Photo by Ohio State Athletics
After having more questions than answers after the narrow loss to Oregon followed by the narrow victory over Nebraska, Ohio State hopes their victory over Penn State gives them some much-needed answers.
Into the Trenches
Last week, I said no position was of greater concern for Ohio State than the offensive line. This week that unit answered the bell and then some. They seem to have found the right lineup that sparks the offense the most for them.
This was their best game of the season and they had lots of guys playing out of position. Donovan Jackson moved from guard to left tackle, Carson Hinzman from back-up center to left guard and they dominated the left side. Seth McLaughlin kept playing well as the center and leader while Tegra Tshabola who had seen time at left guard played at right guard and Josh Fryar continues to steadily improve at right tackle.
They especially showed their dominance late when the Buckeyes got the ball back at their own one-yard line. There was 5:13 left on the clock and the Buckeyes would run it out by running the ball 11 straight times for 58 yards.
After a combined 20 carries for 54 yards against Nebraska, TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins bounced back big. And it was behind this offensive line. They had 24 carries for 149 yards, including 44 of the 58 yards on that final game-sealing drive.
The Ty Tanks
Speaking of trenches, the defense was led by its towering lineman tandem of Ty Hamilton and Tyleik Williams. The starters are playing at all-Big Ten if not all-American levels. Williams was banged up a bit but Hero Kanu and Kayden McDonald helped anchor the interior that led the way for the stop on 4th and goal from the one-yard line. J.T. Tuimoloau had a solid (though modest compared to his track record against PSU) with six tackles, 1.5 for a loss and he and Kenyatta Jackson combined for a sack. Cody Simon once again had another good game after his performance against Nebraska. He had 10 tackles and a sack for the Bucks.
Last week I mentioned the corners weren’t the defensive backs making the big plays, Davison Igbinosun changed that this week. Iggy had a big pass defended and knocked away on third down that stopped a Penn State drive. Then had an interception in the endzone right before half that kept points for Penn State off the board. He’d been a little beat in the corner of the endzone and couldn’t get his head around to locate the ball. But he kept fighting in the play. And hit the ball loose from the receiver when it was almost caught, and got it him his arm and made a crucial interception.
This was back-to-back games that the Buckeye defense had to step up and at the goal line no less. Penn State got into the Red Zone three times and only had one field goal to show for it. The Silver Bullets were especially tough on third down, stopping PSU 8 of 11 times. This defense will have their hands full when IU comes to town, but they’re trending in the right direction in November.
Will Howard
Will Howard had an up-and-down game against the team from his home state. He threw an awful pick-six but then bounced back with two great touchdown drives. He was on the verge of a third when he made another big turnover. In fact, if he doesn’t turn the ball over the Buckeyes win easily 27-6 instead of 20-13. But Howard showed tremendous passion and poise that you want to see from your quarterback. After that second turnover, he cleaned things up, didn’t give the ball away again, was a leader, and did what Ohio State needed him to do to win.
On the season, Howard is 129 of 180 for 1,768 yards and 19 touchdowns (15 passing, 4 rushing). It’s appropriate that after their first top-four matchup on the road ended with a slide by Howard and a Buckeye loss, the second time around it ended with a slide by Howard and a Buckeye win. Howard is playing at a level high enough to give them a chance against whoever they play. If he cleans up those turnovers they should beat whoever they play.
What to Look for Against Purdue
With the 1-7 Boilermakers coming to Columbus next week, Ohio State shouldn’t have any problem winning but can still show and learn a lot. One of the biggest things I want to see against Purdue and Northwestern before big games against Indiana and that team up north is continued good play by the offensive line. I mentioned how well the lineup of Jackson at left tackle, Hinzman at left guard, McLaughlin at center, Tshabola at right guard, and Fryar at right tackle worked against Penn State. It would be huge for this lineup to gel as a unit and get some traction at these different positions for three of the five of them.
This would help with the next thing Buckeye fans, players, and coaches alike want to see and that is to take care of the football and not turn the ball over. If the Buckeyes take care of the ball and the offensive line continues to play like it did against Penn State, not even Oregon can stop this offense.
Defensively, more of the same from the Penn State game. Their Red Zone and goal line defense has been great the past two games and I hope it continues and is built upon. The defense has even improved its blitzing and bringing other pass rushers outside the front four. They even forced more turnovers. The only thing left is to defend the big plays better than they did against Oregon and get more of a pass rush.
