Oregon 2021
1. After beating Oregon 9 times in 9 contests, most recently in the 2014 National Championship Game, the Bucks finally lost to the Ducks by the score of 35 to 28. This despite the fact that Oregon was missing its two best players on defense - DE Kayvon Thibodeaux and LB Justin Flowe - and was fielding an offense that won't make anyone forget the Chip Kelly Era. Oregon QB Anthony Brown, who should be about the worst Power5 QB that the Buckeyes will face this season, was 17 of 35 for 236 yards and 2 TDs, one of which was actually just a long handoff to RB CJ Verdell, the guy who really torched the Buckeye defense (161 yards rushing, 34 yards receiving, 3 TDs), especially with a back-breaking 77-yard TD run on 3rd-and-3 at the start of the 3rd quarter that gave Oregon what proved to be an insurmountable 14-point lead.
2. Brown completed only 5 of 16 passes to his wide outs (.313 completion pct) for 77 yards and no touchdowns. Where Brown really hurt the Buckeye defense was on passes to the tight ends and running backs (i.e., plays with LBs or safeties in coverage), when he completed 12 of 19 passes (.632 completion pct) for 159 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
3. The Ducks rushed 38 times for 269 yards (7.1 average) and 3 TDs. Even taking out the 77-yard TD run, the Ducks still had 37 rushes for 192 yards (5.2 average), and in those 37 rushes the Buckeye defense was able to force only one TFL for one yard lost.
4. For the game, the Buckeye defense gave up 505 total yards and 35 points. I know that no one wants to hear this, but those numbers - while certainly not great - are not exactly terrible for this modern era of college football. The main problem for the defense was this: They didn't make any impact plays - no forced fumbles, no interceptions, no sacks, just one tackle for loss, no stops in the red zone (4 TDs surrendered in 4 trips), and allowed Oregon to convert 9 of 17 (.529) on third and fourth downs.
5. The Buckeye defensive line is no longer an enigma, they are just plain bad. Despite all the 5-star talent, the DL got consistently blown off the line on run plays and provided little-to-no pressure on pass plays (zero sacks, 5 quarterback hurries). The play of the current defensive linemen is consistent with previous years, in which top-100 talents like Tyreke Smith (3 tackles, 2 QBH) and Taron Vincent (3 tackles, QBH) and Zach Harrison (4 tackles) and Antwuan Jackson (2 tackles) have played well below their respective recruit rankings and made few impactful plays. DL Coach Larry Johnson gets tons of credit for developing the Bosa Brothers and Chase Young, but in retrospect who couldn't have developed those supremely talented guys? If Johnson can't get more production out of his current rotation, then maybe it's time for him to look to the future and give more playing time to true freshmen J.T. Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer and Tyleik Williams.
6. Now for some positive news: DL Haskell Garrett quietly had another good game (6 tackles, .5 TFL), but he can only do so much with the defensive ends generating so little pass rush and the linebackers (see below) being so often out of position and/or slow to react. Despite being a "project" recruit back in 2018, Javontae Jean-Baptiste (2 tackles, 2 QBH, deflected pass) has developed into a functional member of the DE rotation.
6. During training camp, we heard certain Wisemen sing the praises of LB Tommy Eichenberg. When a player excels in practice, it is often because he follows his assignments and knows where he's supposed to be. That's all well and good, but knowing where you're supposed to be isn't worth a whole Hell of a lot if you're too slow to actually get there on time. Here's a further problem: What Eichenberg lacks in speed, he doesn't make up for with strength. At least the much-maligned Tuf Borland, with his limited speed and range, could mix it up with opposing OL and plug a lot of holes in the run game. So far this season, Minnesota and Oregon have had plenty of success running between the tackles, where a middle linebacker should be making plays. Eichenberg isn't.
7. Just because Tommy Eichenberg has been especially bad, it doesn't mean that any of the other LBs has been particularly good. Teradja Mitchell is racking up some tackles (10 vs Minnesota, 11 vs Oregon), but like the DL, he is failing to make impactful plays (only one TFL, no sacks, no turnovers, in two games). Dallas Gant was virtually invisible today (one tackle) after having a fairly active game versus Minnesota. K'Vaughan Pope had 2 tackles and a near interception after receiving no playing time in the opener. When Steele Chambers was a running back, he looked like a linebacker; now that he's a linebacker, he looks like a running back. Of all the linebackers, sophomore Cody Simon (6 tackles) has shown the most promise, but I have yet to see anything from him that would make me forget Ryan Shazier, or even Pete Werner.
8. Here's the main problem with defensive front seven: Smith, Vincent, Jackson, Jean-Baptiste, Mitchell, Gant, and Pope is each in his 4th year in the program, and none of them has shown anything close to the talent necessary to be an impact player at Ohio State. That's seven guys who are just guys despite having three+ years of tutelage from (allegedly) one of the top coaching staffs in CFB and (definitely) one of the top S&C programs in CFB. Did the staff miss on each of these players when they were being recruited? That seems unlikely. Is each of these players an underachiever who doesn't put in the effort? That also seems unlikely. Maybe their collective failure to develop is the result of coaching (technique and/or scheme and/or play calling).
9. The good news on defense is that the defensive backs, especially the cornerbacks, played well again. As mentioned above, Oregon QB Anthony Brown was only 5 for 16 (.313 completion pct) for 77 yards when throwing to his wide receivers, which means that the Buckeye corners did their jobs. True freshman Denzel Burke looks like the Next Big Thing (i.e. the next first round draft pick) and Cameron Brown (3 tackles, 3 PBUs) looked nearly 100 percent after suffering an Achilles in 2020 and missing the opener. Burke, Brown, and some combination of Sevyn Banks, Ryans Watts, Lejond Cavazos, etc. seems like a winning formula going forward at cornerback.
10. The situation at safety, on the other hand, has still not stabilized. Fourth-year player Josh Proctor is clearly the best option, but he got carted off the field in the second half and did not return. Lathan Ransom (tackle, 2 PBUs) continues to show promise after a solid rookie campaign in 2020. Ronnie Hickman (10 tackles) is very active but (like the rest of the defense) hasn't made many impactful plays (no TFL, no sacks, no PBUs, no turnovers in 2 games). Bryson Shaw looks like a smaller version of Tommy Eichenberg.
11. Now on to the offense.... The Buckeyes had 612 total yards, but many of them were "empty calories" as the team managed to score only 28 points. Part of the problem was three failed fourth-down conversions in Oregon territory (one at the 8-yard line), but quarterback C.J. Stroud also killed two promising drives in the fourth quarter with bad throws and/or bad decisions. Yes, Stroud is a freshman, but you simply can't throw 2-yard passes on 3rd-and-20 and wildly fling the ball on scrambles when you have an easy ten yards of turf in front of you. Stroud completed 35 of 54 passes (.648 completion pct) for a total of 484 yards (second best single-game total in Ohio State history), but with the game on the line (last seven minutes) he was 4 of 8 for 45 yards, 2 sacks for minus 20 yards, and an interception: three drives with 25 yards of total offense and a turnover is not going to get the job done anytime, especially not in crunch time.
12. Stroud also made another questionable play at the end of the first half. With time for one final play from the Oregon 35-yard line, Stroud failed to throw the ball into (or at least close to) the end zone, instead throwing an outlet pass to Miyan Williams that came up 18 yards short of pay dirt.
13. Will Stroud get better? Well, he'd better get better, because Ohio State has two other QBs who are equally (or more) talented, and I doubt very much if Ryan Day is going to ride or die with Stroud when Kyle McCord and Quinn Ewers are looking either for playing time now or the quickest path to the transfer portal.
14. When your QB throws for nearly 500 yards, the wide receivers are going to be the primary beneficiaries of his largesse. In fact, Chris Olave (12 receptions, 126 yards), Garrett Wilson (8 receptions, 117 yards, TD), and Jaxon Smith-Njigba (7 receptions, 145 yards, 2 TDs) each had over 100 receiving yards, the first time that three Buckeye receivers have eclipsed the 100-yard mark in a single game. Even though Olave had (another) great game, he dropped perhaps Stroud's best pass of the game, an over-the-shoulder throw down the left sideline in the second quarter with the Buckeyes trailing 14 to 7. Although Stroud's pass was perhaps half a foot too long, Olave got both hands on the football, and the best WR in CFB has to make that catch. If Olave does so, then the Buckeyes are 1st-and-goal from the Oregon 4-yard line with an excellent chance to tie the game and take momentum. After the drop, the offense stalled out at the Oregon 39-yard line, failed to convert 4th-and-2, and that was pretty much ballgame, as things transpired. In a game of inches, your All American WR has to turn a 6-inch overthrow into a 40-yard gain, otherwise you'll end up losing to an inferior opponent.
15. TE Jeremy Ruckert had 3 receptions for 36 yards, but dropped a TD pass in the 3rd quarter on a drive that stalled at the Oregon 8-yard line and resulted in no points. TE Cade Stover had one target, a drop in 3rd-and-11 that killed a drive in Oregon territory early in the game. Not a good showing from a position group that thinks it needs to see more action in the passing game.
16. The running back rotation was severely truncated this week, with Miyan Williams (14 carries, 77 yards, 5.5 average, no TDs; 3 receptions, 38 yards) and TreVeyon Henderson (12 carries, 54 yards, 4.5 average, TD; 1 reception, 12 yards) getting all of the carries. Neither back looked great, in part because the Ohio State braintrust seemed intent on running into the middle of the Oregon defense without the benefit of any constraint plays to keep the Ducks honest. In years past, especially during the J.T. Barrett Era, those constraint plays consisted of read-option with the QB keeping the ball if the defense over-committed to the inside run. It seems that Ryan Day isn't calling any read-options for Stroud - not necessarily a bad idea considering the injury factor, even though Stroud (unlike, say, Dwayne Haskins) does have the ability to make plays with his legs. But if read-option is off the table, then the Buckeyes need to come up with something else that will open up the inside run (or conversely make plays off the inside run) - play action, jet sweeps, rolls outs, something that will keep the defense honest and prevent them from run blitzing on every obvious run down.
17. The offensive line played relatively well, generally speaking, as you would expect from a 612-yard offensive outburst. However, the line did have three notable penalties, two false starts from RT Dawand Jones, and and (alleged) holding call on LG Thayer Munford. While 3 penalties for 20 yards seems like no big deal, two of the penalties helped to kill drives and kept points off the board. Jones's second false start occurred with Ohio State 1st-and-10 at Oregon's 16-yard line down 28-14 in the third quarter. After a pair of incompletions, Stroud hit Olave for 13 yards on 3rd-and-15. Without the penalty, it's a first down. With the penalty, it's 4th-and-2, and the Buckeyes failed to convert. Munford's (alleged) hold came on a 3rd-and-10 play with less than seven minutes left in the game, Ohio State down seven, on a play where Stroud scrambled for the first down. After the penalty, the Buckeyes failed to convert 3rd-and-20 and had to punt the ball away. In a game of inches, 15 yards is a pretty big deal, especially when it's in the fourth quarter and you're down a score.
18. Speaking of penalties, Oregon had a textbook targeting (spearing a defenseless receiver in the back) that was not called. The penalty, if called, would've given Ohio State a conversion on the aforementioned 3rd-and-20 play, but apparently none of the officials on the field nor in the replay booth happened to see one of the more egregious targets of recent years. Now, even with the penalty called Ohio State might not have scored to tie the game, and might not have won the game even if they had tied the score, but if targeting is going to be in the rulebook, then it simply has to be called when it's so blatant.
19. Jesse Mirco had three punts for 130 yards (43.3 average) with two downed at the 1-yard line. Of course, the Ohio State defense allowed Oregon to go on a 10-play, 99-yard TD drive after the first such punt, which (if nothing else) was the defense's unforgivable sin, and stoked the fans' anger for the remainder of the game (and well into the postgame).
20. There have been the inevitable comparisons to the 2014 Virginia Tech game (also at home, also in Week 2), and many of those comparisons seem valid - in both games, Ohio State looked unprepared, disorganized, outcoached, and out-efforted. The good news is that this 2021 Oregon team seems considerably better than that 2014 Virginia Tech team. The bad news is that this 2021 Ohio State team seems considerably worse that 2014 Ohio State team. Of course, there's a long way to go to the end of the season, and the Buckeyes will have plenty of opportunity to work things out, but after four straight seasons of owning the Big Ten, 2021 looks like it might be the year when some conference foes get some long-awaited revenge.
1. After beating Oregon 9 times in 9 contests, most recently in the 2014 National Championship Game, the Bucks finally lost to the Ducks by the score of 35 to 28. This despite the fact that Oregon was missing its two best players on defense - DE Kayvon Thibodeaux and LB Justin Flowe - and was fielding an offense that won't make anyone forget the Chip Kelly Era. Oregon QB Anthony Brown, who should be about the worst Power5 QB that the Buckeyes will face this season, was 17 of 35 for 236 yards and 2 TDs, one of which was actually just a long handoff to RB CJ Verdell, the guy who really torched the Buckeye defense (161 yards rushing, 34 yards receiving, 3 TDs), especially with a back-breaking 77-yard TD run on 3rd-and-3 at the start of the 3rd quarter that gave Oregon what proved to be an insurmountable 14-point lead.
2. Brown completed only 5 of 16 passes to his wide outs (.313 completion pct) for 77 yards and no touchdowns. Where Brown really hurt the Buckeye defense was on passes to the tight ends and running backs (i.e., plays with LBs or safeties in coverage), when he completed 12 of 19 passes (.632 completion pct) for 159 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
3. The Ducks rushed 38 times for 269 yards (7.1 average) and 3 TDs. Even taking out the 77-yard TD run, the Ducks still had 37 rushes for 192 yards (5.2 average), and in those 37 rushes the Buckeye defense was able to force only one TFL for one yard lost.
4. For the game, the Buckeye defense gave up 505 total yards and 35 points. I know that no one wants to hear this, but those numbers - while certainly not great - are not exactly terrible for this modern era of college football. The main problem for the defense was this: They didn't make any impact plays - no forced fumbles, no interceptions, no sacks, just one tackle for loss, no stops in the red zone (4 TDs surrendered in 4 trips), and allowed Oregon to convert 9 of 17 (.529) on third and fourth downs.
5. The Buckeye defensive line is no longer an enigma, they are just plain bad. Despite all the 5-star talent, the DL got consistently blown off the line on run plays and provided little-to-no pressure on pass plays (zero sacks, 5 quarterback hurries). The play of the current defensive linemen is consistent with previous years, in which top-100 talents like Tyreke Smith (3 tackles, 2 QBH) and Taron Vincent (3 tackles, QBH) and Zach Harrison (4 tackles) and Antwuan Jackson (2 tackles) have played well below their respective recruit rankings and made few impactful plays. DL Coach Larry Johnson gets tons of credit for developing the Bosa Brothers and Chase Young, but in retrospect who couldn't have developed those supremely talented guys? If Johnson can't get more production out of his current rotation, then maybe it's time for him to look to the future and give more playing time to true freshmen J.T. Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer and Tyleik Williams.
6. Now for some positive news: DL Haskell Garrett quietly had another good game (6 tackles, .5 TFL), but he can only do so much with the defensive ends generating so little pass rush and the linebackers (see below) being so often out of position and/or slow to react. Despite being a "project" recruit back in 2018, Javontae Jean-Baptiste (2 tackles, 2 QBH, deflected pass) has developed into a functional member of the DE rotation.
6. During training camp, we heard certain Wisemen sing the praises of LB Tommy Eichenberg. When a player excels in practice, it is often because he follows his assignments and knows where he's supposed to be. That's all well and good, but knowing where you're supposed to be isn't worth a whole Hell of a lot if you're too slow to actually get there on time. Here's a further problem: What Eichenberg lacks in speed, he doesn't make up for with strength. At least the much-maligned Tuf Borland, with his limited speed and range, could mix it up with opposing OL and plug a lot of holes in the run game. So far this season, Minnesota and Oregon have had plenty of success running between the tackles, where a middle linebacker should be making plays. Eichenberg isn't.
7. Just because Tommy Eichenberg has been especially bad, it doesn't mean that any of the other LBs has been particularly good. Teradja Mitchell is racking up some tackles (10 vs Minnesota, 11 vs Oregon), but like the DL, he is failing to make impactful plays (only one TFL, no sacks, no turnovers, in two games). Dallas Gant was virtually invisible today (one tackle) after having a fairly active game versus Minnesota. K'Vaughan Pope had 2 tackles and a near interception after receiving no playing time in the opener. When Steele Chambers was a running back, he looked like a linebacker; now that he's a linebacker, he looks like a running back. Of all the linebackers, sophomore Cody Simon (6 tackles) has shown the most promise, but I have yet to see anything from him that would make me forget Ryan Shazier, or even Pete Werner.
8. Here's the main problem with defensive front seven: Smith, Vincent, Jackson, Jean-Baptiste, Mitchell, Gant, and Pope is each in his 4th year in the program, and none of them has shown anything close to the talent necessary to be an impact player at Ohio State. That's seven guys who are just guys despite having three+ years of tutelage from (allegedly) one of the top coaching staffs in CFB and (definitely) one of the top S&C programs in CFB. Did the staff miss on each of these players when they were being recruited? That seems unlikely. Is each of these players an underachiever who doesn't put in the effort? That also seems unlikely. Maybe their collective failure to develop is the result of coaching (technique and/or scheme and/or play calling).
9. The good news on defense is that the defensive backs, especially the cornerbacks, played well again. As mentioned above, Oregon QB Anthony Brown was only 5 for 16 (.313 completion pct) for 77 yards when throwing to his wide receivers, which means that the Buckeye corners did their jobs. True freshman Denzel Burke looks like the Next Big Thing (i.e. the next first round draft pick) and Cameron Brown (3 tackles, 3 PBUs) looked nearly 100 percent after suffering an Achilles in 2020 and missing the opener. Burke, Brown, and some combination of Sevyn Banks, Ryans Watts, Lejond Cavazos, etc. seems like a winning formula going forward at cornerback.
10. The situation at safety, on the other hand, has still not stabilized. Fourth-year player Josh Proctor is clearly the best option, but he got carted off the field in the second half and did not return. Lathan Ransom (tackle, 2 PBUs) continues to show promise after a solid rookie campaign in 2020. Ronnie Hickman (10 tackles) is very active but (like the rest of the defense) hasn't made many impactful plays (no TFL, no sacks, no PBUs, no turnovers in 2 games). Bryson Shaw looks like a smaller version of Tommy Eichenberg.
11. Now on to the offense.... The Buckeyes had 612 total yards, but many of them were "empty calories" as the team managed to score only 28 points. Part of the problem was three failed fourth-down conversions in Oregon territory (one at the 8-yard line), but quarterback C.J. Stroud also killed two promising drives in the fourth quarter with bad throws and/or bad decisions. Yes, Stroud is a freshman, but you simply can't throw 2-yard passes on 3rd-and-20 and wildly fling the ball on scrambles when you have an easy ten yards of turf in front of you. Stroud completed 35 of 54 passes (.648 completion pct) for a total of 484 yards (second best single-game total in Ohio State history), but with the game on the line (last seven minutes) he was 4 of 8 for 45 yards, 2 sacks for minus 20 yards, and an interception: three drives with 25 yards of total offense and a turnover is not going to get the job done anytime, especially not in crunch time.
12. Stroud also made another questionable play at the end of the first half. With time for one final play from the Oregon 35-yard line, Stroud failed to throw the ball into (or at least close to) the end zone, instead throwing an outlet pass to Miyan Williams that came up 18 yards short of pay dirt.
13. Will Stroud get better? Well, he'd better get better, because Ohio State has two other QBs who are equally (or more) talented, and I doubt very much if Ryan Day is going to ride or die with Stroud when Kyle McCord and Quinn Ewers are looking either for playing time now or the quickest path to the transfer portal.
14. When your QB throws for nearly 500 yards, the wide receivers are going to be the primary beneficiaries of his largesse. In fact, Chris Olave (12 receptions, 126 yards), Garrett Wilson (8 receptions, 117 yards, TD), and Jaxon Smith-Njigba (7 receptions, 145 yards, 2 TDs) each had over 100 receiving yards, the first time that three Buckeye receivers have eclipsed the 100-yard mark in a single game. Even though Olave had (another) great game, he dropped perhaps Stroud's best pass of the game, an over-the-shoulder throw down the left sideline in the second quarter with the Buckeyes trailing 14 to 7. Although Stroud's pass was perhaps half a foot too long, Olave got both hands on the football, and the best WR in CFB has to make that catch. If Olave does so, then the Buckeyes are 1st-and-goal from the Oregon 4-yard line with an excellent chance to tie the game and take momentum. After the drop, the offense stalled out at the Oregon 39-yard line, failed to convert 4th-and-2, and that was pretty much ballgame, as things transpired. In a game of inches, your All American WR has to turn a 6-inch overthrow into a 40-yard gain, otherwise you'll end up losing to an inferior opponent.
15. TE Jeremy Ruckert had 3 receptions for 36 yards, but dropped a TD pass in the 3rd quarter on a drive that stalled at the Oregon 8-yard line and resulted in no points. TE Cade Stover had one target, a drop in 3rd-and-11 that killed a drive in Oregon territory early in the game. Not a good showing from a position group that thinks it needs to see more action in the passing game.
16. The running back rotation was severely truncated this week, with Miyan Williams (14 carries, 77 yards, 5.5 average, no TDs; 3 receptions, 38 yards) and TreVeyon Henderson (12 carries, 54 yards, 4.5 average, TD; 1 reception, 12 yards) getting all of the carries. Neither back looked great, in part because the Ohio State braintrust seemed intent on running into the middle of the Oregon defense without the benefit of any constraint plays to keep the Ducks honest. In years past, especially during the J.T. Barrett Era, those constraint plays consisted of read-option with the QB keeping the ball if the defense over-committed to the inside run. It seems that Ryan Day isn't calling any read-options for Stroud - not necessarily a bad idea considering the injury factor, even though Stroud (unlike, say, Dwayne Haskins) does have the ability to make plays with his legs. But if read-option is off the table, then the Buckeyes need to come up with something else that will open up the inside run (or conversely make plays off the inside run) - play action, jet sweeps, rolls outs, something that will keep the defense honest and prevent them from run blitzing on every obvious run down.
17. The offensive line played relatively well, generally speaking, as you would expect from a 612-yard offensive outburst. However, the line did have three notable penalties, two false starts from RT Dawand Jones, and and (alleged) holding call on LG Thayer Munford. While 3 penalties for 20 yards seems like no big deal, two of the penalties helped to kill drives and kept points off the board. Jones's second false start occurred with Ohio State 1st-and-10 at Oregon's 16-yard line down 28-14 in the third quarter. After a pair of incompletions, Stroud hit Olave for 13 yards on 3rd-and-15. Without the penalty, it's a first down. With the penalty, it's 4th-and-2, and the Buckeyes failed to convert. Munford's (alleged) hold came on a 3rd-and-10 play with less than seven minutes left in the game, Ohio State down seven, on a play where Stroud scrambled for the first down. After the penalty, the Buckeyes failed to convert 3rd-and-20 and had to punt the ball away. In a game of inches, 15 yards is a pretty big deal, especially when it's in the fourth quarter and you're down a score.
18. Speaking of penalties, Oregon had a textbook targeting (spearing a defenseless receiver in the back) that was not called. The penalty, if called, would've given Ohio State a conversion on the aforementioned 3rd-and-20 play, but apparently none of the officials on the field nor in the replay booth happened to see one of the more egregious targets of recent years. Now, even with the penalty called Ohio State might not have scored to tie the game, and might not have won the game even if they had tied the score, but if targeting is going to be in the rulebook, then it simply has to be called when it's so blatant.
19. Jesse Mirco had three punts for 130 yards (43.3 average) with two downed at the 1-yard line. Of course, the Ohio State defense allowed Oregon to go on a 10-play, 99-yard TD drive after the first such punt, which (if nothing else) was the defense's unforgivable sin, and stoked the fans' anger for the remainder of the game (and well into the postgame).
20. There have been the inevitable comparisons to the 2014 Virginia Tech game (also at home, also in Week 2), and many of those comparisons seem valid - in both games, Ohio State looked unprepared, disorganized, outcoached, and out-efforted. The good news is that this 2021 Oregon team seems considerably better than that 2014 Virginia Tech team. The bad news is that this 2021 Ohio State team seems considerably worse that 2014 Ohio State team. Of course, there's a long way to go to the end of the season, and the Buckeyes will have plenty of opportunity to work things out, but after four straight seasons of owning the Big Ten, 2021 looks like it might be the year when some conference foes get some long-awaited revenge.
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