Joel Klatt impressed by Chip Kelly's offense: 'Ohio State looks extremely dangerous'
Joel Klatt laid out the numbers: Ohio State has outscored its first two opponents, 108-6. Running backs Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson are both averaging more than seven yards per carry. The Buckeyes just rushed for 273 yards and six touchdowns last weekend.
Granted Ohio State has opened the season against back-to-back MAC opponents, Akron and Western Michigan, but the Buckeyes have proved their dominance on both sides of the ball.
“You might be thinking to yourself like, Joel, they haven’t played anybody. That’s fine,” Klatt said on his FOX Sports show Wednesday. “And you know what, they did exactly what they should do to those teams. Guess who would take that right now? Notre Dame, Oregon, any of those teams.
“What I’m looking at is this check-in on [offensive coordinator] Chip Kelly. I’m starting to see this Chip Kelly effect: 273 rush yards and six touchdowns last week. That was a Western Michigan team, by the way, that led Wisconsin in the fourth quarter in Week 1. So maybe they weren’t nobody. Again, 273 rush yards, we have not seen that over the last few years, and, in fact, I think that’s been the one thing that’s been hindering Ohio State more than anything is their inability to really control the game at the line of scrimmage.”
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To Klatt’s point, Ohio State never rushed for as many as 273 yards in game last season. In fact, in 2023, the Buckeyes never reached the 250-yard rushing mark in a game. Their low point came against Maryland when they netted just 62 rushing yards, their fewest in a game since 2011. Ohio State finished the year 88th nationally in rushing offense with 138.85 yards per game on the ground.
It’s still early, however, the Buckeyes are currently sitting at 28th with 221.50 rushing yards per game. Kelly unfurled his play sheet a bit against Western Michigan, deploying more heavy sets, including three- and four-tight end packages. Plus, he sprinkled orbit motion pre-snap and speed option plays post-snap.
What’s more, Ohio State’s offensive line took a much-needed step forward from Week 1 to Week 2. And the Buckeyes should be getting back third-year starting left guard Donovan Jackson soon.
“You can say they haven’t played anybody, but I’m checking in on Chip Kelly, I’m checking in on that run game, and all of a sudden that looks extremely dangerous,” Klatt said. “Ohio State looks extremely dangerous.
“I understand that they have not had a marquee opponent like Georgia has had with Clemson, like Texas has had with Michigan, to really showcase how good they are. I’m here to tell you I think Ohio State is exactly who we thought they were. If we’re checking in on Ohio State two weeks in, they are an elite team and a scary team. If that run game is reliable and the defense is as good as we think it was going to be — it’s proving that out on the field — [Ohio State’s] going to be a really, really hard team to beat.”