Grantland’s Jonah Keri votes Lindor for AL ROY; Kluber fifth in Cy Young
October 6, 2015Ezekiel Elliott named Big Ten Player of the Week
October 6, 2015Ohio State may have had its fair share of struggles on Saturday, but they came away with a 34-27 victory over the Hoosiers and escaped Bloomington with an undefeated record, still atop the college football top-25 rankings. Here’s some of the good things, bad things, and the downright ugly things that happened during Saturday’s close win over Indiana:
The Good
Cardale Jones
Jones struggled at times and almost had a costly turnover in the fourth quarter, but he still played well, at least for the most part. Finishing with a stat line of 18-for-27 for 245 yards, one touchdown, and one interception, he led the Buckeyes to a win, and that’s all that matters, right?
Ezekiel Elliott
To be honest, Elliott bailed out a struggling Ohio State offense on a Saturday when it needed to be bailed out. The Heisman candidate finished with 23 carries for 274 yards and three touchdowns, including a third quarter in which he had seven carries for 159 yards and two touchdowns.
Elliott’s 274 yards were not only a career-high, but also tied the second highest single-game total in Ohio State history (with Keith Byars) behind Eddie George’s 314 rushing yards in 1995. Elliott’s 11.9 yards per carry average on Saturday was a school record.
Saturday was Elliott’s 10th consecutive game running for over 100 yards, and his performance against Indiana should put him officially back in the Heisman race. His eight touchdowns so far in 2015 are for an average of over 35 yards per score.
Jalin Marshall
He may have had two (almost) costly fumbles, but Marshall had a coming out party on Saturday. He finished with a career-high 110 receiving yards and had six punt returns for 76 yards. Not bad for his first game wearing the No. 7 jersey.
Michael Thomas
Now with a reception in 21 consecutive games, Thomas once again scored for the Buckeyes on Saturday. The receiver, who most would consider Ohio State’s best (or at least most reliable), finished with four catches for 54 yards and a touchdown against Indiana.
Raekwon McMillan
While fighting through a migraine (which is why he was standing on the sidelines late in the game), McMillan led the Buckeyes in tackles for the second consecutive game. The sophomore finished with 14 tackles, which now gives him 30 in the past two games.
Adolphus Washington
He may not have had a pick-six this game (like last week against Western Michigan), but Washington still finished with a career-high 10 tackles. The defensive tackle clogged up the middle of the offensive line, giving the rest of the Silver Bullets room to get in the opponent’s backfield.
Tyquan Lewis
What a season this kid has had so far! At Indiana, Lewis finished seven tackles, including a team-leading 3.5 tackles for loss (of Ohio State’s 11 total TFL). Lewis has taken advantage of Urban Meyer giving him the starting nod on the defensive line.
Joey Bosa
Bosa consistently gets double- and triple-teamed, freeing up open spots along the line for the rest of the Silver Bullets, but he can somehow get in passing lanes as well. He finished with six tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss (a season-high), and two of the Buckeyes’ five pass breakups.
The Bad
Defense
It’s not that the defense was bad, but by their standards they struggled on Saturday against the Hoosiers. The defense allowed 27 points to a team that was playing its backup quarterback and running back for the majority of the game due to injuries. The Silver Bullets allowed 226 yards through the air and 176 on the ground.
The Ugly
Third-down conversions
Ohio State may plenty of talented playmakers, but when it comes to third down, the scarlet and gray still struggle mightily. Against the Hoosiers, they converted just 2-of-14 third-down attempts.
The Buckeyes have now converted just 23-of-66 third-down attempts (34.8 percent), which ranks 103rd nationally out of 127 FBS teams.
Red-zone efficiency
Whether it’s the play-calling or the short field, the Buckeyes seem to struggle once they have the ball inside the red zone. Against the Hoosiers, they had three red-zone opportunities, none of which translated into a touchdown (they got two field goals).
On the season, the Buckeyes have converted 12-of-16 red-zone opportunities (75 percent), but just six of those have been touchdowns (38 percent). Their red-zone efficiency is something they must improve as the season goes on.
Penalties
Once again, the Buckeyes racked up way too many penalties on Saturday. Against the Hoosiers, they had eight penalties for 109 yards. Those penalties gave Indiana five first downs, nearly a quarter of their 21 total first downs.
Ohio State now has 40 penalties on the season, which is tied for 104th in FBS. The amount of penalties hasn’t cost them yet, but against a good team, they will most likely regret shooting themselves in the foot by helping the other team with unneeded penalties.
5 Comments
The greatest team in the history of college football continues to toy with it’s opposition like a bored cat with a mouse.
I suspect they will eviscerate Maryland this weekend, just to remind us that everybody else is just playing for 3rd this season, since they are so good they deserve 1st and 2nd..
Cardale Jones looks rustier this year then he ever did last year when he never played and was called on when it mattered most. I’m really hoping we see him and the rest of the team shake the funk they appear to be in this weekend. So far the only guy who hasn’t played like he still has a national championship hangover is EE who if I was calling plays would have the football as much as possible.
The SEC is actually graduating all their best players early in order to exploit a little known NCAA loophole, so they can transfer them all to Nick Saban with immediate eligibility in order to just cover the spread against the State University of Ohio in the playoff.
They’re calling it scarlet shirting.
It’s madness down here.
No way I can say Jalin Marshall was good. I don’t care about his stats. The guy’s inability to hang on to the danged football could kill the team when it matters. It almost did Saturday. It almost did in the post-season last year.
As for the struggle itself, while OSU reminds me a little too much of Florida State last year, we still have a level of talent that far outstretches the competition. The external problem is that everyone is giving us their absolute best shot – and even the “lower level” teams have great talent. The internal problems are all correctable, so I’m not too worried, as long as we correct them NOW.
On another note, I believe that Indiana is absolutely a Top 25 team, but because the AP makes the call, they will never get recognized due to the silly perceived Big Ten conference weakness – which I submit is purely fictitious.
My (slightly) impartial observations as a non-OSU fan:
1. This offense misses Tom Herman more than maybe they let on. Ed Warriner isn’t nearly the playcaller that Herman is. In addition, with there being more on Warriner’s plate, the o-line has definitely regressed just a bit. I think that’s a function of his not being able to spend as much time directly coaching them as maybe he did last year when they showed such tremendous progression throughout the season.
2. As noted by Garry, they’re getting everyone’s best punch. That’s one of the by-products of being #1. Heavy is the head and all that.
3a. I think that Cardale Jones maybe believes a little of his own hype, if that makes sense. There are times where it feels like he’s forcing things, trying to make the BIG play instead of the RIGHT play. This maybe isn’t fair, but at times it *looks* like Cardale is out there trying to play up his draft stock. I know that’s not really what he’s trying to do, but there are times where he makes the wrong reads on zone-reads, and times where he tries to extend plays far too long instead of either checking down, throwing it away, or scrambling to the sideline. He’s got talent, for sure, but if JT Barrett didn’t look so rusty I don’t think he’d be the starter right now.
3b. I think the same thing about Jalen Marshall, to Garry’s point. There are times where you just have to take what’s there, be game-aware, and make the right play. I remember Marshall fielding a punt he never should have fielded, and trying to make the entire Indiana coverage team miss instead of just letting the ball go into the end zone. Yes, you have the talent to make big plays, but you can’t legitimately expect to be able to make big plays every single time. The longer you’re out there dancing with the ball trying to make something out of nothing, the more chances there are for a fumble, or a penalty for a hold or illegal block. It just feels like that, sometimes, in the interest of trying to make the “great” play they’re not making the “right” play, and it’s costing them. That might be symptomatic of a lot of the offense, though Elliott sure looks just fine.
4. Ohio State will be fine. There are some folks in Michigan fan land (where I reside) that think OSU is beatable by Michigan. I just don’t see it yet, mainly because Michigan doesn’t have the offensive firepower to get past that defense enough times to win. But, more to the point, OSU’s coaching staff has shown the ability to get better and better each week. That team still is the most talented, top-to-bottom, in the country. They will get it all moving in the right direction before it’s all said and done. Maryland is terrible, and I fully expect OSU to finally get that “get untracked” game where they hang 50 on someone, and I expect it this weekend.