The 10 Biggest Surprises From the First Half of the Ohio State Football Season

By Griffin Strom on October 14, 2022 at 8:35 am
Cade Stover, Marvin Harrison Jr.
Barbara J. Perenic, Columbus Dispatch
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Ohio State’s 6-0 start to the regular season is no surprise heading into the bye week.

Along the way, though, there’s been plenty of developments that Buckeye fans might not have seen coming.

From standout performances that caught spectators off guard, star players taking steps back, injuries to key performers and everything in between, we’ve detailed the 10 biggest surprises from Ohio State’s season so far.

RELATED Midseason Evaluations: What’s Gone Well and Questions That Remain for Every Ohio State Unit at the Halfway Point of 2022

JSN's absence a nonfactor

Even with the star-studded stable of wideouts Ohio State possessed coming into the season, Jaxon Smith-Njigba figured to be an indispensable asset for the Buckeye offense. That hasn’t been the case through the first half of 2022.

Ohio State’s all-time single-season and single-game record-holder for both receptions and receiving yards has barely seen the field due to an injury suffered early in the season opener. Still, you’d hardly notice a difference when looking at the Buckeyes’ numbers in the passing game. C.J. Stroud is the nation’s leader in passing touchdowns (24) entering this weekend, Marvin Harrison Jr. leads the country in receiving scores (nine) and Emeka Egbuka has the most receiving yards (655) of any Power-5 wideout in the sport.

A hamstring injury has relegated Smith-Njigba to the sidelines for all but two games. The preseason Biletnikoff Award frontrunner has just four catches for 36 yards heading into the bye week. Stroud and Day both sound confident that Smith-Njigba will return before the end of the year, but even if he doesn’t, Ohio State isn’t exactly pressed for playmakers in the passing game.

Throw in the success of Julian Fleming and Cade Stover thus far, and Ohio State’s aerial assault looks like one of – if not the best – units in the nation, even without its top wide receiver.

Injuries to starters

Health issues are commonplace in college football, but Ohio State’s stars have sure dealt with a lot of them on a week-to-week basis through the first six games.

We’ve already detailed Smith-Njigba’s injury struggles, but he’s far from the only first-stringer to miss games so far. On offense, Ohio State’s top-two running backs – TreVeyon Henderson and Miyan Williams – have both missed at least one game. On defense, the toll has been even heavier.

RELATED Getting Healthy A Priority for Ohio State on Well-Timed Bye Week

Both of the Buckeyes’ starting corners (Cameron Brown and Denzel Burke) have been unavailable for at least a game. Not to mention Jordan Hancock, who hasn’t played a defensive snap all season due to a preseason injury. Three of Ohio State’s four top safeties – Lathan Ransom, Josh Proctor and Tanner McCalister – have also missed games. Mike Hall, Ohio State’s best defensive tackle this season, was held out against Toledo and didn’t even see double-digit snaps against Michigan State.

Those injuries haven’t been all that consequential for Ohio State, given its nation-leading 33.2-point average margin of victory through six victories, but they’ve all provided some level of concern every week. Most of those players suited up in the Buckeyes’ most recent game, but the jury is still out on a few injury situations as Ohio State heads into its final six-game stretch of the regular season.

Cade Stover's pass-catching prowess

The loss of Jeremy Ruckert put a big question mark over Ohio State’s tight end position entering 2022. It turns out Stover was the answer all along.

A linebacker to end last year, Stover switched back to a position that Ryan Day felt he had a higher ceiling at in the spring, and the move has paid off in spades for both parties. Stover’s toughness and blocking ability were never questioned, but his penchant for making plays as a pass catcher caught everyone off guard to start the season.

Stover has 16 catches for 206 yards and a pair of touchdowns through six games, which puts him on pace to outdo Ruckert’s senior season in each category. Stover’s caught at least one pass in every game thus far, and his three-game stretch from Week 2 through Week 4 was particularly notable. Against Arkansas State, Toledo and Wisconsin, Stover hauled in nine passes for 174 yards, with his two-touchdown first half versus the Badgers serving as the definitive announcement of his arrival as a receiving weapon for the Buckeyes.

Stover’s past two performances have been quiet, with the Lexington, Ohio, native catching four passes for just 18 yards combined against Rutgers and Michigan State. But C.J. Stroud and company seem committed to getting the Buckeye captain the ball, which should result in more highlights for Farmer Gronk in the back half of the season.

The emergence of Mike Hall

When Larry Johnson said he had an “alpha dog” in his room before the start of the season, few would’ve guessed it was a redshirt freshman defensive tackle who Kevin Wilson said was running with the third-team defense at one point during camp.

Mike Hall has been every bit the alpha dog for the Buckeye defensive line, though, leading Ohio State with 4.5 sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss halfway through the season. The four-star 2021 recruit recorded a sack in each of his first two career starts, and his most recent performance saw Hall tally 2.5 sacks on just seven snaps as he continues to work his way back from a shoulder injury suffered against Arkansas State.

Hall didn’t even play against Toledo but has still managed to put up spectacular numbers for Johnson and company. In fact, Hall already has more tackles for loss than any Buckeye did a year ago, and in just five games this year, he’s only one sack shy of tying Haskell Garrett’s team-high 5.5 for the whole 2021 season.

RELATED Michigan State Notebook: Mike Hall Jr. Makes Big Impact in Smaller Role, Gee Scott Jr. Scores First Touchdown

Keep in mind, Hall only saw 35 snaps as a true freshman, and many thought Tyleik Williams – who had five sacks in his first year – would be the breakout defensive tackle for the Buckeyes in 2022. Instead, Hall has outshined perhaps every other defender on the Buckeye roster to start the season, and he’s done so without being fully healthy for most of the first half of the year.

Tommy Eichenberg's improvement

While I touted Hall as the breakout star of the Buckeye defense in the previous section, Tommy Eichenberg probably has an equal claim to that title. Ohio State’s starting middle linebacker has flourished in Knowles’ new defensive scheme, racking up a team-high 50 sacks through the first six games  – 19 more than the next-best Buckeye.

Eichenberg’s 17-tackle performance in last season’s Rose Bowl might make his 2022 success a little less surprising, but the consistency with which he’s brought similar efforts to the field this year continues to impress nonetheless.

Eichenberg has been all over the field, playing faster and more decisively than he was as a first-year starter under Kerry Coombs and Al Washington a year ago, particularly behind the line of scrimmage. The Cleveland native is second among all Buckeyes in both tackles for loss, with 6.0, and sacks, with 2.5.

Ohio State ranks top-15 in the country in every major defensive category halfway through the regular season, and Eichenberg’s caliber of play is no small reason why.

Xavier Johnson steps up in season opener

You might have expected big things from Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka at wideout in the absence of Jaxon Smith-Njigba. But you’d be lying if you thought former Buckeye walk-on Xavier Johnson would catch the go-ahead touchdown in Ohio State’s season opener against Notre Dame.

There had been murmurs about Johnson turning in an impressive preseason ahead of the Buckeyes’ Week 1 matchup, but surely he wouldn’t be able to rival his many five-star stablemates for real playing time at wide receiver, right? Wrong.

With Smith-Njigba and Julian Fleming banged up against the Fighting Irish, Johnson stepped up to catch the first two passes of his career, with one of them going for a 24-yard score that gave the Buckeyes a lead they wouldn’t relinquish in the second half.

Johnson’s only caught one pass since then, but even if the season opener ends up being his biggest moment of the year – and Buckeye career in general – that’s nothing to scoff at. Johnson made perhaps the biggest play in Ohio State’s closest game thus far, and it won’t soon be forgotten.

Miyan Williams looking like RB1

TreVeyon Henderson was a preseason first-team AP All-American to start the year. By the midway point of the regulars season, there’s some doubt that he’s even the best running back on the Buckeye roster.

Miyan Williams has shined through the first six weeks, leading the Buckeyes with 497 rushing yards and ranking second in the nation with an average of 7.8 yards per carry among players with at least 60 attempts this season. Williams did the leg work (and scored the touchdown) on the Buckeyes’ game-clinching drive against Notre Dame in the fourth quarter, and the three-star recruit had a true breakthrough moment when Henderson missed Ohio State’s matchup with Rutgers due to injury.

In his first-ever game with at least 15 carries, Williams ran for 189 yards and an Ohio State single-game record-tying five touchdowns against the Scarlet Knights. It was Williams’ second straight 100-yard performance to start the Big Ten schedule, as he dashed for 101 and two scores on just 11 carries against Wisconsin the week before.

Unfortunately for Williams, that momentum was stunted when he missed the Michigan State game due to injury, but he’ll have a chance to keep the ball rolling when the Buckeyes return from their bye.

No sacks for J.T.

Let’s start with a caveat: J.T. Tuimoloau has been impactful as a pass rusher in his second season at Ohio State, racking up three tackles for loss and often winning his matchup to help cause havoc in opposing backfields.

But that doesn’t change the fact that the five-star 2021 recruit has yet to record a sack as a sophomore in scarlet and gray.

Many projected Tuimoloau to truly burst onto the scene for the Buckeyes with a proper offseason under his belt, but even if he’s been solid after receiving an uptick in playing time, his statistical productivity hasn’t been much to write home about – at least when it comes to the category that matters most for defensive ends.

In his defense, it’s not like many other Buckeye DEs are racking up sacks, either. Jack Sawyer and Javontae Jean-Baptiste have two apiece, but those are the only sacks tallied by Johnson’s defensive ends.

Tuimoloau may go on a tear to end the season, but starting the back half of the season, he’ll be sitting on a goose egg in the sack department.

Step back for Denzel Burke

By this time last year, Denzel Burke’s success as the top cornerback on the Buckeye roster as just a true freshman was among the bigger surprises on defense. This year, his sophomore struggles are the main storyline surrounding his season.

RELATED Cornerback Play A Lingering Concern for Ohio State at Midpoint of Regular Season: “We've Gotta Learn to Finish”

Burke has battled a hand injury that required surgery before Ohio State’s Big Ten opener, but he gave up big plays to lesser opponents in 1-on-1 coverage on multiple occasions even before that.

Burke’s performance against Michigan State was an improved one, with Cameron Brown taking the heat for a poor effort of his own. But Burke will have to step up in the latter half of the season if Ohio State’s cornerback stable is to put some lingering concerns to rest as the Buckeyes pursue an undefeated record in the regular season.

Kourt Williams' lack of snaps

The first half of the season hasn’t gone according to plan for Kourt Williams. 

After a solid ending to his redshirt freshman season, Williams started the spring as Ohio State’s first-string boundary safety. He was subsequently named both an Iron Buckeye and a team captain before the start of the year. Six games in, though, Williams has only played 42 snaps and didn’t play at all on defense against Notre Dame and Michigan State.

Before the Buckeyes’ most recent game, Jim Knowles said Williams hadn’t been healthy enough to compete for a position on the Ohio State defense. But Williams hasn’t appeared on any of Ohio State’s pregame status reports, which has made his absence from the lineup all the more strange.

RELATED Injury Issues Costing Kourt Williams A Bigger Role in the Buckeye Secondary: “We Need to Give Him Time to Get Better”

Luckily for Ohio State, Lathan Ransom and Josh Proctor have both demonstrated standout play while splitting time at the boundary safety spot, but it looks like Williams’ chance at a breakout campaign may have to wait until his fourth year in the program.

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