Marvin Harrison Jr. catches a touchdown pass. (Photo by Ohio State Athletics)
Game 9 Ohio State at Rutgers View from the Couch (11/4/23)
Favorite Stats of the Game: Ohio State on third downs (again)
Ohio State converted half their third downs on offense going 6 of 12 and held to Rutgers to less than a third of theirs being converted stopping them 9 of 13 times. This and the final score were the only major statistical categories in which Ohio State topped Rutgers.
The Brooklyn Dagger Award: Henderson’s catch and run in the fourth quarter.
This was not only a key moment, but my favorite moment of the game. A big third down, in a five-point game in the fourth quarter and he puts the Buckeyes on his back carries them into scoring position on one play. He’s bouncing back (Taylor Decker Award) big time from the injury that had him out after the Notre Dame game. This was the big play (2014 Moment) of the game that broke open the Rutgers defense too.
This year, Ohio State is being carried by what I’m calling H2O. It’s the Henderson and Harrison Offense. Harrison had four catches for 25 yards and two touchdowns but Henderson provided most of the fireworks. Henderson’s second straight game of over 200 total yards of offense is why he’s the Dwayne Haskins Player of the Game. Doing it catching the ball as well as rushing the ball is why he’s the Chris Gamble-Evan Spencer All-Purpose Player of the Game too.
Henderson had 208 total yards (123 rushing, 85 receiving) and a touchdown and has 415 total yards and two touchdowns in Ohio State’s last two wins. They will need this continued output from H2O to win any games after Thanksgiving too.
Chase Young Defensive Player of the Game: Jordan Hancock
Hancock and the secondary get the Fedora Award for filling big shoes as well. They went into the game without Lathan Ransom and Denzel Burke and then Josh Proctor went out for the day on Hancock’s pick-six. Freshman Jermaine Matthews came in and had three tackles and Malik Hartford had a tackle and a pass defended as the Cincinnati guys picked up where the upperclassmen left off. Hancock would finish the day with five tackles and that huge 93-yard interception returned for a touchdown.
Ryan Shazier-Devin Smith Award: Carnell Tate.
Tate only had two catches for 31 yards but they both went for first downs on a touchdown drive and proved that Tate will be the next big star wide receiver at Ohio State after Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka leave for the NFL.
Dane Sanzenbacher–K.J. Hill Award: Carson Hinzman
For all the trouble the offense has had getting on the same page, they haven’t had a lot of trouble with snaps and quarterback-center communication. Hinzman has just been quietly doing his job and shouldn’t be taken for granted (I sincerely hope I didn’t just jinx him).
Sweater Vest Award: The fake punt debacle.
Usually, I try to focus on the positive, but Ohio State’s special teams made a big mistake here that just can’t happen. Especially this late in the season. The returners, kicker Jayden Fielding, and punter Jesse Mirco are good players. So it’s a problem that Ohio State’s special teams are not only a little average but have Buckeye Nation holding their breath every time the kicking game is needed.
2002 Moments: The Redzone defense.
Jim Knowles’ defense just keeps playing at an elite level, even in games like this where they weren’t perfect. Rutgers got to at least the Buckeye four-yard line on three straight possessions and they had to settle for field goals each time. They got inside the Buckeye Redzone five times, they got one touchdown, settled for three field goals, and were turned away on downs once. That’s great, old-school championship (1968 Moment) defense.
Horned Rimmed Glasses Award: Ryan Day continuing to call his offense.
Ohio State got in the Redzone with 4:11 to go on the clock after the defense forced a turnover on downs. The score was 28-16. Coach Day had called two straight runs to try and let the clock run and end the game. Greg Schiano then called a timeout and the Buckeyes kept running it to the run the clock and Schiano kept using timeouts and then Ryan Day called a pass play after having lulled Rutgers to sleep with the run.
I like that Coach Day ran the offense to go forward and run the clock, and not just run the clock. It was one of the Coaching Moments of the Game. The next is the Buckeyes running the offense through Henderson and Harrison. Getting your stars the ball and chances to win the game for you is the best way to run an inexperienced offense.
And finally, I liked how in the Redzone to get an important first down the Buckeyes lined up in an offset I with Henderson at tailback. Chip Trayanum at full back and fooled the defense by handing it to Trayanum at fullback for the first down.
The Looking Glass: Kyle McCord
It’s really tough to make sense of this young man’s play at the most scrutinized position in the game. He broke an Ohio State record for consecutive completions. Then threw three beautiful Redzone touchdown passes, and got the Buckeyes to 9-0. He was 19 of 26 for 189 yards and three touchdowns and an interception.
Not bad. In fact, pretty good. The problem is after three quarters of a regular season ‘not bad’ and ‘pretty good’ seem to be about where things were in game one. While doing well, it seems like McCord still has some of the same struggles. He showed that on the really awful interception, he threw to Rutgers.
To his credit, McCord has handled the off-field pressure of being the quarterback at Ohio State very well. He’s shown class (Archie Award), responsibility, and character as a young man.
The Ohio State Offense Running on H2O
I was of two minds about McCord’s play even during the game. One is a worry that McCord is what he is. He’s good but he’s not going to be an all-time great like Stroud, Fields, or Haskins before him.
After the game, however, I realized more that it’s less about him and being C.J. Stroud than it is about the offense as a whole right now. H2O is covering a lot of the unit’s problems. What seems to be wrong is that all 11 players struggle to play their best with each other on a consistent basis.
It seems when the offensive line makes the right blocks, maybe the quarterback doesn’t step into the pocket they made for him. Or if the receiver and the quarterback are on the same page the running back misses picking up the blitz. Or the blocking is great, the throw is good, but the intended receiver has a drop.
The offense is just so close to the greatness that they have built up over the years that there is a nagging sense of being almost there. It’s been almost there all year long, and Buckeye Nation knows time is running out to get it on track.
Because whether the other team is cheating or not, you have to have these things fixed in order to win any games after Thanksgiving and that’s only two games away.
