COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Buckeyes play host to Florida A&M today with questions still unanswered on both offense and defense.
The Buckeyes (3-0) are ranked No. 3 in the “USA Today” coaches’ poll and No. 4 in the AP Top 25 following wins over Buffalo, San Diego State and Cal. The Rattlers of the Football Championship Subdivision come into Columbus with a 1-2 mark on the year.
The game starts at noon and will be televised by the Big Ten Network.
Quarterback Braxton Miller is still a question mark for the game with a sprained left knee, but was listed as probably by head coach Urban Meyer earlier in the week. Coming off a career-best performance in relief at Cal last week, backup Kenny Guiton may see action as well, even if he does not start.
The Buckeye defense missed 16 tackles at California. Though it may be hard to argue with a 52-34 win with two forced turnovers, missed tackles an area of concern. A year ago, Ohio State’s coaches were driven to distraction by defenders unable to wrap up and make a stop in the open field. They were victimized again and again for big gains after failing to make an early tackle.
They still aren’t perfect in that regard, but they feel they’ve made remarkable improvement.
By most measures — except maybe the missed-tackles tote board — the defense has more than met expectations this year while replacing seven starters, including all four linemen.