Grumpy Old Buckeye: Nitpicking Ohio State’s 38-15 win over Indiana
Michael Citro via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Winning by 23 points against the No. 5 team in the country is good (really good), but it could have been better.

It’s understandable if many Ohio State fans felt a bit edgy about undefeated No. 5 Indiana coming into Ohio Stadium and facing a Buckeye team that lost another key offensive lineman during the week. Easy schedule or not, the Hoosiers had handled their business with ease and were playing football with a swagger perhaps never seen in our lifetimes.

In the end, the Buckeyes started slowly (again) but settled into the game and dominated most of it, winning 38-15.

Still, it was a close game for quite a while. As such, here are the things that gave me heartburn and an upset stomach when the Buckeyes hosted Indiana.

Starting Conservatively

The Buckeyes got the ball first and quickly went three-and-out on their first possession. A short Quinshon Judkins run was followed by a swing pass to Judkins for two yards and a checkdown pass to Emeka Egbuka for three more, leading to a punt.

The conservative play calling isn’t too surprising, given the Ohio State staff likely wanted to see how the offensive line would hold up before putting Will Howard in harm’s way. Still, it was a gift to the Indiana defense and helped the Hoosiers maintain their belief they could pull off the upset early in the game.

Enough is Enough

It may sound harsh, but I’m going to say it anyway: I’ve seen quite enough of Davison Igbinosun on the football field for Ohio State. Igbinosun committed pass interference not once, but twice on the opening Indiana drive, showing early that he has learned absolutely nothing all season long.

Whether he’s wearing gloves, mittens, or his lucky underwear, the man just can’t stop grabbing, clutching, and roughing up receivers with the ball in the air. Despite having good coverage on many of the plays ending in him drawing a flag, he doesn’t trust it, doesn’t locate the ball, and doesn’t make the play he’s in position to make.

He got another such penalty in the fourth quarter, making for one of the worst hat tricks you’ll see. Igbinosun’s failure to develop his game and eliminate these penalties is certainly on him, but it’s also on the coaching staff for not correcting it or replacing him. We hear a lot about Ohio State’s “next man up mentality,” so let’s see if the next man up can cover as well as Igbinosun but without giving up free first downs.

Third Downs Were Too Easy

Ohio State’s defense struggled mightily on third down early in the game. Indiana converted all three third downs on its opening drive, needing nine, six, and two yards to extend the possession. After converting a third-and-1 on their second possession, the Hoosiers got themselves in trouble on another third-and-1 with a false start penalty.

The Buckeyes sacked Kurtis Rourke on the ensuing third-and-6 for a loss of 11 yards and, for the most part, that stopped the bleeding on third downs for the OSU defense. Indiana finished with six conversions on 14 third downs in total, meaning after going 4-for-4, the Hoosiers converted only twice on their final 10.

Block in the “Back”

Howard’s completion to TreVeyon Henderson was called back for a block in the back penalty on Carson Hinzman downfield on a play that happens dozens of times and doesn’t get called. Hinzman’s defender dipped his shoulder, and the lineman still managed to get almost entirely side instead of back, but the flag flew.

Later in the game, there was another one called on Donovan Jackson. Again, the defender dipped the shoulder when he felt the big man coming, and the flag flew anyway for the second time. Similar types of blocks on Indiana weren’t treated the same, as the Hoosiers were flagged just three times all day and all of them were either obvious pre-snap penalties (false start and a delay of game) or a late onside kickoff that went out of bounds.

The Buckeyes are ranked 134th (last) in the country in opposition penalty yards per game, entering the matchup with Indiana with a 25.5 yards-per-game average in that department. Indiana was called for 15 yards worth of penalties, so that disparity will worsen. It’s amazing that a team as good as Ohio State can do the things it does without anyone holding or interfering with receivers. More on that below.

Minimizing Chances

Chip Kelly and Ryan Day are widely known as good play-callers. Yet there’s an area where there have been too many mistakes made from the sideline or coaching box this season, and they’re almost always in short-yardage situations.

Ohio State drove down the field after Indiana’s touchdown opened the scoring, pushing inside the Hoosiers’ 5-yard line. Facing a fourth-and-1 at the Indiana 2-yard line, Kelly had Howard take the snap in the shotgun, several yards behind the line of scrimmage. A quarterback sneak from under center would likely be a successful play in that situation, or at least a handoff closer to the line might allow Judkins or Henderson to leap at the line for a first down (or a touchdown).

Instead, Judkins was met in the backfield and the play ended in no gain at the line of scrimmage, handing the ball back to Indiana. To his credit, Kelly changed things up in subsequent similar situations in the game — to great success.

Not Calling It Both Ways

While pass interference was something the Big Ten officials could clearly see when Igbinosun was committing it, they seemed to struggle to recognize the same behavior by Indiana, even when it was obvious.

Jeremiah Smith was hit early in the end zone on the possession that followed Ty Hamilton’s recovery of a fumble Cody Simon forced. Bennett Christian was outright tackled downfield as well. Neither drew a flag, and a couple of plays later, Jelani Thurman couldn’t handle a pass from Howard on another play that seemed to have an early arriving defender. His subsequent tip was intercepted, depriving Ohio State of a chance to score points.

Finish Stronger

Indiana tacked on a cosmetic touchdown in the fourth quarter on a drive marred by passive defending by Ohio State. Jim Knowles used some backups on the drive, but he also didn’t mix things up on passing downs, going back to the old rush-four-guys-straight-ahead method. That allowed the Hoosiers to give Rourke time to pick out his receivers.

Despite the touchdown and ensuing two-point conversion not mattering much, it was a bit annoying.

Too Unselfish?

Henderson busted a big run on the first play after Indiana’s failed onside kick. Rather than scoring, the running back slid down inside the 5-yard line. At that point, the Buckeyes led by two scores with little time left. Scoring would have put the Buckeyes up three scores, which would have made an Indiana comeback exceedingly unlikely. Two plays later, Howard scored anyway.

Henderson might as well have added the touchdown to his own total and added an exclamation point to the game’s highlight reel. Also, he was my pick to click on the Silver Bullets Podcast, so I’m taking it personally, even though he ‘clicked’ anyway.

---

That’s what had me reaching for the Tums on Saturday. What stood out to you?

Obviously, the game went well overall. After a slow start, the Buckeyes dominated. Howard was accurate, the offensive line held up well, and the defense racked up five sacks and eight tackles for loss. The Buckeyes even returned a punt for a touchdown, which is a rarity not seen since a game 10 years ago against Indiana.

---

Hate Week is here! Next up is The Game at noon on Saturday. Ohio State would book a trip to Indianapolis for a rematch with Oregon with a win over That Team Up North.

Continue reading...