Ohio State Football: 3 keys for Buckeyes vs. Cincinnati in Week 2

2. Defensive line must be dominant

Chase Young is one of the most dynamic pass rushers in all of college football. He will go back and forth with Iowa defensive end AJ Epenesa and Michigan State’s Kenny Willekes to decide the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. This is a defensive line that might not have the star power of years past outside of Young, but they are a veteran front line with some youth that will see some time.

This is a group that shouldn’t have a problem winning in the trenches.

The Bearcats re-tooled their offensive line. They return one starter from last year’s team. Moreover, many of their linemen haven’t played much football. Tackle Lorenz Metz is a mountain of a man at 6-9, but he’s from Germany and hasn’t played much football. Morgan James is their only returning lineman, and never played a down of football before coming to Cincinnati four years ago; he played minor league hockey.

This is a line that features two redshirt freshman. Ohio State taking advantage of this reconfigured line can only help matters.

The Buckeyes can limit what Cincinnati wants to do offensively. This is a ground-based attack, and they go about four-deep at running back. If the Buckeyes front seven can limit what the Bearcats want to do on the ground, and force Desmond Ridder to have to throw 30 plus times in this game, the Ohio State pass rush can pin its ears back and get after him.