Matt Tamanini
Guest
Moment of the Game: Ohio State’s win over Marshall swung on a play that didn’t happen
Matt Tamanini 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
Brandon Inniss was lucky not to have his turnover turn into a game-tying score.
Believe it or not, despite the fact that the Ohio State Buckeyes beat a game Marshall squad 49-14, the biggest moment of the game was not play that you will actually see the traditional stat sheet. Much like games vacated by the NCAA, it might not have technically happened, but we all saw it and remember it.
With the home team up 14-7 a few minutes into the second quarter, the Buckeye defense forced a three-and-out to get the ball back to its offense. However, an Alec Clark punt soared high into the clear, early afternoon sky above Ohio Stadium and despite seemingly having a beat on it, OSU punt returner Brandon Inniss perhaps lost it in the sun for a split second, leading to his first muffed punt of the season.
The Marshall coverage team was ready to pounce as gunner Ian Foster recovered the turnover at the 16-yard line, seemingly setting up the Thundering Herd in excellent position to potentially tie the football game.
But, in the words of Lee Corso, not so fast my friend.
The refs — who were having themselves a day almost as bad as the Buckeye defense was at times — flagged Marshall for an Illegal Formation penalty, negating the turnover and forcing Clark to punt again; this time, while shielding his eyes, Inniss successfully completed the fair catch.
As pretty much every call in this game did, it took a while for the officials to work out exactly what was going on. So, I was disappointed that the Fox broadcast didn’t bring in rules expert Dean Blandino to at least try to figure out what was going on.
Now, I am not a rules expert, and I am certainly not going to play one on the internet, so I am by no means going to say whether or not the penalty was correct, but if the call revolves around the two linemen to the right of the long-snapper not being on the line of scrimmage — as Joel Klatt speculated on the broadcast, then... I don’t know? I mean, they look like they’re not on the line of scrimmage, but also, they don’t look like they’re that far off of it.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25633115/Screenshot_2024_09_21_at_1.46.50_PM.png)
Also, Gus and Joel made it sound like the flag came in late — again, the always sub-par Fox broadcast did not show us when the flag was thrown — and if that’s the case, then I think Charles Huff and the Marshal sideline has a lot of reason to be upset over that call.
On the subsequent drive following Inniss’ fair catch, the OSU offense went 86 yards on a single play as Quinshon Judkins outran the defense to paydirt to put the Buckeyes up 21-7. While Marshall cut the game to 28-14 just before halftime, the OSU offense just could not be stopped with Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson essentially doing whatever they wanted in the run game.
While I still imagine that Ohio State would have been able to eke out a win in the game, things could have looked markedly different had the Herd been able to tie things up just six minutes into the second quarter. The running ability of Marshall starting quarterback Stone Earle put the defense on its heels a lot during the game, and even though his rushing totals weren’t massive, the impact that his escapability had on the game was significant.
If the muffed punt had stood, it is very possible that it would have been a tied game at the 10:50 mark in the second quarter. From there, Earle and the Herd might have been able to continue to milk the clock, picking up yardage in small amounts, limiting the opportunities that Ohio State had to put up points.
Instead, because of the potentially phantom penalty, OSU was up 21-7 with just under 11 minutes before halftime, forcing Huff, Earle, and company to change their offensive approach. Ultimately, the nullified turnover allowed the Buckeye offense to continue flexing its formidable muscles.
Continue reading...
Matt Tamanini 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
Brandon Inniss was lucky not to have his turnover turn into a game-tying score.
Believe it or not, despite the fact that the Ohio State Buckeyes beat a game Marshall squad 49-14, the biggest moment of the game was not play that you will actually see the traditional stat sheet. Much like games vacated by the NCAA, it might not have technically happened, but we all saw it and remember it.
With the home team up 14-7 a few minutes into the second quarter, the Buckeye defense forced a three-and-out to get the ball back to its offense. However, an Alec Clark punt soared high into the clear, early afternoon sky above Ohio Stadium and despite seemingly having a beat on it, OSU punt returner Brandon Inniss perhaps lost it in the sun for a split second, leading to his first muffed punt of the season.
The Marshall coverage team was ready to pounce as gunner Ian Foster recovered the turnover at the 16-yard line, seemingly setting up the Thundering Herd in excellent position to potentially tie the football game.
But, in the words of Lee Corso, not so fast my friend.
The refs — who were having themselves a day almost as bad as the Buckeye defense was at times — flagged Marshall for an Illegal Formation penalty, negating the turnover and forcing Clark to punt again; this time, while shielding his eyes, Inniss successfully completed the fair catch.
As pretty much every call in this game did, it took a while for the officials to work out exactly what was going on. So, I was disappointed that the Fox broadcast didn’t bring in rules expert Dean Blandino to at least try to figure out what was going on.
Now, I am not a rules expert, and I am certainly not going to play one on the internet, so I am by no means going to say whether or not the penalty was correct, but if the call revolves around the two linemen to the right of the long-snapper not being on the line of scrimmage — as Joel Klatt speculated on the broadcast, then... I don’t know? I mean, they look like they’re not on the line of scrimmage, but also, they don’t look like they’re that far off of it.
Also, Gus and Joel made it sound like the flag came in late — again, the always sub-par Fox broadcast did not show us when the flag was thrown — and if that’s the case, then I think Charles Huff and the Marshal sideline has a lot of reason to be upset over that call.
On the subsequent drive following Inniss’ fair catch, the OSU offense went 86 yards on a single play as Quinshon Judkins outran the defense to paydirt to put the Buckeyes up 21-7. While Marshall cut the game to 28-14 just before halftime, the OSU offense just could not be stopped with Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson essentially doing whatever they wanted in the run game.
While I still imagine that Ohio State would have been able to eke out a win in the game, things could have looked markedly different had the Herd been able to tie things up just six minutes into the second quarter. The running ability of Marshall starting quarterback Stone Earle put the defense on its heels a lot during the game, and even though his rushing totals weren’t massive, the impact that his escapability had on the game was significant.
If the muffed punt had stood, it is very possible that it would have been a tied game at the 10:50 mark in the second quarter. From there, Earle and the Herd might have been able to continue to milk the clock, picking up yardage in small amounts, limiting the opportunities that Ohio State had to put up points.
Instead, because of the potentially phantom penalty, OSU was up 21-7 with just under 11 minutes before halftime, forcing Huff, Earle, and company to change their offensive approach. Ultimately, the nullified turnover allowed the Buckeye offense to continue flexing its formidable muscles.
Continue reading...