Featured image © Steve Cheng. All Rights Reserved.
With both college and professional seasons underway, it is a good time to see how Ohio’s football teams are doing.
It is no secret that Ohio citizens love their football. From the Browns to the Buckeyes, many Ohioans spend their weekends watching their favorite teams play. Some teams are good, some not so much.
The Browns and Bengals are both tied in the AFC North with a record of 3-2.
The Browns came into the season with lofty expectations, and the week one loss to the Chiefs should not really change that. In the games since the Browns have looked like a complete team, and definitely one that other teams should keep an eye out for.
Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt allow the Browns to control games on the ground and is once again proving to be a difficult running game to stop. On the other side of the ball, Myles Garret is back to terrorizing opposing quarterbacks and is already having a strong year.
The Bengals came into the year as more of a middle-of-the-pack team. People were unsure of what quarterback Joe Burrow would look like following his season ending in a knee surgery the year prior. So far so good, as the Bengals are no longer an easy opponent for teams.
Burrow and the offense have looked pretty explosive so far. The connection between Jamarr Chase and Joe Burrow seems to still be strong despite their time apart. The money that the team has invested into the defense is proving to be well spent, as the unit has greatly improved.
The most beloved college football team in the state of Ohio has long been the Buckeyes, but the current rankings have thrown that assumption into question. The Buckeyes currently sit at six in the AP poll, trailing in-state rival Cincinnati who currently sits at three.
Cincinnati has an undefeated record of 5-0, while Ohio State suffered their first regular-season loss of the Ryan Day era with a 35-28 loss to Oregon, the Buckeyes currently sit at 5-1.
The Bearcats are riding high after going to Notre Dame and getting the win on the road. The win puts Cincinnati in a good position for the rest of the season, with the Bearcats having a legitimate chance of being the first group of five schools to make the college football playoffs.
College football in the state is not just limited to the big dogs though, there is a lot of good competition all over the state with schools like Miami, Bowling Green, and other MAC schools playing good football as well.
Bowling Green is coming off of one of the biggest upsets of the young season so far. The team pulled off the largest FBS upset since the 2019 season with their win over the Minnesota Golden Gophers. The Falcons pulled off the upset in a game in which they were 31 point underdogs.
Akron is coming off of a loss to Ohio State, but it was a game in which the Zips held a lead. As for the other Ohio teams, both Miami and Bowling Green both sit with a 2-4 record following a difficult out-of-conference schedule, but they both are looking to fare better in the conference portion of their schedules.
Ohio University sits with just one win out of five games at 1-5 and Toledo has a 3-3 record, but almost pulled out a close away win against Notre Dame. Kent State leads the teams in the MAC with a 3-3 total record.
Again, Ohio loves its football. Partway through the season, some of the teams are performing to their expectations, some are exceeding them, and some have fallen short.
It is only October though, and there is plenty of football left to be played.
