The Ohio State Buckeyes were without Chase Young this past week, but that didn’t stop them from dominating Maryland. Then again, no one expected the Buckeyes to do anything other than dominate the Terps. Even without Young, Ohio State was still favored by over 40 points–a spread the Buckeyes easily covered.
What is impressive, though, is that Ohio State managed to improve its score in advanced metrics in the process. These metrics, whether they operate on a possession-by-possession or play-by-play basis, expect teams like Ohio State to blow out teams like Maryland. Without a star defensive player, you might expect that Ohio State’s numbers would slip a bit. But that didn’t happen. Not only did the Buckeyes not slip, they rose even further.
In Bill Connelly’s SP+ ratings, the Buckeyes stayed pretty static on both offense and defense. The defensive rating barely moved, from giving up an expected 9.0 points per game against an average team to giving up 9.1. Ohio State’s overall rating skyrocketed to an unheard-of 36.9, though, on the back of special teams ratings becoming more valuable this week. (There are fewer special teams plays in a game so it takes longer in the season for them to reach their full value.)
In ESPN’s FPI ratings, the Buckeyes rose to an incredible 34.7 points better than an average team. The rating last week was 33.8. Without Chase Young, Ohio State still managed to make its overall score a point better in one week. What could have happened if Young was on the field?
And, lastly, the Buckeyes improved their Sagarin rating as well. The Predictor, Golden Mean, and Recent ratings all rose about one point (Recent was the lowest, at .81) with the domination of Maryland.
Chase Young is an incredible player, and perhaps he might be needed against an elite offensive line in the CFP. But against everyone else, Ohio State’s other linemen are still better than whoever is trying to block them. That means that the Buckeyes can improve their overall efficiencies, even without their top player on the field.