FOOTBALL: FIVE TAKEAWAYS FROM WEEK 1
Ohio State opened its season with a 45-21 win over Florida Atlantic Saturday, but even a veritable tune-up game against an unranked, non-Power Five opponent yields a litany of storylines for the Buckeyes as they prepare for Cincinnati. Here are five non-Justin Fields specific takeaways from Ohio State’s first game:
Ohio State redshirt senior wide receiver K.J. Hill (14) in the second half of the game against Florida Atlantic on Aug. 31. Ohio State won 45-21.
Not so hot for Hill:
Redshirt senior wide receiver K.J. Hill entered the 2019 season 48 catches away from Ohio State’s all-time career receptions record. Having caught 70 last season, many thought setting the new bar would be a foregone conclusion for Hill.
However, Hill caught just three passes from his first-time starting quarterback Saturday.
Hill failed to reach that mark on only two occasions this past season, and his 21 yards against FAU would have been the second-worst performance of his 2018 campaign.
With the most experience and NFL-readiness out of Ohio State’s receiving corps, Hill could have been pegged as Fields’ surest bet for a possession receiver, but he didn’t find Hill on any of his four touchdown passes.
The pair had a chance to hook up for six points in the first quarter, but Fields underthrew Hill on a post route to the end zone, which may indicate a lack of syncopation between them in the early going.
The majority of the season remains for the Fields-Hill connection to develop, but after Week 1, Hill’s once sure-fire record may be harder to reach than anticipated.
Ohio State junior running back J.K. Dobbins (2) runs a play during the first half of the game against Florida Atlantic on Aug. 31. Ohio State won 45-21.
Rough run game:
Junior running back J.K. Dobbins is free from splitting carries with Mike Weber and without a solidified backup at the position, but ahead of Saturday, head coach Ryan Day maintained that his feature tailback would not be a 20-carry-per-game player this season.
Dobbins had 21 against FAU.
Despite Ohio State’s 24-point blowout victory, Dobbins still received five more carries than his 2018 average on Saturday, in hopes of breaking loose the way Fields was able to on his 51-yard touchdown run.
That never happened though, as Dobbins had only one rush for more than nine yards. Without his first quarter production, Dobbins had just 46 yards on 15 attempts.
“We’ll look at the film and figure out where we can get those things in the second level a little bit faster for him,” Day said.
A 91-yard performance that included a touchdown doesn’t look bad on paper, but the effort it took on a rush defense that ranked No. 89 out of 129 teams in 2018 could be worrisome for the Buckeyes moving forward.
Entire article:
https://www.thelantern.com/2019/09/football-five-takeaways-from-week-1/
FOOTBALL: OFFENSIVE LINE SHOWS ROOM FOR GROWTH AGAINST FLORIDA ATLANTIC
Ohio State then-redshirt sophomore right guard Branden Bowen warms up prior to the Buckeyes’ 38-7 win versus Army on Sept. 16, 2017 at Ohio Stadium.
Florida Atlantic’s Chris Tooley sprawled onto his stomach, the victim of a vicious block by Ohio State’s Josh Myers that sprung Justin Fields 51 yards for a touchdown.
Explosive is a good word to describe Ohio State’s first quarter offense against FAU Saturday, symbolized by the redshirt sophomore center’s throwdown of the senior cornerback. The Buckeyes scored 28 points, and the sophomore Fields found enough time at quarterback to complete five of his first six passes for 80 yards and two touchdowns.
Stagnant is a good word to describe Ohio State’s second quarter offense. In six possessions, Ohio State failed to score, with FAU mounting four pressures against Fields.
“We’re going to address that this week,” head coach Ryan Day said. “It’s a great start. But we’ve gotta keep going. We’ve gotta keep pushing.”
Many factors can determine whether an offense stagnates, but it always starts up front.
Fields was demolished by a blitzing linebacker late in the first quarter, flattened in a manner reminiscent of Tooley. That play opened the trend of pressure tripping up the Ohio State offense, a hit Fields said he “had to get used to.”
FAU’s odd defensive front was starting to confuse the Buckeyes, redshirt senior tackle Branden Bowen said after the game. They’d worked against the look in camp, but with four new starters on the offensive line, chemistry in pass protection is something the Utah native said the line will have to develop.
“Our assignments, really, understanding sometimes teams throw stuff at us that we haven’t seen on film,” Bowen said. “But it’s just coming over to the sideline, not panicking and working out what happened on that last drive to help us with the next one.”
Day said in the previous week that Ohio State would rotate linemen, which could carry negative effects on chemistry. Substitutes in the trenches were rare, however, against the Owls. Redshirt senior tackle Joshua Alabi entered for junior tackle Thayer Munford during one or two first-half series, and redshirt freshman Nicholas Petit-Frere tagged Bowen later.
Mostly, though, it was the same five until the second team came on in the fourth quarter.
“It’s ultimately the coach’s decision,” Bowen said. “I’m just gonna go out there every time I’m in the huddle and play as hard as I can.”
Entire article:
https://www.thelantern.com/2019/09/...ows-room-for-growth-against-florida-atlantic/
