No. 1 Ohio State traveled to Madison to take on a Wisconsin team that had lost each of its last four games, and by the end of the first quarter it was already clear that losing streak would be extended
to five. The Buckeyes completely dominated the Badgers at Camp Randall, putting up nearly 500 yards of offense while pitching a shutout at the other end.
Here is the Good, the Bad and the Ugly from Ohio State’s latest victory…
The Good
Julian Sayin
With Ohio State looking to work on its rushing attack last weekend against Illinois, Julian Sayin finished with a season-low 166 passing yards. The Buckeyes weren’t going to make the same mistake twice, letting their elite quarterback sling it all over the field on Saturday against Wisconsin.
Sayin responded with a career-best game, throwing for 393 yards and four touchdowns while completing 36 of his 42 pass attempts. The redshirt freshman continued to put on display his incredible accuracy, making throws at all three levels and never putting the ball in harm’s way.
Sayin’s surgical approach kept Ohio State’s offense in rhythm even despite a lackluster run game. He completed passes to 10 different targets on the afternoon, led by nine catches for 97 yards by Jeremiah Smith and six catches for 111 yards and two touchdowns by Carnell Tate.
Overall, it was another dominant performance by Sayin, who has seemingly gotten better each week. The Buckeyes’ starting quarterback has been one of if not the very best at the position this season, and has put himself firmly in the mix for the Heisman Trophy.
Defense
What more can we say about the Ohio State defense at this point?
The Buckeyes pitched their second shutout of the season against Wisconsin, and have allowed only 41 total points through their first seven games — that’s 5.86 points per game for those of you keeping track at home. Only one team has even managed to reach double-digit points against Ohio State this season, and it was Illinois last week.
This effort against the Badgers was one of the Silver Bullets’ most dominant performances yet. Prior to picking up 50 yards against the second and third stringers on their final drive of the game — a drive which still ended in a turnover on downs, by the way — Wisconsin only mustered 94 total yards. Ohio State was especially stingy through the air, allowing just 49 (!!) passing yards.
Caleb Downs finished as the team’s leading tackler with six, while Arvell Reese continued his All-American campaign with four tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack. The Buckeyes racked up three total sacks on the day, with Caden Curry and Kenyatta Jackson Jr. also getting in on the action, and Sonny Styles recorded the game’s only takeaway with an interception off a dropped pass.
Matt Patricia is putting opposing offensive coordinators into a blender for 60 minutes week in and week out. This is clearly the best defensive unit in the country right now, and there isn’t any reason that should change.
Young Guys
While the game wasn’t a complete blowout on the scoreboard, Ohio State knew it had the game won pretty much from the jump. As a result, Ryan Day and Brian Hartline were able to get a bunch of fresh faces in on offense early for valuable snaps against Big Ten defensive starters.
One of the young guys who stood out the most was running back Isaiah West. On a day where the Buckeyes really struggled the run the football, West provided a bit of a spark out of the backfield. The former three-star prospect led Ohio State in rushing with nine carries for 55 yards, and showed some shiftiness and burst in his runs that should earn him additional playing time moving forward.
Another freshman that turned some heads against the Badgers was wide receiver Quincy Porter. The freshman pass-catcher didn’t light up the box score, but did have a nice catch-and-run over the middle for 22 yards on a third down play. When Brandon Inniss got banged up and had to miss a play on Ohio State’s first drive, they were able to line up the 6-foot-4 Porter outside and move Tate inside, which led to Tate’s 33-yard touchdown.
Both West and Porter deserve more snaps in this offense. It is entirely possible that the Buckeyes’ two best running backs are both freshmen, with Bo Jackson leading the pack and West right behind him. For Porter, it is incredibly enticing to have him and Smith as your big body guys on the outside with Tate as your slot receiver.
On defense, Aaron Scott Jr. once again made his presence felt in his limited opportunities. It seems like every time the sophomore corner gets on the field he is doing something flashy, this time laying a huge hit on Wisconsin’s final offensive play to force a turnover on downs. With Lorenzo Styles banged up, maybe Scott Jr. can get more reps in that nickel corner role.
The Bad
Offensive Line
Ohio State’s offensive line to this point in the season had been solid. The group certainly hasn’t been among the elite, but they have more than held their own and been far from a concern — at least until Saturday.
The Buckeyes’ blockers really struggled against Wisconsin in both pass blocking and run blocking. Sayin had a monster game throwing the football, but all too many times he was doing so while evading defenders in the backfield that had blown by his offensive line. The run blocking was even worse, as there were very few holes for Ohio State’s running backs to fit through, resulting in a ton of run plays for zero or negative yards.
The majority of the issues came on the right side of the line, specifically, where Tegra Tshabola and Phillip Daniels both had by far their worst games of the year.
Per PFF, Tshabola was the worst-graded player on the entire offense with a 45.1 grade, and Daniels was right there with him as the second-worst with a 51.7 mark. Tshabola graded out as a 46.3 run blocker and 50.7 pass blocker, while Daniels was at 57.8 and 50.2, respectively. The duo combined to allow the Badgers’ only sack of the game and five of their six total QB pressures.
By comparison, left tackle Austin Siereveld was Ohio State’s third-highest graded player (behind only Sayin and Tate) with a 78.4 mark. All three of Siereveld, Luke Montgomery and Carson Hinzman graded at 81.5 or better in pass blocking.
The lone bright spot on the right side of the line was Josh Padilla. Playing 22 snaps in rotation with Tshabola at right guard, Padilla was actually the Buckeyes’ second-highest graded lineman overall at 74.1. His 82.5 mark as a pass blocker was third-best on the team, behind Montgomery and Siereveld.
Tshabola has really struggled at right guard this season, and with Padilla having played well each time he’s gotten a chance, Ohio State might need to consider making a change. The options are less clear at right tackle, where Daniels has been fine but has seen his effectiveness diminish over the past few weeks.
Run Game
Part of this is a result of the poor play by half of the offensive line, but Ohio State’s overall run game against Wisconsin was really bad. There is a reason that Julian Sayin had to throw the ball 42 times against the Badgers, and it isn’t just because he was having fun out there.
While West was able to make some things happen, the rest of the Buckeyes’ running backs combined for 38 yards on 12 carries, and that includes a 13-yard run by CJ Donaldson that makes up nearly a third of that yardage. It seemed like every time Ohio State tried to run the ball, especially in the first half, the play resulted in no gain or a loss.
The blocking was poor, but compounding the issue was the Buckeyes’ insistence on running the ball out of big 12 and 13-personnel packages. Ohio State was able to break tendency later in the game, with Sayin throwing a touchdown to Will Kacmarek out of 13-personnel, but that formation has signaled ‘run’ to the opposing defense 99% of the time its on the field.
Basically every time Nate Roberts is in as a fullback, it means Ohio State is running the ball. Roberts has played 57 snaps for the Buckeyes through seven games, and 54 of those 57 have been run plays. It is obviously nothing against him as a player, as he isn’t necessarily doing anything wrong, but him being part of the formation becomes a massive neon sign that says “WE ARE RUNNING THE BALL HERE.”
It is hard enough to pick up yards on the ground when the other team thinks you are going to run it, but combine Ohio State’s poor run blocking with the other team knowing you are going to run it and it becomes nearly impossible. Passing out of that formation one time on the goal line isn’t going to be enough to scare opponents away from keying in on that obvious tell.
The Buckeyes simply have to get more creative in the run game. It is the only thing holding back this offense from being truly unstoppable.
The Ugly
Special Teams
Every week I have to talk about the special teams in ‘the ugly’ and every week it is somehow worse than the last. I mean we’re at the point where this unit cannot get through a game without completely shitting its pants.
As has been the case in every game so far this season, Ohio State’s special teams was once again an abject disaster in every phase except kick coverage, which I guess to their credit they’ve been good at in very limited opportunities.
Punting remains an issue. Joe McGuire does not have the leg to be a kicker at this level, with his lone punt of the game barely traveling 40 yards. Wisconsin’s punter, meanwhile, averaged 54.1 yards per punt with a long of 62. Ohio State entered the game 101st in FBS in punting, and while it may seem trivial, those yards are going to matter when you are trying to flip the field against better opponents.
Jayden Fielding missed a 38-yard field goal. While he made his two other attempts of 38 and 37 yards, he is nowhere near automatic enough inside of 40 yards to be trusted in close games. The Buckeyes are better off rolling the dice with their offense rather than ever attempting a field goal greater than 35 yards.
Ohio State lost field position on at least two punt returns because of bad decisions by its return man. Inniss let the ball bounce instead of fielding it on Wisconsin’s first punt of the game, giving the Buckeyes starting field position at their own 11-yard line on a ball the Badgers punted from their own 34-yard line. Inniss then fielded a ball over his shoulder in the third quarter that he could have let bounce into the end zone, instead setting OSU up at its own 17.
Of course, the most egregious mistake by Ohio State’s special teams on the day was allowing an unplanned fake punt on 4th-and-19 go for 20 yards and a first down. There wasn’t a single Buckeye in the vicinity of the Wisconsin punter, who took off running with only one man to beat. A whiff on the tackle — just to clarify, a missed tackle of the punter — allowed the Badgers to move the chains.
None of it wound up mattering in this game, but Ohio State’s special teams has been so aggressively awful that it is more than plausible to think the unit could single handedly lose them a game against a good team. Ryan Day has to step in here at some point and get this figured out.
