Michael Citro
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Grumpy Old Buckeye: Ohio State at Rutgers
Michael Citro via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images
There are only a few things more aggravating than seeing Rutgers ahead on the scoreboard at any point in the game.
The Buckeyes took another physical team’s best shot and emerged relatively unscathed after a 35-16 road win at Rutgers. You can bet that few things make me as grumpy as trailing Rutgers at halftime, which is what the Buckeyes did on Saturday. But being 9-0 after three quarters of the season is (almost) nothing to complain about.
Here are the things that made me scream into a pillow to keep my family from having me committed.
Ohio State had a tailor-made opportunity to block the first Rutgers punt on Saturday after the Scarlet Knights had a bad snap. Even token pressure likely would have made the difference. But Flynn Appleby was given time to recover and get the kick away. It wasn’t a good one, traveling only 18 yards, but a big momentum play early in the game may have prevented some of the sleepy play we saw early from Ohio State.
It ended up being OK, with Ohio State driving down and scoring off the shanked effort from Appleby. I made a bold prediction about the number of punts Ohio State would block based on last year as a starting point, and that does not appear to be in the cards at this stage unless the Buckeyes just start blocking everything in sight.
Holding a 7-0 lead, the OSU defense forced a quick three-and-out from Rutgers and the Buckeyes took over on their own 27-yard line. Ohio State moved into Rutgers territory a few plays later and looked to take an early stranglehold on the game. Miscommunication on who to pick up between Josh Fryer and TreVeyon Henderson allowed linebacker Mohamed Toure to sack Kyle McCord for a 9-yard loss. That stalled the drive and a couple of short passes later the Buckeyes punted.
Ohio State was forced into a risky decision to go for it on 4th-and-1 at its own 41-yard line on the fourth drive. That was set up by a 6-yard pass from McCord to Emeka Egbuka that seemingly could easily have gotten the one extra yard needed to pick up the first down. Egbuka caught the pass short and tried a couple of juke moves before being tackled.
Had he sold out to get the first down, Ohio State would not have needed to go for the fourth down. That choice worked out when Henderson just managed to pick up the yard on the ensuing down (after sweating through a video review of the spot), but the situation was avoidable.
McCord was cruising in the passing game. Although many of his throws were check-downs, the Ohio State quarterback was taking what the Rutgers defense was giving him underneath and avoiding having the wind affect longer throws, going 10-for-10 in the first quarter and hitting his first 11 passes in the game. The 12th, however, derailed the offense for the rest of the first half.
Julian Fleming dropped what would have been a first down. The veteran receiver couldn’t haul it in, putting his team behind the chains with a third-and-7 situation at the Rutgers 44. McCord could not connect with Marvin Harrison Jr. on the next play and the Buckeyes punted. The Scarlet Knights finally put points on the board on the ensuing drive to get some momentum in the game. To make things worse, starting with that drop McCord went just 1-for-6 the rest of the half with an interception.
The Buckeye defense had a big moment on that drive and came up wanting. Rutgers faced a 4th-and-1 at its own 43-yard line. A stop would have set up the OSU offense in plus territory. Instead, the defense gave up its first play of the season over 40 yards. To Rutgers.
I’ll give the Scarlet Knights this: it was an inventive and brave play call and it caught Ohio State completely off guard. The Buckeyes expected a sneak by quarterback Gavin Wimsatt. Instead, the quarterback snapped the ball backward to running back Kyle Monangai. OSU linebacker Cody Simon should have had a good view of it, but he attacked where he expected Wimsatt to go, rather than trusting his eyes.
Monangai was able to break Simon’s last-ditch attempt at an arm tackle and rushed for 45 yards to the OSU 12. The defense held Rutgers out, but the hosts built some momentum they rode for the rest of the half.
Ohio State looked to answer the Rutgers scoring drive after the kickoff. The Buckeyes, however, quickly went three and out. A pair of running plays by Henderson set up a makeable third-and-5. McCord dropped back and fired to tight end Gee Scott Jr., who was tasked with carrying the bulk of the tight end snaps with Cade Stover unavailable.
Scott, much like Fleming earlier, dropped a catchable pass from McCord on third down and Ohio State was forced to give the ball right back to Rutgers — just not in the way we all expected.
The Buckeyes couldn’t simply just punt the ball away. They had to compound going three and out with the blunder of the game. Punter Jesse Mirco fielded the snap to his left and took off, picking up only 40% of the distance needed to convert for a first down. Rutgers took over at the OSU 32 and quickly pulled within 7-6 with another short field goal.
Ryan Day said after the game that it was not a called fake, but a miscommunication. Either way, the continual lack of production — and, in fact, downright harmful play — from Ohio State’s special teams is maddening to watch every week.
I mentioned earlier how McCord was in rhythm until Fleming’s drop. Two of his five incomplete passes starting with that one were dropped, which isn’t his fault, but he also had some of his ugliest passes of the day during that second-quarter stress. None was worse than the one he threw right to Toure.
On the first play after Rutgers cut the lead to 7-6, McCord found Harrison for 16 yards. But the next play was a disaster. McCord either did not see Toure drop into coverage underneath Harrison or he left the pass too low. Rutgers got the ball back in OSU territory just two plays after pulling within a point. The hosts used the gift to take a 9-7 halftime lead.
If not for Ohio State’s defense, the halftime score could have been much more dire for the Buckeyes.
Riding their momentum from the first half, the Scarlet Knights started the second half with the ball. Rutgers quickly picked up a pair of first downs — the first on a Josh Proctor pass interference call. But a holding penalty pushed Rutgers back to its own 35-yard line with a second-and-20 situation. Sonny Styles gifted the opposition a first down with a pass interference penalty of his own.
Rutgers was poised to add to its lead over Ohio State when a Proctor pass breakup fell into the hands of Jordan Hancock, who went 93 yards to flip the game on its head with Ohio State’s first big momentum play.
Just when it seemed like normal order had been restored in the game, the Ohio State defense had its softest series in a few weeks. The Buckeyes had stopped Rutgers and tacked on a third touchdown to make it 21-9 and it was time to start squeezing the game and putting it away. But instead, Rutgers climbed right back in it.
The Rutgers offense, which is very much not built to come from behind, skipped 75 yards straight down the field in only six plays. The drive started with a Kenyatta Jackson offside penalty, setting up an easy conversion for Rutgers. Wimsatt shredded the OSU secondary with passes of 13, 35, and 19 yards on the drive, with the latter ending in a touchdown. The Scarlet Knights were within 21-16 early in the fourth quarter.
After Harrison scored to make it 28-16, Rutgers again marched down the field on an Ohio State defense that had been great at limiting opponents in the second half. However, that same defense helped the Scarlet Knights with 30 yards in penalties in a three-play span to jumpstart Rutgers’ possession. Sure, one of those calls was Downy soft, but that’s beside the point. Rutgers drove down inside the OSU 10. The threat didn’t end until Ty Hamilton got a sack on fourth-and-goal to keep the game at two scores.
Obviously not everything was bad. Henderson had a massive game for the Buckeyes. The defense bent a few times but only broke once, despite being put in bad positions repeatedly on Saturday. Some backup safeties and corners got plenty of snaps with Lathan Ransom and Denzel Burke out and Proctor knocked out of the game on the play that forced Hancock’s interception return — itself perhaps the biggest play of the day.
These are the things that stuck out to me. What had you yelling at your television?
The Buckeyes return home next week for a night game against the Michigan State Spartans on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET.
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
Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images
There are only a few things more aggravating than seeing Rutgers ahead on the scoreboard at any point in the game.
The Buckeyes took another physical team’s best shot and emerged relatively unscathed after a 35-16 road win at Rutgers. You can bet that few things make me as grumpy as trailing Rutgers at halftime, which is what the Buckeyes did on Saturday. But being 9-0 after three quarters of the season is (almost) nothing to complain about.
Here are the things that made me scream into a pillow to keep my family from having me committed.
Missed Opportunity
Ohio State had a tailor-made opportunity to block the first Rutgers punt on Saturday after the Scarlet Knights had a bad snap. Even token pressure likely would have made the difference. But Flynn Appleby was given time to recover and get the kick away. It wasn’t a good one, traveling only 18 yards, but a big momentum play early in the game may have prevented some of the sleepy play we saw early from Ohio State.
It ended up being OK, with Ohio State driving down and scoring off the shanked effort from Appleby. I made a bold prediction about the number of punts Ohio State would block based on last year as a starting point, and that does not appear to be in the cards at this stage unless the Buckeyes just start blocking everything in sight.
Failure to Protect
Holding a 7-0 lead, the OSU defense forced a quick three-and-out from Rutgers and the Buckeyes took over on their own 27-yard line. Ohio State moved into Rutgers territory a few plays later and looked to take an early stranglehold on the game. Miscommunication on who to pick up between Josh Fryer and TreVeyon Henderson allowed linebacker Mohamed Toure to sack Kyle McCord for a 9-yard loss. That stalled the drive and a couple of short passes later the Buckeyes punted.
Don’t Dance
Ohio State was forced into a risky decision to go for it on 4th-and-1 at its own 41-yard line on the fourth drive. That was set up by a 6-yard pass from McCord to Emeka Egbuka that seemingly could easily have gotten the one extra yard needed to pick up the first down. Egbuka caught the pass short and tried a couple of juke moves before being tackled.
Had he sold out to get the first down, Ohio State would not have needed to go for the fourth down. That choice worked out when Henderson just managed to pick up the yard on the ensuing down (after sweating through a video review of the spot), but the situation was avoidable.
Julian’s Drop
McCord was cruising in the passing game. Although many of his throws were check-downs, the Ohio State quarterback was taking what the Rutgers defense was giving him underneath and avoiding having the wind affect longer throws, going 10-for-10 in the first quarter and hitting his first 11 passes in the game. The 12th, however, derailed the offense for the rest of the first half.
Julian Fleming dropped what would have been a first down. The veteran receiver couldn’t haul it in, putting his team behind the chains with a third-and-7 situation at the Rutgers 44. McCord could not connect with Marvin Harrison Jr. on the next play and the Buckeyes punted. The Scarlet Knights finally put points on the board on the ensuing drive to get some momentum in the game. To make things worse, starting with that drop McCord went just 1-for-6 the rest of the half with an interception.
Fell for It
The Buckeye defense had a big moment on that drive and came up wanting. Rutgers faced a 4th-and-1 at its own 43-yard line. A stop would have set up the OSU offense in plus territory. Instead, the defense gave up its first play of the season over 40 yards. To Rutgers.
I’ll give the Scarlet Knights this: it was an inventive and brave play call and it caught Ohio State completely off guard. The Buckeyes expected a sneak by quarterback Gavin Wimsatt. Instead, the quarterback snapped the ball backward to running back Kyle Monangai. OSU linebacker Cody Simon should have had a good view of it, but he attacked where he expected Wimsatt to go, rather than trusting his eyes.
Monangai was able to break Simon’s last-ditch attempt at an arm tackle and rushed for 45 yards to the OSU 12. The defense held Rutgers out, but the hosts built some momentum they rode for the rest of the half.
Aww, Gee!
Ohio State looked to answer the Rutgers scoring drive after the kickoff. The Buckeyes, however, quickly went three and out. A pair of running plays by Henderson set up a makeable third-and-5. McCord dropped back and fired to tight end Gee Scott Jr., who was tasked with carrying the bulk of the tight end snaps with Cade Stover unavailable.
Scott, much like Fleming earlier, dropped a catchable pass from McCord on third down and Ohio State was forced to give the ball right back to Rutgers — just not in the way we all expected.
WYD?
The Buckeyes couldn’t simply just punt the ball away. They had to compound going three and out with the blunder of the game. Punter Jesse Mirco fielded the snap to his left and took off, picking up only 40% of the distance needed to convert for a first down. Rutgers took over at the OSU 32 and quickly pulled within 7-6 with another short field goal.
Ryan Day said after the game that it was not a called fake, but a miscommunication. Either way, the continual lack of production — and, in fact, downright harmful play — from Ohio State’s special teams is maddening to watch every week.
McCord’s Mistake
I mentioned earlier how McCord was in rhythm until Fleming’s drop. Two of his five incomplete passes starting with that one were dropped, which isn’t his fault, but he also had some of his ugliest passes of the day during that second-quarter stress. None was worse than the one he threw right to Toure.
On the first play after Rutgers cut the lead to 7-6, McCord found Harrison for 16 yards. But the next play was a disaster. McCord either did not see Toure drop into coverage underneath Harrison or he left the pass too low. Rutgers got the ball back in OSU territory just two plays after pulling within a point. The hosts used the gift to take a 9-7 halftime lead.
If not for Ohio State’s defense, the halftime score could have been much more dire for the Buckeyes.
Helping the Enemy
Riding their momentum from the first half, the Scarlet Knights started the second half with the ball. Rutgers quickly picked up a pair of first downs — the first on a Josh Proctor pass interference call. But a holding penalty pushed Rutgers back to its own 35-yard line with a second-and-20 situation. Sonny Styles gifted the opposition a first down with a pass interference penalty of his own.
Rutgers was poised to add to its lead over Ohio State when a Proctor pass breakup fell into the hands of Jordan Hancock, who went 93 yards to flip the game on its head with Ohio State’s first big momentum play.
Defense Takes a Holiday
Just when it seemed like normal order had been restored in the game, the Ohio State defense had its softest series in a few weeks. The Buckeyes had stopped Rutgers and tacked on a third touchdown to make it 21-9 and it was time to start squeezing the game and putting it away. But instead, Rutgers climbed right back in it.
The Rutgers offense, which is very much not built to come from behind, skipped 75 yards straight down the field in only six plays. The drive started with a Kenyatta Jackson offside penalty, setting up an easy conversion for Rutgers. Wimsatt shredded the OSU secondary with passes of 13, 35, and 19 yards on the drive, with the latter ending in a touchdown. The Scarlet Knights were within 21-16 early in the fourth quarter.
Stop Helping!
After Harrison scored to make it 28-16, Rutgers again marched down the field on an Ohio State defense that had been great at limiting opponents in the second half. However, that same defense helped the Scarlet Knights with 30 yards in penalties in a three-play span to jumpstart Rutgers’ possession. Sure, one of those calls was Downy soft, but that’s beside the point. Rutgers drove down inside the OSU 10. The threat didn’t end until Ty Hamilton got a sack on fourth-and-goal to keep the game at two scores.
Obviously not everything was bad. Henderson had a massive game for the Buckeyes. The defense bent a few times but only broke once, despite being put in bad positions repeatedly on Saturday. Some backup safeties and corners got plenty of snaps with Lathan Ransom and Denzel Burke out and Proctor knocked out of the game on the play that forced Hancock’s interception return — itself perhaps the biggest play of the day.
These are the things that stuck out to me. What had you yelling at your television?
The Buckeyes return home next week for a night game against the Michigan State Spartans on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Continue reading...