Our Honor Defend

In what was billed a “Battle for Ohio”, the no. 3 Buckeyes sorta beat the Ohio University Bobcats 26-14.  At least I think that’s what happened.  It wasn’t the +35 thrashing that it was billed to be in Vegas, but if they had lost, I think I would be power-drinking now.  So yeah, it sounds like the Buckeyes won.  They had to have, right?  See, I would know for sure if we had held to the Vegas line and won comfortably.  But we just don’t lose to instate competition… right?

If the Buckeyes won, which I think they did, they certainly didn’t make it look easy.  In fact, the Buckeyes were trailing the Bobcats not only at intermission, but at the beginning of the 4th quarter as well.  Ohio University certainly came to Columbus to play a game of football, but the energy necessary to give the Buckeyes a game was certainly sapped after the 4th quarter.  The Bobcat defense was on the field for almost the entire 3rd quarter, which, with the benefit of a special teams boner in the third quarter by the Bobcat return man, gave the Buckeyes the go-ahead touchdown.  Playing from behind and with time running out, the Bobcats offense misfired, resulting in two 4th quarter interceptions.  The last of which ultimately sealed the game.

Offense

The offensive line gave the tailback committee (Mo Wells, Herron, Saine) virtually no help throughout most of the game.  The left of that line finally woke up during the crucial stretches in the latter parts of the second half where the Buckeyes eventually put the game away.  However, they were pushed around for all of the first half, and were unable to create running lanes.  That’s even ignoring that botched snap out of the gun that resulted in Ohio University’s last score of the game.  I think their play was the most disappointing out of everyone, since they got manhandled.

The tailbacks weren’t getting much help from their offensive line, but didn’t really stand out for themselves regardless.  Maurice Wells, who started in lieu of the injured Beanie, had 9 carries for 48 yards.  He looked better when he was able to bounce off tackle, but his story today seems to be the story of his career: The staff insists on running him between guards, though this is certainly not something he’s good at doing.  That 4th and 1 play, which I’m almost positive is the play pictured to the right, tells most of the story.  Dan Herron looked the most capable of the tailbacks, going for 50 yards and the Buckeyes’ first touchdown off of 12 carries.  However, he (and Saine) looked hesitant when approached by a tackler.  Where Beanie whips out the stiff arm of justice, Herron and Saine get into a fetal position and brace for a tackle.  Still, Herron looked to get into more of a groove as the game wore on, which why I was surprised when he was sidelined for the Buckeyes’ (eventual go-ahead) drive following the muffed punt return.  Saine picked up blitzes well on pass protection, but looked very hesitant with the ball in his hands.

While not getting any help from his offensive line, Todd Boeckman didn’t improve the play of the offense either.  You name the quarterbacking no-no, and he did it this game.  Throwing to a well-covered receiver? Yep.  Throwing into double coverage? Yep.  Throwing into triple coverage? Yep.  Throwing wounded ducks? Yep. Throwing late over the middle? Yep.  Holding on to the ball too long? Yep.  Wandering eyes during a snap? Yep, such was the botched snap turnover-TD.  Think USC’s defense was amused, especially on his half-hearted scrambles? I can only imagine.  He threw for only 110 yards.  Terrelle Pryor saw limited action, but much of his decisions were predictable.  The Bobcats successfully contained his option attack on his first drive while Pryor went through some one reads of the Bobcat defense before tucking in the ball and running out the clock.

It was a story that haunted the Brians in the aftermath of the LSU game, and something they swore they worked on during the summer, but the two receivers were unable to create separation for themselves, even against a MAC secondary.  Accordingly, it might be cause to exonerate the Todd.  Throughout the game, both Brians were well-covered, and even by the simplest schemes, and even resulting in a few coverage sacks for the Bobcat defense.  If that wasn’t bad enough, both Hartline and Robiskie had a very noticeable case of butterfingers for the first half.  Hartline had more of them, but they were more disconcerting for Robiskie, who has the big drop against LSU still dogging him.  Both Brians combined for 5 catches and 22 yards.  I guess in fairness to them, the refs did swallow their whistle on about 2 plays that should’ve been flagged. Sanzenbacher and Small were the only consistent players on offense for the Buckeyes.  Sanzenbacher led all receivers with 4 grabs and 32 yards.  Small contributed 5 catches for 27 yards.

Defense

Jermale Hines knocked out the starting QB in the first half, sidelining him for the rest of the game.  However, the Buckeye defense consequently made a second string MAC quarterback in Boo Jackson look like Juice Williams.  Mind you, this was the same defense that made Juice Williams look like Juice Williams.  The Buckeyes were gashed by Jackson on several critical 3rd down plays, with the Buckeye defensive unit looking positively stumped during the second quarter.  During that drive alone, Boo Jackson rushed for 10 yards on a 3rd-and-7 scramble and 7 yards on 2nd and 13.  His ability to keep the drive alive with his feet also resulted for in a 30yd pass to Taylor Price on 3rd and 13 and a 13 yard pass to Riley Dunlop on 3rd and 6.  His 20 yard scamper on 3rd and 10 on the Bobcats’ first drive of the second half had me somewhat sick to my stomach.  His interceptions late in the game eventually doomed the Bobcats, but his quick feet in light of a collapsing pocket and the Buckeyes’ inability to keep contain on some plays had the Bobcats go 9-17 on 3rd downs for the game. Ouch.

Lawrence Wilson had a nice game.  He picked off one screen pass that eventually resulted in the Buckeyes’ first score of the game.  He batted down another.  Doug Worthington blew up a play when Theo Scott was still in the game.  Most everyone else on that line, however, was not very productive.  Denlinger, Gibson and Larimore had one solo tackle each.  Nader Abdallah had a solo tackle and an assisted tackle.  Cam Heyward, freshman standout, had only an assisted tackle to his credit.  It seemed that the Bobcat offensive line were more than capable of picking up the front four, and even the occassional Buckeye blitz.  The Buckeye defense accounted for 4 TFLs and 1 sack (Larimore).  This is also ignoring the inability to wrap up Boo Jackson by both Lawrence Wilson and James Laurinaitis.

The linebackers got something of a workout today.  Laurinaitis led all tacklers with nine (4 solo, 5 assisted).  Homan was second on the team with 8 tackles (5 solo, 3 assisted).  Freeman tied Anderson Russell for third on the day (3 solo, 3 assisted).  Laurinaitis had a nice interception in the 4th quarter.  However, Laurinaitis was also steamrolled by a Bobcat tackle, resulting in Ohio’s first touchdown of the day.  This was complimented by a missed sack early in that drive that kept the drive alive.  Where Laurinaitis made a tackle, it always seemed like it was after a net positive play for the Bobcats (read: at least 4 yards up field).

Jermale Hines knocked out Theo Scott, a level of violence that I’m always a fan of seeing.  However, the secondary looked like it was the beneficiary of more than a couple breaks.  Jenkins and Chekwa were beat on a couple 3rd and long plays where the ball was inexplicably thrown a little too high or the receiver in question inexplicably dropped.  Anderson Russell probably stood out most of the secondary, making 6 tackles (4 solo) and picking off the last throw of the game for Boo Jackson.  However, there were more than enough plays were either Jenkins or Chekwa were beat, and by grace we didn’t suffer for it.

Special Teams

The Buckeyes won this game on the heels of special teams play.  The Buckeyes got within two after Dan Herron’s third quarter touchdown and had forced the Bobcats into a 3 and out.  However, the Buckeyes’ offense failed to capitalized and were forced into a 3 and out themselves.  The game turned on the ensuing punt from AJ Trapasso, which was muffed by Mark Parson (the Bobcats’ return man) and recovered by Shaun Lane with just inches to spare before going out of bounds.  The recovery more than atoned for Lane’s dropped pick against the Penguins and eventually resulted in Brandon Saine’s goal line rush for the go-ahead touchdown one minute into the fourth quarter.

The Buckeyes took a tenuous lead after that play, but Ray Small’s 4th quarter punt return made the scoreline a two-possession game from which the Bobcats wouldn’t recover.  Small seemed to be borrowing trouble early in the first half on punt returns, forcing a catch and taking an instant hit that could’ve spelled disaster.  However, he brilliantly turned direction against Ohio U in the fourth quarter, very quickly getting North-South and blowing past the Bobcats on the field.  To be fair, Austin Spitler (I think it was Spitler) got away with a block in the back/clip, but Ray Small gets a lot of credit for internalizing the need to get north-south as soon as possible.  The touchdown gave the Buckeyes their biggest lead of the game, and the eventual scoreline for the day.  Combine consistent receiver play (minus him taking a play off in the endzone and expecting a flag to come) with the punt return, and Small is the most likely candidate for player of the game.

However, not all was well with Buckeye special teams.  Ryan Pretorius inexplicably missed an extra point after Herron’s score that could’ve made the score 14-13 Ohio.  Further, his 53yd miss at the end of the second quarter was just about as deflating as it could get for Buckeye fans in attendance and watching at home.  Making matters worse: both misses weren’t even close.  Of course, Pretorius did make a 38yd and 27yd field goal and capitalized on his othe point-after opportunities, but both misses came at absolutely inopportune times.  Grant Schwartz was also injured on kickoff coverage in the second half.  I’m not sure what his status is.

What else?

Well, maybe you’ve heard of the game that we’re going to have next week.  It should be a big one, apparently.  Boeckman’s decision making is going to have to improve.  All the poor decisions made during this game that didn’t come back to bite him almost certainly will against USC’s defense.  For all the no-nos, he still had no interceptions.  That probably won’t be the case against USC.

If our receivers can’t break open against a MAC secondary, I’m not particularly optimistic about their chances versus USC’s corners and with Taylor Mays lurking in the background.

ESPN should’ve kept a continuous mic on Chris Spielman.  You could see the fire burning in him as the Buckeyes looked their flattest.  I can only imagine what obscenities were flying out of his mouth while Bentley and Ward were commentating.

Oh boy.  At least we forced some turnovers, albeit against a second string MAC quarterback, but still.