Michael Citro
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Grumpy Old Buckeye: Nitpicking Ohio State’s 38-7 win at Michigan State
Michael Citro via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Kimberly P. Mitchell / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Just because the Buckeyes beat a Big Ten opponent by 31 on the road, it doesn’t mean I’m not going to complain about it.
Ohio State improved to 4-0 on the season and won its conference opener in its first road trip of the campaign with a 38-7 victory over the Michigan State Spartans in East Lansing. While there’s not much complaining that can be done about a 31-point road win, that’s precisely what this column is all about.
If you’re new here, don’t take this as a sign of discontent or being spoiled — it’s all in good fun. No game is perfect, and it is the imperfections that I shine my spotlight on every week.
With that said, here’s what bugged me when the Buckeyes visited the Spartans.
Tight end Will Kacmarek’s personal foul in the red zone disrupted a second-and-goal from the 6-yard line, moving it back to the 21. Two plays later, the Buckeyes had to kick a field goal because of the lost yardage.
He was correctly pulled from the game after the foul, and hopefully he got the message that preventable penalties will not be tolerated, because one of the few things that can stop the Ohio State offense is the Ohio State offense doing dumb things. No dumb things is a good road map for success. Dead ball penalties, however, are dumb things.
After opening the game with a scoring drive, the Buckeyes had a chance to set the tone defensively on Michigan State’s first possession. The tone wasn’t a good one, with an explosive run by Nate Carter for 19 yards on the first play. Ohio State’s cornerbacks both blitzed and Carter ran underneath the rush by Denzel Burke. Sonny Styles failed to set the edge to keep the run inside, and it left a huge hole for a big run.
The defense needed a fourth-down stop to prevent the Spartans from answering the Buckeyes’ opening score.
After the first drive bogged down with a red-zone penalty, Ohio State drove into scoring position again on its second drive, where things got a little stifled. Although the Buckeyes did eventually break through, it required a fourth-down conversion by the offense.
After a decent run by TreVeyon Henderson took the ball inside the 5-yard line, Chip Kelly got pass happy and it almost backfired. Emeka Egbuka couldn’t hold onto the ball on second down, trying to fight through contact at the goal line. On third down, Will Howard never saw safety Malik Spencer, who should have intercepted the pass in the end zone. Gee Scott finally got the team into the end zone on a fourth-down play that could have swung momentum if the Spartans had managed to hold.
I would be remiss if I didn’t add that the red zone offense was basically fine the rest of the night. But you didn’t come here for “fine,” did you?
Michigan State’s third drive sliced right through the OSU secondary as if the Buckeyes weren’t even there. Aidan Chiles hit passes for nine yards, 24 yards, and 26 yards without an incompletion. Ohio State would likely have conceded points on the drive had Jordan Hancock not saved the day with a strip, which Sonny Styles recovered.
However, it only saved the defense for a moment, because...
Will Howard threw an interception on the ensuing OSU offensive series with a poor decision. Howard threw the ball into double coverage trying to hit Scott, while he had a wide-open Jeremiah Smith — who is pretty good at football — outside and a bit further down the field.
Jordan Turner returned the interception 36 yards, and Sparty cashed in on the very next play, because…
Davison Igbinosun was Michigan State’s best friend after the change of possession, playing way off the ball in the red zone. The starting corner even gave ground after the catch, giving himself no chance to prevent Jaron Glover from scoring, making it a 10-7 game in the second quarter.
Trailing 17-7, Michigan State again drove right down the field with a mixture of runs and passes, reaching the OSU 16-yard line. It started with no gain for two consecutive plays, and then the defense gave up a third-and-10 conversion with a 15-yard pass completion.
The Spartans gained 25 yards with a pass, seven yards with a run, and five more yards with a pass to get into the red zone. The defense took the ball away with a fumble forced by Lathan Ransom and recovered by Jack Sawyer, but the Buckeyes were fortunate not to have a facemask penalty called on Tywone Malone to extend the drive, which most likely would have cut the OSU lead back to one score and left the Spartans with belief.
As it turned out, Ohio State would beat the belief out of Sparty with a strong finish to the second quarter.
TreVeyon Henderson was shaken up, and momentarily was responsible for a fumble call, when he caught a pass and had room to the outside to perhaps get his first down. He could at least have gotten close. He instead tried to cut inside and failed to fool Turner, who tackled Henderson awkwardly.
Henderson lost the ball when he went to ground, and it was ruled a fumble, but the correct decision was made to reverse the call, as the ball popped out after the runner’s forearm touched the ground.
While Henderson has made plenty of big plays in his career, a simple burst to the outside would have likely resulted in a first down, certainly wouldn’t have initially been ruled a turnover, and perhaps would have prevented a minor injury that took Henderson off the field for a spell.
Ohio State didn’t exactly get the best broadcast crew for this game. Andrew Siciliano was paired with Colt McCoy on the call, and while McCoy was mostly fine in his analyst role, Siciliano struggled mightily at times, butchering the names of several OSU players.
Early in the game, he referred to Gee Scott Jr., as “Jerry Gee,” pronouncing “Gee” with a hard G. He later called Quinshon Judkins “Jenkins.” Broadcasting isn’t easy, and we all stumble over our words sometimes, but your job is to at least know who the players are.
The dirty little secret about this column is that if I’m not griping about anything in the second half, there really wasn’t a lot to complain about.
The Buckeyes could have been a bit cleaner on defense and up front on the offensive line at times. Emeka Egbuka had a big game that could have been even bigger without a pair of drops.
Still, there were so many memorable good moments, such as basically everything Smith did running the ball, catching it (ridiculously at times), and even while blocking. Even if it wasn’t always sharp, the defense took the ball away three times. Jayden Fielding’s kicks and kickoffs went straight and stayed in bounds. Henderson averaged nearly 10 yards per carry and was a stud in pass protection. It was a lopsided win the coaching staff can still build on.
Ohio State’s victory in East Lansing was a good road test, and showed the Buckeyes that the competition is getting tougher. That will definitely be the case Saturday, when the Buckeyes return home in what is sure to be an annoying game against Iowa.
Continue reading...
Michael Citro via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Kimberly P. Mitchell / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Just because the Buckeyes beat a Big Ten opponent by 31 on the road, it doesn’t mean I’m not going to complain about it.
Ohio State improved to 4-0 on the season and won its conference opener in its first road trip of the campaign with a 38-7 victory over the Michigan State Spartans in East Lansing. While there’s not much complaining that can be done about a 31-point road win, that’s precisely what this column is all about.
If you’re new here, don’t take this as a sign of discontent or being spoiled — it’s all in good fun. No game is perfect, and it is the imperfections that I shine my spotlight on every week.
With that said, here’s what bugged me when the Buckeyes visited the Spartans.
Kacmarek’s Killer Penalty
Tight end Will Kacmarek’s personal foul in the red zone disrupted a second-and-goal from the 6-yard line, moving it back to the 21. Two plays later, the Buckeyes had to kick a field goal because of the lost yardage.
He was correctly pulled from the game after the foul, and hopefully he got the message that preventable penalties will not be tolerated, because one of the few things that can stop the Ohio State offense is the Ohio State offense doing dumb things. No dumb things is a good road map for success. Dead ball penalties, however, are dumb things.
Not Setting the Tone
After opening the game with a scoring drive, the Buckeyes had a chance to set the tone defensively on Michigan State’s first possession. The tone wasn’t a good one, with an explosive run by Nate Carter for 19 yards on the first play. Ohio State’s cornerbacks both blitzed and Carter ran underneath the rush by Denzel Burke. Sonny Styles failed to set the edge to keep the run inside, and it left a huge hole for a big run.
The defense needed a fourth-down stop to prevent the Spartans from answering the Buckeyes’ opening score.
Red Zone Difficulties
After the first drive bogged down with a red-zone penalty, Ohio State drove into scoring position again on its second drive, where things got a little stifled. Although the Buckeyes did eventually break through, it required a fourth-down conversion by the offense.
After a decent run by TreVeyon Henderson took the ball inside the 5-yard line, Chip Kelly got pass happy and it almost backfired. Emeka Egbuka couldn’t hold onto the ball on second down, trying to fight through contact at the goal line. On third down, Will Howard never saw safety Malik Spencer, who should have intercepted the pass in the end zone. Gee Scott finally got the team into the end zone on a fourth-down play that could have swung momentum if the Spartans had managed to hold.
I would be remiss if I didn’t add that the red zone offense was basically fine the rest of the night. But you didn’t come here for “fine,” did you?
Shredded Secondary
Michigan State’s third drive sliced right through the OSU secondary as if the Buckeyes weren’t even there. Aidan Chiles hit passes for nine yards, 24 yards, and 26 yards without an incompletion. Ohio State would likely have conceded points on the drive had Jordan Hancock not saved the day with a strip, which Sonny Styles recovered.
However, it only saved the defense for a moment, because...
The Pick
Will Howard threw an interception on the ensuing OSU offensive series with a poor decision. Howard threw the ball into double coverage trying to hit Scott, while he had a wide-open Jeremiah Smith — who is pretty good at football — outside and a bit further down the field.
Jordan Turner returned the interception 36 yards, and Sparty cashed in on the very next play, because…
Too Much Cushion
Davison Igbinosun was Michigan State’s best friend after the change of possession, playing way off the ball in the red zone. The starting corner even gave ground after the catch, giving himself no chance to prevent Jaron Glover from scoring, making it a 10-7 game in the second quarter.
More Soft Defense
Trailing 17-7, Michigan State again drove right down the field with a mixture of runs and passes, reaching the OSU 16-yard line. It started with no gain for two consecutive plays, and then the defense gave up a third-and-10 conversion with a 15-yard pass completion.
The Spartans gained 25 yards with a pass, seven yards with a run, and five more yards with a pass to get into the red zone. The defense took the ball away with a fumble forced by Lathan Ransom and recovered by Jack Sawyer, but the Buckeyes were fortunate not to have a facemask penalty called on Tywone Malone to extend the drive, which most likely would have cut the OSU lead back to one score and left the Spartans with belief.
As it turned out, Ohio State would beat the belief out of Sparty with a strong finish to the second quarter.
Take the Yards
TreVeyon Henderson was shaken up, and momentarily was responsible for a fumble call, when he caught a pass and had room to the outside to perhaps get his first down. He could at least have gotten close. He instead tried to cut inside and failed to fool Turner, who tackled Henderson awkwardly.
Henderson lost the ball when he went to ground, and it was ruled a fumble, but the correct decision was made to reverse the call, as the ball popped out after the runner’s forearm touched the ground.
While Henderson has made plenty of big plays in his career, a simple burst to the outside would have likely resulted in a first down, certainly wouldn’t have initially been ruled a turnover, and perhaps would have prevented a minor injury that took Henderson off the field for a spell.
Peacock? More Like Poppycock, Amirite?
Ohio State didn’t exactly get the best broadcast crew for this game. Andrew Siciliano was paired with Colt McCoy on the call, and while McCoy was mostly fine in his analyst role, Siciliano struggled mightily at times, butchering the names of several OSU players.
Early in the game, he referred to Gee Scott Jr., as “Jerry Gee,” pronouncing “Gee” with a hard G. He later called Quinshon Judkins “Jenkins.” Broadcasting isn’t easy, and we all stumble over our words sometimes, but your job is to at least know who the players are.
The dirty little secret about this column is that if I’m not griping about anything in the second half, there really wasn’t a lot to complain about.
The Buckeyes could have been a bit cleaner on defense and up front on the offensive line at times. Emeka Egbuka had a big game that could have been even bigger without a pair of drops.
Still, there were so many memorable good moments, such as basically everything Smith did running the ball, catching it (ridiculously at times), and even while blocking. Even if it wasn’t always sharp, the defense took the ball away three times. Jayden Fielding’s kicks and kickoffs went straight and stayed in bounds. Henderson averaged nearly 10 yards per carry and was a stud in pass protection. It was a lopsided win the coaching staff can still build on.
Ohio State’s victory in East Lansing was a good road test, and showed the Buckeyes that the competition is getting tougher. That will definitely be the case Saturday, when the Buckeyes return home in what is sure to be an annoying game against Iowa.
Continue reading...