After two relatively chaotic weekends of college football, the Week 1 game against Texas feels a bit like a distant memory, but thinking back to that win, one of the only real areas of concern for the Buckeyes was their run game.
Against the Longhorns, the Buckeyes totaled a mere 77 yards on the ground, good for an average of 2.3 yards per carry. While running back CJ Donaldson looked okay, James Peoples
in particular seemed to struggle with reading plays, and on the whole, neither of them really managed to generate meaningful momentum.
It felt like a different story this past weekend. Yes, I recognize the caliber of teams varied greatly between Week 1 and Week 2: then-No. 1 Texas is a very different football program than Grambling State, so we can and should take this past weekend’s numbers with a grain of salt.
Still, grain of salt aside, Donaldson and Peoples, who both started and stayed on the field for most of the first half, looked more confident, and the numbers reflected this: Peoples had 59 yards on eight carries for an average of 7.4 yards per carry, a marked improvement over his meager Week 1 numbers. He seemed to do a much better job at finding his lane and exploiting holes. Donaldson, too, looked more assured, totaling 45 yards and a touchdown for an average of 9.0 yards per carry.
All of that bodes well for the Buckeyes, to be sure, but despite the marked improvements for the starters, it was neither Donaldson nor Peoples who had everyone talking. The real darling of Saturday’s game was third-string tailback Bo Jackson, the true freshman who ultimately led the team on the ground with 108 yards and a touchdown on nine carries, including a long run of 51 yards.
Now, we owe it to ourselves and to Donaldson and Peoples to take the same grain of salt approach with Jackson here as we are taking with them. His numbers are certainly exceptional, but Grambling State isn’t exactly one of the all-time great football programs.
But perhaps what was so thrilling about Jackson’s performance was how natural he looked. The kid is fast and tough, and despite his inexperience at the college level, I was struck by how good his instincts are. He showed he can manage both the routine five and six-yard plays that move the needle on drives and the breakout runs like his 51-yarder.
This isn’t meant to be a knock on either Donaldson or Peoples, who have the unenviable task of trying to fill the enormous shoes of TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins. I believe Donaldson and Peoples both have what it takes to be excellent running backs, and after their performances in Week 2, I feel more confident that the program is in good hands with this pair.
But when you look at Jackson, he seems to have the “it” factor, that intangible understanding of the game and his role in it. He’s the kind of player who could make magic happen if only you give him the ball.
I might be putting the cart before the horse here—Grambling State isn’t necessarily the clearest indicator of how Jackson would measure up against a team like Texas or Penn State. But there’s no doubt the Buckeyes need someone on the ground who can change the course of a game in one run.
Jackson has, at a minimum, earned himself more snaps, but after two weeks of football, he just might be the Buckeyes’ best playmaker on the ground.
