The Buckeyes followed up a home battle against No. 1 Texas with a second non-conference game at the Horseshoe — this time against Grambling State. The stakes were less high, and the outcome was never in question.
But if you think that’s going to stop me from picking at Ohio State’s performance, you’re new to this column. It’s the very point of the column.
Every season, I get some fun hate mail from readers who take this column too seriously, so I will point out up front that there is no part of me that’s
actually “grumpy” about a 70-0 win over Grambling. But the pursuit of perfection is eternal, and in that spirit, here are a few things that had me mildly annoyed on Saturday.
Not-So-Special Teams
It was anything but a banner day for Ohio State’s special teams, and that started early. Poor blocking on special teams on the opening kickoff set up the offense in bad field position.
Brandon Inniss didn’t appear to even consider a fair catch, and I have no problem with a playmaker trying to make a play, but he only reached the 16-yard line, meaning he either badly misjudged the coverage or the men in front of him got blown up by… Grambling. Either way, that’s not good.
That wasn’t all. On Ohio State’s first punt return, Inniss let the ball bounce and it went 10 more yards, earning him a scolding on the sideline. On Inniss’ second punt return, he called for a fair catch and again let it bounce, then dangerously fielded it on the hop.
That could have been a turnover, and it’s not something the return man should risk.
It was mostly cleaner from there, but not entirely. There was a “partial fair catch” signal that nullified a nice return by Bryson Rodgers, and the line even got an extra point partially blocked when Jayvon McFadden blocked no one instead of the inside man.
The kick still went through, but that’s not going to be a fun film session for McFadden.
Houston, We Have a Problem
Eddrick Houston fell for the hard count and gave up a free Grambling first down on the Tigers’ first drive. That wasn’t good, but he wasn’t finished, meaning he didn’t learn from it the first time. His second offside penalty moved Grambling to the OSU 20 to start the second quarter.
The Tigers ended up missing a field goal at the end of that drive. These are fixable issues, and Houston must fix them.
Please excuse me for picking the low-hanging fruit on the subheader above this section. Sometimes the lowest hanging fruit just tastes better.
The Whiff
Jermaine Mathews Jr. came on a blitz on Grambling’s second offensive series and had C’zavian Teasett dead to rights. However, Mathews came at the mobile quarterback out of control and missed the sack. Teasett scrambled for good yardage because of the miss, making it a big play for Grambling’s offense instead of Ohio State’s defense.
It’s a game of fine margins, and in that situation, a sure tackle is important. Other quarterbacks Mathews will face this year are bigger and just as athletic.
Donaldson’s Drop
One of the few negative plays for Ohio State’s offense was self-inflicted. Julian Sayin’s toss to running back CJ Donaldson was decent, and the West Virginia transfer should have handled it. But he took his eyes off the ball before it arrived, spilled it onto the turf, and it could easily have been a turnover.
Inconsistent Run Defense
Grambling had more success on the ground than I had expected it would have, and it seemed preventable. The middle of the defense was gashed a few times. Some of it can be chalked up to some backups being no the field, but not all of it.
There were some missed tackles at the point of attack, and the Tigers, to their credit, caught the Buckeyes in a favorable defense a couple of times. But the vaunted short-yardage defense allowed a chunk play on a fourth-and-1 situation, and that’s not what you want to see against Grambling when teams like Washington, Illinois, Penn State, and Michigan are on the horizon.
First Cut is the Deepest
Perfection is an illusion, but Sayin nearly got there on Saturday. His first serious flub of the season and only mistake of the day — and indeed his only incomplete pass against Grambling — wasn’t a bad read or a poor throw. Sayin was simply late.
Spying Carnell Tate on an out route in the end zone, Sayin tried to fit it in on the far side of the field. However, he was a little late in seeing/firing it and would have been better off coming off that read and leading an open Jeremiah Smith across the back of the end zone.
It’s easy to say that watching it on TV, but Sayin went and saw it for himself on the sideline via tablet right after the turnover. It spoiled great field position set up by Caleb Downs’ acrobatic interception and kept Sayin from going 19-for-19.
Am I being nitpicky? Of course. As I said, that’s the entire point. I was never concerned on Saturday, and most of you weren’t either.
Grambling was always going to be overmatched in this game. I would have liked to have seen more work on the run game, but you only have so many snaps, and Sayin wasn’t given much to do against Texas.
Next up for the Buckeyes is a battle of the Buckeye State when the Bobcats of Ohio University visit Columbus on Saturday. It’s a home night game.
