Ohio State Football: Keys to a Buckeyes Victory over Cincinnati

After a week away from the action, Urban Meyer and the No. 22 Ohio State Buckeyes (2-1) are set to host the Cincinnati Bearcats (2-0) under the lights in Ohio Stadium this Saturday.

Tommy Tuberville and his high-flying Bearcats will test the Buckeyes, who are looking to close out their nonconference slate on a high note before entering Big Ten play.

What does Ohio State need to do to notch a win against this week's in-state opponent? 

Limit Gunner Kiel and the Cincinnati Offense

Quarterback Gunner Kiel is off to a red-hot start this year. 

The redshirt sophomore torched Toledo in Cincinnati's season opener, completing 25 of 37 passes (67.6 percent) for 418 yards and six touchdowns against no interceptions. A week later against Miami (Ohio), he threw for 271 yards and four more touchdowns.

With Kiel triggering Cincinnati's pass-happy offense, Meyer knows his defense will need to be at its best.

Andy Lyons/Getty Images

“Here we go. This is the test," Meyer said of Cincinnati, according to Austin Ward of ESPN.com. "This is the one that we’re all shooting for."

The Buckeyes' new-look pass defense hasn't been truly challenged this season. Navy threw just four passes in the season opener, Virginia Tech was "uneven" offensively and Kent State was overmatched. Cincinnati will be the best indicator as to whether Ohio State has improved its pass defense, which ranked 110th nationally a season ago.

Protect J.T. Barrett

The Buckeyes are just two-and-a-half weeks removed from getting blitzed (in every sense of the word) by Virginia Tech. The Hokies piled up seven sacks against the Buckeyes, six of which came in the game's final nine minutes.

The offensive line protected Barrett much better against Kent State, but there will be a big spike in talent when the Bearcats visit Columbus.

Cincinnati's 5.5 sacks per game currently ranks No. 1 in the country, according to NCAA.com. The Bearcats attack from every angle—seven different players have recorded at least one sack.

The Buckeyes will need to be at their best to keep J.T. Barrett on his feet.

Get Off to a Fast Start

In its losses to Michigan State, Clemson and Virginia Tech, Ohio State came out sluggish and fell behind early. Meyer recently lamented his team's slow starts offensively.

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“We haven’t started particularly fast and we had a pretty good reputation for a while there coming out of the gates real fast, real hard and we haven’t done that yet,” Meyer said, according to Eric Seger of The Ozone. "So we gotta go take the lead and play Ohio State-style football.”

The Buckeyes can't afford another slow start Saturday night.

The Bearcats are averaging 44.5 points (which ranks 14th nationally) and 353.5 passing yards (ninth) per game this year.

If Ohio State starts slow against Cincinnati and falls into a big hole, it might not have enough offensive firepower to rally.

Unless otherwise noted all stats via Ohio State's official website.

David Regimbal covers Ohio State football for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @davidreg412.