Scarlet Sunrise: Ohio State to face another high-tempo, high-powered offense at Iowa

Good morning, Ohio State fans, and welcome to the Scarlet Sunrise. Football will always be our focus, but every day we’ll cover news, notes and analysis from across Buckeyes sports. Join us each morning to get caught up on everything you missed in the world of Buckeyes football, recruiting, basketball and more in Scarlet Sunrise.

Ohio State to face another high-tempo, high-powered offense at Iowa

Three days after facing No. 14 Illinois, which boasts an offense with the third-highest adjusted tempo in the Big Ten, Ohio State (13-8, 3-7 Big Ten) is set for a Friday night matchup at Iowa (12-9, 4-6). The Hawkeyes are first among Big Ten teams in that category, according KenPom, and 14th nationally in that metric — in other words, possessions per 40 minutes, adjusted for opponent.

Iowa’s average possession length is 15.2 seconds, 2.2 seconds faster than the Division I average, per KenPom. That’s nothing new, of course.

Under head coach Fran McCaffery, the Hawkeyes are consistently top 50 in the country in that area. Just as Terrence Shannon Jr. pushed the pace for the Fighting Illini during Tuesday night’s 87-75 win in the Schottenstein Center — to the tune of 11 Illinois fastbreak points — Iowa’s Tony Perkins will do the same Friday in Carver Hawkeye Arena.

Perkins, by the way, is putting together an All-Big Ten campaign with 15.5 points, 4.1 assists and 1.9 steals per game. Forwards Ben Krikke, Payton Sandfort and Owen Freeman are all averaging north of 10 points per game, too, with Krikke and Sandfort both at the 15.0 mark right now.

As a team, Iowa is second in the Big Ten with 84.4 points per game.

And, unsurprisingly, McCaffery’s squad is 15th nationally with 15.62 fastbreak points per game.

“They’ve always played fast, they’ve played loose,” Ohio State assistant Mike Netti said Thursday. “Fran does a great job giving them freedom. Right now they’re getting a lot of production from Perkins, who’s always hurt us. But they’ve got good skill. They can shoot it well. They can play early in the clock. And right now they’ve got the kid Freeman inside who’s really given them another weapon at the basket.

“So another huge test for us with a team that’s playing fast and playing in transition, as Illinois did. We’re gonna have to build our defense. We’re gonna have to be tough on the ball. And we’re gonna have to contest shooters.”

Ohio State wasn’t tough on the ball against Illinois, or against Northwestern: 1-on-1 matchups have been a problem for the Buckeyes, but especially against the Illini, whose length created mismatches for Ohio State all game long.

Netti reiterated head coach Chris Holtmann’s postgame message that the Buckyees have to be “nastier” defensively, and that starts on the ball.

“We got to keep our matchups that we think are favorable,” Netti said. “As long as we’re tougher and more connected, we believe in our defense. So they’ll be better moving forward.”

The connection part, or lack thereof, ties back to Ohio State’s struggles defending the 3-point line. While the Buckeyes have lost six of the last seven games, their opponents have shot a blistering 46.2% from beyond the arc. Against Illinois, which shot 7-of-17 from deep but also missed some wide-open opportunities, Ohio State was slow to scramble out of its traps to close out on shooters.

Sometimes, there was no closeout at all.

The Buckeyes can’t play like that against Iowa, considering the Hawkeyes are a capable 3-point shooting team, too. Although they’re tied with Illinois with just the seventh-best clip from long range (34.4%) in the Big Ten, they’ve hit nine or more triples in eight games this season.

The last thing Ohio State can do is let more losses blend together.

“We just want to make sure we just keep working,” freshman forward Devin Royal said Thursday. “Because we don’t want to go into the rest of the season thinking, ‘Oh, we already lost this.’

“In our heads and our coaches’ heads, we still got a lot of games to prove who we are and how good we are.”

Ohio State has 10 regular season games remaining. In the last 10 years, according to Adam Jardy of The Columbus Dispatch, three Big Ten teams have been 3-7 through 10 league games and made the NCAA Tournament.

If the Buckeyes want to become the fourth, the clock is ticking.

“I feel like everybody has a little pressure,” Royal said. “I don’t feel like it’s overwhelming for us because we’re still trying to focus on the main thing. You know, keep the main thing, the main thing.

“But I feel like everybody has a little pressure on them. No one wants to lose.”

Ohio State football can tweak offensive strategy with talent on hand, new play caller

Bill O’Brien offers a wealth of experience and knowledge to Ohio State, where he’s now coordinating Ryan Day’s offense, calling the plays and working with the quarterbacks.

O’Brien will certainly bring new ideas to the table, but the Day offense isn’t going to change drastically.

That said, there are indications of a particular emphasis on that side of the ball in 2024. Lettermen Row explored that potential tweak here.

ICYMI: New Buckeyes share early impressions of offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien

Roster Reset: Evaluating Buckeyes star-studded safety room

The Lettermen Row “Roster Reset” kept mowing along with an inside look at the Ohio State safety room, which now includes All-American Caleb Downs.

Downs transferring in from Alabama was a huge upgrade for an already intriguing position group that also features fifth-year safety Lathan Ransom, who was in the middle of an impressive 2023 before going down with a season-ending injury at Wisconsin.

We previewed what the safety depth chart could look like and posed the biggest question facing new position coach Matt Guerrieri and his unit.

Check it out here.

RELATED

• Roster Reset: Evaluating Buckeyes reloading linebackers room
• Roster Reset: Evaluating Buckeyes defensive ends room
• Roster Reset: Evaluating Buckeyes defensive tackle room
• Roster Reset: Evaluating Ohio State special teams units
• Roster Reset: Evaluating Ohio State offensive line after lackluster 2023
• Roster Reset: Examining Buckeyes retooled tight end room
• Roster Reset: Examining Buckeyes wide receiver room, potential depth chart
• Roster Reset: Examining Buckeyes loaded running back room
• Roster Reset: Examining Buckeyes reshaped quarterback room

Counting down

Buckeyes vs. Akron: 211 days
Buckeyes vs. Michigan: 302 days

Are you a Lettermen Row member yet?

Are you ready to get all your latest Ohio State news in one place? Become a member of Lettermen Row today. With your Lettermen Row/On3+ membership, you’ll not only have access to everything that’s happening with the Buckeyes, but you’ll also be able to peruse other fan sites within the network to hear just how rivals are feeling about Ohio State, as well. Make sure to follow along on X, Instagram and on Youtube for all the latest Buckeyes news you need to know.