The Ohio State Buckeyes travelled to Minnesota to take on the Golden Gophers in an important game for the Buckeye's Big Ten Conference title hopes and came away with a 45-31 win. Considering how the game played out, it was fitting that the game was played on Halloween weekend. The Buckeye's offensive and defensive performances bore little resemblance to what Ohio State fans have come to expect from the team.
Before we get into that any further, let's take a look at the stats.
Run/Pass Breakdown
63 Total Plays--448 yards--7.1 ypp
20 pass (32%)--14/20 for 233 yards 3 TD
43 runs (68%) for 215 yards 2 TD--5.0 ypc
12 Total Drives
ave. of 5.3 plays--37.3 yards
ave. start--OSU 40
1st Down--29 plays (46%) for 214 yards
9 pass (31%)--6/9 for 134 yards 2 TD
20 runs (69%) for 80 yards--4.0 ypc
ave. gain of 7.4 yards
2nd Down--22 plays (35%) for 174 yards
6 pass (27%)--6/6 for 58 yards
16 runs (73%) for 116 yards 2 TD--7.3 ypc
ave. of 7.5 yards to go
ave. gain of 7.9 yards
3rd Down--10 plays (16%) for 57 yards
5 pass (50%)--2/5 for 41 yards 1 TD
5 runs (50%) for 16 yards--3.2 ypc
ave. of 8.0 ytg
ave. gain of 5.7 yards
conversions--3/10 (30%)
4th Down--2 plays (3%) for 3 yards
2 runs (100%) for 3 yards--1.5 ypc
ave. of 1.5 yards to go
ave. gain o f 1.5 yards
conversions 1/2 (50%)
Playaction Passing
5/6 for 97 yards 1 TD
First Downs--17
10 by pass
7 by run
FORMATION BREAKDOWN
Two back formations--17 plays (27%)
4 pass (24%)--3/4 for 77 yards 1 TD
13 runs (76%) for 27 yards--2.1 ypc
Shotgun formations--20 plays (32%)
8 pass (40%)--5/8 for 70 yards 1 TD
12 runs (60%) for 40 yards--3.3 ypc
One back formations--26 plays (41%)
8 pass (31%)--6/8 for 86 yards 1 TD
18 runs (69%) for 148 yards 2 TD--8.2 ypc
RUN TYPE BREAKDOWN--43 attempts
counter/trap--7 (16%) for 97 yards 1 TD--13.9 ypc
draw--3 (7%) for 21 yards--7.0 ypc
sweep--0 (0%)
base/iso--1 (2%) for 2 yards--2.0 ypc
end around--0 (0%)
power--15 (35%) for 69 yards--4.6 ypc
QB run/scramble--5 (12%) for -1 yard--(-0.2) ypc
option--8 (19%) for 23 yards--2.9 ypc
stretch--4 (9%) for 5 yards--1.3 ypc
Other Stats of Note
*2 offensive penalties for the game
*OSU started on Minnesota side of 50 two times--14 points
*2 for 2 in red zone scoring (1 TD, 1 FG)
*1 sack and ZERO (finally) turnovers
*37 of 63 plays took place on Minnesota side of 50--59%
*13 of 63 plays went for no gain or loss--21%
*30 of 63 plays had 3 or more WR's lined up
*5 of those 30 plays ended with the ball in a WR's hands--(17%)
*Average OSU starting field position by half--1st half-OSU 28--2nd half-OSU 48
*Number of Ohio State kickoffs--8
*Minnesota kickoff return yardage--0
When you look at two teams heading into games, you build up expectations of what you will probably see by looking at what those teams have done in the past. The game between Minnesota and Ohio State this week was supposed to feature the nation's top rushing offense against the nation's top rush defense. You came into this game expecting the Ohio State offense to struggle moving the ball on the road, as they have so many times before. This game was expected to be somewhat of a low-scoring, ball-control, field position type of game. It turned out to be none of those things with the exception of the field position part.
Minnesota managed to ring up 588 yards of total offense against the tough Buckeye defense, including a career high 396 yards of passing from Gopher QB Bryan Cupito. Laurence Maroney, who did manage over 100 yards in the first half mainly on the strength of one long run, was mostly held in check by the Ohio State defense, especially in the second half. To contain Maroney and the strong Minnesota running game, they had to commit a lot of the defense to the line of scrimmage, leaving the defensive backs in single coverage for most of the game, which Cupito and the Gopher passing game exploited to surprising effect. The Gophers had a very good offensive gameplan for attacking the Buckeye defense, and it was a little disconcerting to see them moving the ball up and down the field.
For perhaps the first time in the Jim Tressel era at Ohio State, and definitely the first time on the road, the Ohio State offense came to the rescue for the Buckeyes when the defense was struggling. The Buckeyes set the tone for the offense when they came out and went deep on the first play of the game. The playcalling was aggressive for most of the game, and the Buckeyes responded with a game that came the closest to reaching the mystical 250-200-45 (passing yardage, rushing yardage, points respectively) goals that have always seemed so out of reach for this offense in the past. This game can only mean good things in the future for the Ohio State offense.
The focus of the offense so far this season has been on the quarterback play, but with this game the focus shifts a little bit off of Troy Smith's shoulders to his running back, Antonio Pittman. Pittman has been quietly putting together a very solid season up to this point, but exploded with a 186 yard, 2 touchdown performance that announces that opposing defenses are going to have to account for his threat in the running game. His emergence and the subtle shifting to a more conventional offensive attack to take advantage of his emergence are the keys to the improvement in the offense we have seen over the past few weeks.
With the spotlight shifting off of him a little bit, Troy Smith was able to take advantage of mostly man coverages from the Minnesota secondary to put together another solid game. Troy has shown some significant improvement over the past few weeks in terms of his command and decision-making. It's hard to tell how much of this is due to actual improvement and how much is due to the quality of defenses the Buckeyes have played, but the Gopher defense was a slight step up from the Indiana and Michigan State defenses with no dropoff in quarterback play, so this is a step in the right direction any which way. It will be interesting to see how Troy reacts to a team that throws more zone schemes at him now.
There has also been a subtle shift over the past couple of weeks in the way Ted Ginn has been playing the game as well. Early in the season, he seemed to run with the idea that he had to make a play to get himself free and turn it into a big play. Over the last couple of weeks, his mentality seems to have shifted to the idea that he's going to make a big play and it's going to have to be up to the defense to make a play to stop him. The subtle shift, whatever it might be, has been rewarded with Ginn looking much more like the Ginn from the end of last season. Welcome back Teddy, we've all missed you.
None of this offensive explosion would be possible without the improved play of the offensive line this season. The line has shouldered a lot of the blame for the offensive stuggles of the Buckeyes in past seasons, but not this one. Troy Smith once again didn't have much pressure on him and had all day to throw the ball on most plays. The run blocking has also looked very good at times this season. Rob Sims especially looked good this week on his pull blocks in the running game from the guard position. Offensive lines are generally the most underappreciated group of players on a team by the fans, but this group deserves to be recognized this season.
The shifting to a more conventional attack has really made the Ohio State offense a lot more difficult to defend, especially with three and four wide reciever sets. Pittman's long second half touchdown illustrates some of the difficulties teams are going to have with the offense with Troy Smith under center rather than in the shotgun with four wide recievers in the game. The Gopher defense was spread wide, leaving pretty much a five on five situation inside for the Ohio State offensive line. That will almost always be won by the offensive line. Troy being under center opens up a lot of different ways to attack a defense with the running game in those situations.
Replacing Mike Nugent was a real concern for fans heading into this season, but it looks as if we were all worrying about nothing. Josh Huston has been nothing short of great this season. He might not be Mike Nugent, but he has not been a significant step down, and his kickoffs this season have been a real weapon. There is no way to understate the significance of the opposing team starting at the 20 yard line every time after the Buckeyes score with virtually no chance of a quick shift in momentum due to a big return. Huston waited a long time to get his shot, and it looks like it was worth the wait.
How efficient was Troy Smith in the passing game this week? 13 of his 14 completed passes went for either a first down or a touchdown. With Troy's improvements over the past few weeks and Pittman's emergence in the running game, the wide recievers are getting the chance to become the weapons that we all thought they would be headed into this season. All three of Troy Smith's touchdowns came from outside of the red zone. If the Buckeye offense can force teams to play more man to man coverages against them, you can expect the same kind of explosion from the offense in the coming weeks.
Overall, this game was very encouraging for the offense and a HUGE step in the right direction. It looks like the coaches have finally found the best way to maximize the potential of what they have, it's now up to them to maintain it and keep it going through the rest of this season and beyond. Illinois comes calling to Columbus this upcoming Saturday and it should be a perfect opportunity to get a little more work in on this slightly more aggressive approach on offense. For the first time in a long time, I'm looking forward to seeing what this offense can do on Saturday rather than dreading what I might see.
