5 reasons Ohio State football keeps perfect season in tact over Indiana

1. OSU special teams will cream Indiana, alone

There is a lot of credit to be spread around throughout the whole team after last week’s win. Everyone was involved and it took every last player to pull out the 1-point victory. The team’s success is always strictly bound to the success of the team as a whole.

So the winner for the part of the team that had the greatest impact toward the win is…the punt team? Yes. The punt team was incredibly important last Saturday. As a matter of fact, all of the special teams units were crucial in the difference between winning and losing against the Nittany Lions.

The punt team was easily the star of the game as they made huge plays every time they stepped on the field.

It was like the team got a big jolt of energy even after a failed offensive drive. Punter Dru  Chrisman was awarded the Ray Guy Punter of the Week award after his performance. It wouldn’t be surprising if this ended up being the best kicking performance of the year when it’s all said and done.

Chrisman ended up punting the ball nine times during the game which is his career high and averaged 47.9 yards per kick. His longest punt was a whopping 58 yards. It seemed like no matter where the Buckeyes’ offense sputtered to a halt, Chrisman was there to pin the Nittany Lions’ offense back inside their own 20 yard line.

Although Chrisman was the one who set it all up, it was the coverage team that secured it in the end. Every time Chrisman would punt it away the coverage team would be down there immediately to stop any chance of the Lions returning it. This was the Bucks being stingy for giving up yards to the nth degree. There was no way they were letting the Lions get any more yards especially not on special teams.

The Buckeyes did well in all facets of the game last weekend but the unsung hero of the whole contest was the enormous success of the special teams. The punt team was able to frustrate the Nittany Lions as they would pin them well inside their own territory and make them earn every inch on their way to any points to be scored by their offense.

Expect the Buckeyes to continue to focus on even the smallest of details as they look to match their perfect of record with perfection of play.