If there's an offense that scares Ohio, it's likely Toledo's offense.
Senior running back Kareem Hunt has 740 yards this season on 152 carries, good for just under five yards per carry. He ranks 23rd in the country in rush yards.
Quarterback Logan Woodside ranks 12th in passing yards with 2,277, and is first in passing touchdowns with 28.
The offense as a whole ranks 30th in plays per game with 78.2.
Simply put, it will take a defensive effort that the Bobcats haven't shown since the 28-19 loss to then-No. 15 Tennessee.
Breakdown
The Rockets are 6-1. And surprisingly, that doesn't indicate just how good this team is.
Toledo's sole loss came against BYU on the road in a 55-53 loss. BYU is 4-4, but has a three-point loss to No. 10 West Virginia and a one-point loss to No. 13 Boise State.
Essentially, Toledo's only loss came against an incredibly underrated BYU squad.
This will be the best team Ohio has played since Tennessee. And honestly, in a hypothetical world, it wouldn't shock me to see Toledo beat Tennessee.
But now that I'm off my rocker, I looked at this YouTube clip of Toledo's barnburner against BYU to look at the Rockets offense.
Before getting into a specific play, I can't emphasize this enough –– Toledo is very, very good.
They out-gained BYU 692-586, only to be done in by two turnovers compared to the Cougars' zero.
At the 35:25 mark, Toledo lined up in the Pistol Train, with Hunt offset to the left side of Woodside. It's an RPO play, or a run-pass option. BYU has to stack the box to slow down Hunt and the rushing attack.
With the flanker, a fullback, blocking head up and a pulling guard, the play has all the look of a power run play to Hunt. Woodside pulls the ball to pass, however, and now the Cougars are in trouble.
Toledo was left in one-on-one coverage on the outsides, and after the strong safety bought the run, Woodside had his choice of three one-on-one match ups.
If the clip is frozen at 37:50, the defense is absolutely frozen, with now eight men in the box trying to backtrack and franticly get back in coverage.
All it took was a broken tackle and the end result was a 79-yard touchdown.
Judgement
That film will give the Ohio defensive coaches nightmares. The Bobcats certainly have the horses, however, to slow down Hunt.
Tarell Basham will be critical this week, his pass rushing could slow down Woodside and the rushing attack. The linebacking corps of Blair Brown, Quentin Poling and Chad Moore will have to pull double duty this week –– defend the run and the pass.
It's the secondary that could give Ohio problems, the unit that's been the problem all season for the Bobcats.
The entire defensive unit will have to stand tall this week to slow down probably the best offensive attack they'll face all season.
