It’s a testament to just how good this Ohio State team is to not play nearly their best football and still win a game by four touchdowns while also more than tripling up the opponent in yardage.
The Buckeyes got off to a slow start on Saturday, but rattled off 24 unanswered points to finish out a 37-9 win over Ohio as they wrapped up the non-conference slate a perfect 3-0. Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate both eclipsed 100 receiving yards, a new face may have emerged at RB1, and the defense was once
again stellar outside one blip.
Ryan Day has to be pleased with what he’s seen from his team thus far, while also still having a handful of areas to work on during the upcoming bye week.
The Good
Bo Jackson
Ohio State freshman running back Bo Jackson flashed in a big way against Grambling State in Week 2, rushing for 108 yards and a touchdown on nine carries.
While the Cleveland native was impressive in garbage time against an FCS opponent, it wasn’t entirely clear what to make of it. Would that level of play translate against FBS starters, and did the coaching staff see enough to give him a greater look?
The answer to both of those questions was a resounding yes, as Jackson wound up tied for the lead in the running back room with nine carries against Ohio. The first-year man led Ohio State in rushing with 109 yards on the ground (12.1 yards per carry) while adding two catches for 21 yards.
With neither CJ Donaldson nor James Peoples separating themselves from the pack, Jackson is making a serious case to take over as the Buckeyes’ starting running back. Donaldson provides a ton of value in short yardage as a more bruising type of runner, and Peoples has showed some shiftiness in spurts, but Jackson’s consistent burst and energy has been noticeable.
Jackson seems to provide the highest ceiling of any player out of the back field, showcasing his home run-hitting ability with one run of 50-plus yards in each of his two games played this season. Carlos Locklyn will likely continue rotating guys, but don’t be surprised if Jackson is leading the pack from hereon out.
Silver Bullets
Ohio State’s defense was a huge question mark coming into this season. On top of losing seven starters to the NFL Draft and graduation, the Buckeyes also lost defensive coordinator Jim Knowles to Penn State.
Matt Patricia has stepped in and immediately made his mark, as this version of the Silver Bullets has been humming through the team’s first three games. The Buckeyes have allowed only 16 total points thus far, with nine of them coming against Ohio on Saturday — 6 of which came on one bad play, which we will get to in a bit…
The lone concern on this defense in the first two games was a bit of a lackluster performance by the defensive line, but that group looked dominant against the Bobcats, racking up three sacks (with Arvell Reese making it four total) and five tackles for loss as a unit. Ohio State’s defensive front held Ohio to 17 yards rushing through the first three quarters and a 3-of-15 mark on third down for the game.
The usual suspects — Reese, Sonny Styles, and Caleb Downs — were spectacular as always, while Beau Atkinson put together an impressive performance with a sack and two tackles for loss. Jaylen McClain also continues to shine opposite Downs at safety, racking up five tackles including a booming hit to break up a pass in the second quarter.
The Big 3 (Sayin, Smith, Tate)
Ohio State’s offense had some hitches against Ohio, but when the big three of Julian Sayin, Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate get cooking, it is absolutely impossible to stop them.
It was a bit of an odd game for Sayin, who after being nearly perfect in the first half against Grambling State, showed some growing pains against the Bobcats. Virtually all of his throws were on target, and he made some really impeccable deep throws to Smith and Sayin, but he wasn’t seeing some open receivers in the first half especially.
Once he got locked in, the Buckeyes started cooking.
All told, Sayin finished completing 25-of-32 pass attempts for 347 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions. Neither of the interceptions were really his fault, with one be deflected by a defensive lineman and the other landing right in a defensive tackle’s lap on a throwaway as he was being hit. Two of Sayin’s touchdowns were on deep shots, with a 47-yarder to Smith and a 49-yarder to Tate.
Both Smith and Tate finished with over 100 yards receiving, as Smith caught nine passes for 153 yards and a touchdown and Tate hauled in five receptions for 101 yards and a score. Smith also added 17-yard rushing touchdown.
The Buckeyes have the two best wide receivers in America on their roster, and a five-star quarterback that is capable of making every throw that is asked of him. When this team is at its peak, Ohio State’s offense is scary.
The Bad
Red Zone Offense
For as badly as Ohio State dominated in this game (572 yards of total offense compared to 181 yards for Ohio), the final score isn’t as lopsided as some may have thought. Really the only thing that kept the Buckeyes from putting up 50-plus points was their inability to convert in the red zone.
The Buckeyes’ first three drives all ended up in the red zone, but they were only able to come away with six total points on those three trips. Ohio State turned it over on downs on their opening possession on an incompletion in the end zone from the 4-yard line, and settled for field goals from the 20 and 2-yard lines on their next two drives.
Ohio State finished the game 5-of-6 in the red zone, but three of those were field goals. The power run game wasn’t proving to be effective down near the goal line, and Sayin wasn’t able to find many open receivers with a short field to work with. It was something we have seen from some of Day’s offenses in the past, but it was the first time this season the Buckeyes have struggled to punch it in.
If nothing else, it will give Brian Hartline and the offense something to focus on heading into the bye week. This offense is clearly capable of being among the best in the country, but they will need to be able to convert in short yardage, especially when the opponents get even tougher.
Special Teams
I had the special teams unit penciled in to be included in ‘Ugly’ at halftime, but some improved play from the unit in the second half upgraded it to merely ‘Bad’.
Ryan Day talked during the week that Ohio State’s punt return unit was a ‘red flag’ that needed to be addressed, and on the first chance the Buckeyes got to return a punt against Ohio, Brandon Inniss ran backwards and lost two yards.
Later in the first half, Smith was back there to return, but a booming 53-yard punt by the Bobcats’ Magnus Haines went over the head of the receiver. He muffed the initial attempt and scooped it up for what would amount to a loss of a yard, but an illegal block in the back penalty compounded the issue even further.
To their credit, things did get better from there. Inniss returned Ohio’s first punt of the second half 28 yards to set the Buckeyes up past the 40-yard line on what would go on to be an Ohio State touchdown drive. Inniss also correctly fair caught a later punt at the 37-yard line rather than letting it roll, which had been an issue for OSU the previous two weeks.
Special teams won’t matter all that much in games against largely overmatched opponents, but it could mean everything in a close game. Field position is a big deal, and you cannot afford to shoot yourself in the foot because your punt return game isn’t up to par.
The Ugly
Ohio’s Long TD
Saturday’s game did feature the Ohio State defense’s worst play of the young season — a 67-yard touchdown by Ohio wide receiver Chase Hendricks.
Parker Navarro beat Lorenzo Styles Jr. over the top after Hendricks got a step on him, catching the ball around the Buckeyes’ 40-yard line. From there the wideout made a hard cut inside to shake the safety McClain, and basically stiff-armed Styles for another 15 yards before breaking loose and strutting into the end zone.
Explosive plays are going to happen from time to time, and sometimes you are going to get beat in coverage. That said, when you are within arms length of the player for virtually the entire route, you’ve got to be able to wrap up and make the tackle. The back end of your defense has to make sure that a long play doesn’t turn into a long touchdown like that.
Styles was later shaken up on what looked like a shoulder injury and did not return to the game. Freshman corner Devin Sanchez took his place, with Jermaine Mathews Jr. moving inside.
That one miscue accounted for 37% of Ohio’s total offense in the game.
