Everybody knows that one of the best parts of being a sports fan is debating and dissecting the most (and least) important questions in the sporting world with your friends. So, we’re bringing that to
the pages of LGHL with our favorite head-to-head column: You’re Nuts.
In You’re Nuts, two LGHL staff members will take differing sides of one question and argue their opinions passionately. Then, in the end, it’s up to you to determine who’s right and who’s nuts.
Today’s Question: What’s the top thing Ohio State needs to do against Rutgers before heading to Michigan?
Jami’s Take: Get the backups ready, just in case
Generally speaking, Matt and I are pretty aligned here. If we learned one thing from the UCLA game, it’s that we desperately need to get and stay healthy this week. OSU’s offense looked out of sorts without Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate on the field, and while even a somewhat shoddy offensive effort shone against a beat-up Bruins, the same result is unlikely against Michigan, Indiana, or any of the teams Ohio State might face in the postseason.
But—and this is not a fun thing to write—the Buckeyes also need to have a backup plan. While Matt and I both agree that if Smith and Tate are operating at less than 90 percent, they shouldn’t play against Rutgers, it’s not just out of an abundance of caution for me. It’s also to be prepared for a worst-case scenario where they’re out longer than one more game.
Ryan Day has been tight-lipped about Tate and Smith’s statuses against Rutgers (I would personally like him to take the most cautious approach possible), but the seriousness of their injuries is anyone’s guess. The uncertainty means the team also has to be prepared for a version of The Game where one or both of its top wide receivers can’t play.
Sure, in an ideal world, Smith and Tate’s injuries are as inconsequential as Day is making them out to be, and we’ll see both of them on the field in Ann Arbor. But if Ohio State wants to make the most of Saturday’s game against Rutgers, it’ll use it to prepare for the alternative. Because the only thing worse than facing our rivals without two of our top players would be losing as a result.
While the UCLA game marked a nice change of pace for the ground game in a season-best performance, the run game has also been our weak spot all season, and it tends to be the Buckeyes’ Achilles heel against Michigan, too. That means the Buckeyes need to be able to rely on their passing game, which was lackluster against the Bruins.
This is not a knock on Julian Sayin. It wasn’t his best game, but it also didn’t need to be, and there were a lot of factors at play, many of which were not Sayin’s fault. To the outside eye, he looked great! His stats were completely respectable—23-for-31 for 184 yards and a touchdown. But those of us who have watched him all season saw some uncharacteristic errors. It wasn’t cause for concern—the outcome of the game was never in question—but it was an observation that indicated something was off with the offensive rhythm.
All signs point to that “something” as being the absence of Tate and Smith. On the whole, communication issues abounded. While Sayin was trying to keep the tempo with inexperienced receivers, the offensive line wasn’t giving him the level of protection it should have. If the Buckeyes have to play without Tate and Smith after the Rutgers game, this kind of pressure on Sayin can’t happen. It’s going to be imperative that the offensive line gives him as much time to throw as possible.
Additionally, Sayin threw three consecutive incomplete passes, one of which was right on target to backup receiver Mylan Graham, hitting off his hands. Smith or Tate likely would have made the catch, but Graham hasn’t had the same on-field experience as them, so with defenders all over him, he couldn’t finish the job. I’m willing to chalk this one up to inexperience, but it’s all the more reason to get Graham more reps against Rutgers just in case.
Similarly, it was clear on several plays that Sayin hasn’t established the same rhythm with the backup receivers as he has with Smith and Tate. That kind of rapport takes time to develop, but if the starters are injured, OSU doesn’t have the luxury of time. Which means the more reps Graham, Brandon Inniss, and even Bryson Rodgers can get in against the Scarlet Knights, the better it will be if they have to play against Michigan.
Rutgers currently ranks 16th out of 18 teams in the Big Ten in passing defense and dead-last in the conference in total defense, giving up an average of 425.5 yards per game. This represents an excellent opportunity for some of the backups to build their confidence.
Whether the Buckeyes need it this season or not, it never hurts to be prepared, especially with depth being even more critical in the longer season of the 12-team playoff era.
Matt’s Take: Get healthy
Are Carnell Tate and/or Jeremiah Smith legitimately injured to the point where the balance of their seasons might be in jeopardy? No one outside of the Woody Hayes Athletic Center has any idea what the wide receivers’ injury statuses actually are, because Ryan Day has declined to provide any substantive updates. I’ve already made my position clear on how I believe the Buckeyes should approach this weekend’s game against Rutgers, but tl;dr, don’t play anyone that isn’t as close to 100% healthy as a player can be this late in the season.
Ohio State has the best roster in college football, and I believe the defense is so good that it can carry them through nearly all difficulties that the offense might have in the postseason, injury-related or otherwise. However, you never want to be without your top two offensive weapons, so at this point, why risk it?
With all due respect to Greg Schiano and Rutgers, I don’t think that sitting injured players and getting non-injured starters out of the game as quickly as possible is going to make a marked difference in the ultimate outcome of the game. So, why risk it?
Whether it’s Tate, Smith, Josh Padilla, Julian Sayin, Phillip Daniels, or any other Buckeyes nursing injuries, play them as little as you can, and preferably not at all — although that might not be possible in the case of Sayin. From there, start rotating guys out as quickly as you can.
OSU goes up 21-0 in the first quarter? Call it a day, Caleb Downs.
Buckeyes head into halftime up 28-3? Sonny Styles, Arvell Reese, Kayden McDonald, Bo Jackson, get ready to watch 30 minutes of football.
Up 35-6 in the third quarter? Anybody on the top line of the depth chart can take a seat.
Sure, you would like to help certain players pad stats, or keep the Scarlet Knights off the board, but ultimately, what really matters is having the team as healthy, rested, and ready to go as possible for The Game and the postseason, and getting dinged up against Rutgers just isn’t worth it.
