That is often the case in high school football where offenses can be wildly different, but this week it applies to both Ohio State and the Cincinnati Bengals.
Ohio State will put its perfect record on the line against Iowa on Saturday
The Hawkeyes have been known as a run-the-ball-and-play defense team for all of head coach Kirk Ferentz’s 28-year tenure — except recently they haven’t actually been very good at running the ball.
Iowa finished 107th nationally in rushing last season, the third year in a row the Hawkeyes’ ranked was in triple digits.
While a lack of sophistication in the Iowa attack garnered most of the headlines, the root problem was not being able to rely on their bread and butter to set up any kind of passing game.
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That is not the case this year.
Hamilton High School graduate Kaleb Johnson is third in the nation and No. 1 in the Big Ten with 177.8 rushing yards per game behind an offensive line that looks better than Iowa has fielded in a few years.
The passing game still hasn’t done much under new offensive coordinator Tim Lester, but you have to start somewhere.
Meanwhile, the Ohio State defense has good numbers but hasn’t really been tested, and it is worth keeping in mind the run defense faltered late last season.
On the flip side, the Hawkeyes never lost a step on defense, and they provide a new test for the new-look Ohio State offense.
While the Buckeyes have relied on big plays to pull away from opponents the past couple of weeks, Iowa is built specifically to prevent those both structurally and fundamentally.
That means head coach Ryan Day’s team might have to prove it can grind out a win, something he wants to see from them anyway.
Baltimore bringing a ‘big’ challenge to Cincinnati
We’re accentuating size because the Ravens added Derrick Henry to their backfield in the offseason.
The 6-foot-2, 247-pound Henry leads the NFL with 480 yards rushing and five touchdowns.
He’s gone over 150 yards two weeks in a row while providing the new thunder to the lightning attack led by quarterback Lamar Jackson, who has 308 yards rushing and two touchdowns along with 858 yards and five touchdowns passing.
Meanwhile, the Bengals run defense looks like it will be extremely poor for a second consecutive season, but there could be some good news.
The defensive line is getting healthier, and coordinator Lou Anarumo has shown the ability to draw up unique defenses to stop unique offenses in the past — including Baltimore.
Regardless, the key to victory for the Bengals could lie in Joe Burrow and the offense remaining hot.
This is another interesting stylistic matchup.
While the Bengals seem to be newly committed to using the running game to ease some of the pressure on Joe Burrow, Baltimore has the best run defense in the league (at least statistically) but is giving up nearly 300 yards passing per game.
Burrow has lit up the Ravens secondary before. Can he do it again?
He will probably have to if Cincinnati wants to avoid starting 1-4.
First Four staying ‘home’
In case you missed it, the NCAA announced this week the University of Dayton Arena will continue hosting the First Four through at least 2028.
This might seem like a no-brainer if you have ever attended this great event in mid-March, but the city has faced challenges before as others bid to host it.
The future of the tournament itself also faces some questions as college athletics go through a massive period of change, so don’t take for granted the Gem City will always have this honor to be the place the Big Dance begins.
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