANDEM
Cincinnati’s quarterback and running back aren’t the household names nationally that Justin Fields and J.K. Dobbins are, but both of them are stars in their conference who are quietly in college football’s upper tier of players at their respective positions.
Desmond Ridder was named the American Athletic Conference’s Rookie of the Year in 2018 after starting 11 games for the Bearcats and completing 194 of 311 passes for 2,445 yards and 20 touchdowns with five interceptions, while he also ran for 572 yards and five touchdowns. Pro Football Focus ranked Ridder, a redshirt sophomore, as the nation’s 23rd-best starting quarterback entering the 2019 season.
Michael Warren earned second-team All-AAC honors last season after he ran for 1,329 yards and a school-record 19 rushing touchdowns – fourth-most all Football Bowl Subdivision players last season – on 244 carries, while also catching 25 passes for 232 yards and a touchdown. A Toledo native who was the state of Ohio’s Mr. Football in 2016, Warren was ranked as the 16th-best running back entering the 2019 season by Athlon Sports.
Together, they’ll pose a test to Ohio State’s defense in both the running and the passing game.
STRONG DEFENSIVE TRACK RECORD
Freeman’s unit was one of the best defenses in college football last season, ranking eighth in points allowed per game (17.2), 11th in yards allowed per game (303.5) and 13th in yards allowed per play (4.7). Only three teams – Ohio, UCF and Virginia Tech – topped 30 points and 400 yards against the Bearcats in 2018, while every other opponent was held to no more than 23 points or 351 yards.
The Bearcats have seven returning starters from last year’s defense and looked as strong as ever on that side of the ball in Thursday’s season opener, holding UCLA to only 14 points on 218 yards.
Cincinnati is without safety James Wiggins, who was expected to be one of its stars on defense this season but will instead miss the year with a torn ACL, and that could hurt the Bearcats more against the Buckeyes than it did against the Bruins. Based on how it started off the season, though, Cincinnati’s defense looks as though it could be one of the best in the nation once again, so Justin Fields and the Ohio State offense will need to be on top of their game Saturday.
ALL BUCKEYES SINCE THE 19TH CENTURY
Since winning back-to-back games against Ohio State in 1896 and 1897, Cincinnati has lost each of its last 11 games against the Buckeyes. Ohio State defeated the Bearcats six times between 1900 and 1931, then went 68 years before playing Cincinnati again in 1999, winning that game 34-20. The Buckeyes have since played the Bearcats in 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2014, and Ohio State has won all of those games, as well.
Of the five games played in the last 20 years, Cincinnati came closest to upsetting the state’s flagship university in 2002 – in a game that was played at Paul Brown Stadium – when the Bearcats dropped two touchdown passes on their final drive of a 23-19 loss.
Ohio State has won each of the last three matchups, all at Ohio Stadium, by at least 21 points. The Bearcats opened the week as 17-point underdogs for Saturday’s trip to the Shoe.
10 Things We Learned From Ohio States Win Over FAU according to www.theozone.net Tony Gerdeman
1. That talk about playing two tight ends instead of an H-back wasn’t just talk.
It’s hard to keep track of who is and isn’t in the game on every snap, but one thing was clear — the two tight end system was as prevalent as the coaches warned early in the spring. KJ Hill didn’t even start the game because they went with Jeremy Ruckert instead. It was effective in the passing game, and helped with some max protect on the touchdown pass to Chris Olave. When under center, it gives the Buckeyes another run blocker and makes both Ruckert and Luke Farrell tough matchups for linebackers.
2. Maybe Jaelen Gill isn’t quite ready.
Jaelen Gill played here and there behind KJ Hill, but there just weren’t as many snaps for the H-backs as there were last year. He only had one catch, and he didn’t get that until late. The conspiracy theorist in me says maybe they’re holding him back for Cincinnati, but the realist in me says he played, he just wasn’t targeted. It’s not fair to say he isn’t quite ready. A more realistic thought would simply be that there are a lot of guys to throw to and not everybody can get the ball. Heck, the two receivers who started the game — Binjimen Victor and Austin Mack — only caught two passes each.
3. Jashon Cornell looks faster than ever.
Jashon Cornell dropped some weight in order to play defensive end last year, but then added some to be able to handle the interior at defensive tackle this year. And then Jonathon Cooper went down, along with Tyreke Smith and Tyler Friday, and then Cornell had to go back outside to defensive end. And yet this was the most explosive I’ve ever seen him. He was in the backfield several times, coming away with two tackles for loss, a sack, and a forced fumble. If he does get a chance to move back inside this year, there are some guards who are going to have issues.
4. The secondary showed great discipline.
The best example of this secondary being smart and disciplined came on the jet sweep flea flicker. Damon Arnette points out the quarterback, then defends the intended receiver. Also back deep in double coverage was Jeff Okudah. Last year, who knows what this play would have done. This year, it was just an example of a defense prepared to handle the unorthodox.
The jet sweep flea flicker yesterday. On the play before, FAU ran a sweep the other way. On the flea flicker, Damon Arnette points out the QB at the bottom of the screen and both he and Jeff Okudah are covering the lone receiver deep. Great discipline and awareness.
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5. Demario McCall could add a lot as a returner.
Demario McCall had a 35-yard punt return and two 26-yard kickoff returns. His performance alone topped any return yardage games for the entire team last year, save for the Purdue game where the Buckeyes had enough kickoff returns to still only manage just 98 yards. It has been a while since Ohio State has had a punt returning threat or a kickoff returning threat. McCall could end up being both.
6. JK Dobbins is running tough again.
Ryan Day had to be pleased with a lot of what he saw from Dobbins, particularly the time he threw an Owl tackler to the ground before continuing his day. There was some tough sledding for Dobbins on the day, but he attacked it with the necessary aggression.
7. The offensive line has some work to do.
The Buckeyes averaged 4.9 yards per carry, and when you remove the 51-yard carry by Justin Fields, that number comes down to 4.0 yards per carry. That’s not nearly good enough in conference play. This needs fixed in a hurry. There was also quite a bit of pressure on quarterback Justin Fields. He took a couple of shots and had to escape a worse outcome a few times as well. Fields can help his line look better by making sure he’s making the right reads on the options, but they could help him by giving him more time in the pocket throughout the game.
8. This wasn’t even Neapolitan ice cream.
It wasn’t an entirely vanilla offense and defense on Saturday, but it wasn’t vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry either. There was plenty of newness — going under center, more two tight ends, Pete Werner dropping back as a safety at times, the Bullets and Sams together — but this was far from the entire package. There was no reason to show Cincinnati more than they had to. The Buckeyes will have a few extra things in their arsenal this coming weekend. And Justin Fields is just getting started as well.
9. The linebackers looked better.
I really liked what I saw from Malik Harrison and Pete Werner. Tuf Borland was active. The worst play of the day came in the fourth quarter when receiver Travis Harrison lined up in the slot and was possibly matched up with Teradja Mitchell, but Mitchell let him get behind him and then both he and Baron Browning had to make a mad dash to cover him. Browning almost got there, but didn’t. The play went for 38 yards. But other than that, this was a solid effort from a deep group, and it is clear that Browning is going to be a large part of this defense while he splits time with Tuf Borland. All four of the top linebackers had their moments on the day, which is exactly what you want.
10. There is still plenty of learning to be had.
Players and coaches walked away from this game stinging from the plays and points they left on the field, or in the defense’s case, the points that they allowed. That creates the kind of hunger that finds fixes and pushes them forward. They know they have to play an entire 60 minutes against Cincinnati, and Florida Atlantic helped them see that. For that reason alone, this game was a positive outcome.
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