Purdue 2021
1. Maybe I'm just getting grumpy in my old age, but I've never been so dissatisfied with 59 points and 624 yards of total offense. Of course, my dissatisfaction comes not from the Buckeye offense, but rather from the Buckeye defense that allowed 31 points ... and 481 total yards ... and 28 first downs ... and 6 for 12 on 3rd and 4th downs ... and generally looked like they'd rather be doing something else - maybe anything else - than playing football on this fine autumn day.
Part of the problem is undoubtedly perception. When Ohio State jumped out to a 35-7 lead in the 2nd quarter, it looked like a MACtion blow out was in the works. After Ohio State maintained that same 28-point margin through to the final gun, it felt like we'd been cheated just a little bit, like our team took it easy the rest of the way instead of going for the overkill style points. 35 to 7 should end up being 77 to 17, not 59 to 31. The final kneel downs at the Purdue 6-yard line, with a full 90 seconds left on the clock, solidified those feelings, the dissatisfaction, the frustration, the cheat. A final sweep of the leg, a prison shank, Miyan Williams trucking chumps on his way to pay dirt, that might've been just enough to let out the primal scream of victory. But no, not to be, nice guys take the knee.
2. I understand that Ohio State wants to play arena-style football - score a touchdown very quickly, let your defense give your offense a few minutes to regroup and catch their collective breathes, then score another touchdown. If the defense can make a stop or two, or force a turnover, or hold the other team to the occasional field goal, then it's a win. And if Ohio State's offense plays like they did tonight, it might even be a championship win. I understand that concept, the logic behind it, the strategy, the metagame. But dammit, my emotional side would really like to see this defense shut someone down once in a while.
3. Now on to the specifics. After a couple of so-so games, C.J. Stroud was back to bustin' suckers in bunches like grapes. Stroud was 31 for 38 (.816) for 361 yards, 5 touchdowns, and nary an interception ... and his numbers would have been even better if the allegedly sure-handed Chris Olave wouldn't have dropped a couple of very catchable balls. And to get the media and the fans off his back, or maybe just for shits and grins, Stroud even kept the ball on a read-option (he lost a yard on the play, but hey, it's not his job to run the ball).
Stroud may or may not be a Heisman contender this year - the Buckeyes' two toughest opponents remain on the schedule, and Sparty and Scummy could be good enough to make Stroud revert to Tulsa/Nebraska form - but if he plays like he did today then he will certainly deserve an invite to NYC. Especially because no one else in FBS has distinguished himself enough to claim the pole position for that media hype award.
4. TreVeyon Henderson had 13 carries for (gasp!) 98 yards (7.5 average) and a pair of touchdowns. Henderson was generally bottled up between the tackles, but he did break off a 57-yard touchdown run that gave the Buckeyes a quick 21 to 7 first quarter lead. At this point, Henderson is a guy who's going to rack up a bunch of 3- to 5-yard carries, then bust one for 20+ (or maybe even 50+). Through just ten games, Henderson already has five touchdowns of 44 yards or more. He's the lightning.
5. And Miyan Williams is the thunder. Williams isn't going to make people miss (at least not for very long), but he will make people pay for getting in his way. Against Purdue, Williams had 14 carries for 117 yards (8.4 average), and it seemed like every one of his rushes went for 5 or 10 yards and caused 5 or 10 bruises.
6. What can I say about the Buckeye wide receivers? That they're pretty good? Well, that's a start at any rate. Garrett Wilson is the best WR on the team, period. He's bigger than Chris Olave, and he has better hands and much better body control (and he doesn't have a history of concussions). If I'm an NFL general manager, I'm taking Wilson over Olave, no doubts in my mind. Against Purdue, Wilson had 10 receptions for 126 yards and 3 touchdowns, and he added a fourth score on a 51-yard jet sweep. He's THE MAN.
All of which isn't at all a knock on Chris Olave, who is a great (if somewhat limited) player in his own right. Olave had 9 receptions for 85 yards and a touchdown (the 33rd of his Buckeye career, one behind David Boston for the Ohio State record), and he was screwed out of a 49-yard touchdown thanks to a phantom holding call on Jeremy Ruckert. As mentioned above, Olave also had a pair of drops, which has been a recurring theme for him this season.
So Wilson is THE MAN and Olave is a man, but the future is definitely Jaxon Smith-Njigba. And the future is most definitely NOW. After a record-setting performance against Nebraska last week (15 receptions, 240 yards, TD), JSN continued to pile up the huge numbers against Purdue with 9 receptions for 139 yards and a touchdown. For the season, JSN leads the Buckeyes in receptions (59), receiving yards (1,027) and average per reception (17.4 yards). He's your odds on favorite for the 2022 Biletnikoff Award.
7. After a rough couple of weeks, the Buckeye offensive looked a lot better against Purdue. Stroud seemingly had all day to throw (0 sacks, 0 hurries) and as noted above he used his clean pocket to excellent advantage. The Buckeyes rushed 29 times for 265 yards (including Stroud's LOL read-option keeper, excluding a pair of kneel downs at the end of the game) for an average of over 9 yards per play. They say you win in the trenches. The Buckeye OL won the trenches against a Purdue defensive line that was supposed to be hot stuff.
8. So now on to the defense.... It's times like these when I really hate this "job" of dissecting the Buckeyes after every game. This week (and most weeks, to be honest), I'd rather just ignore the Buckeye defense, pretend it doesn't exist, the monster under my bed, the voices in my head. But no, it's there, it's real, and it's really bad. The Buckeyes have proven that they can sort of make their defense look respectable if they pressure the opposing quarterback (see Penn State, Nebraska, Indiana, Maryland, etc.), but when they don't you get some guy named Aidan O'Connell connecting on 40 of 52 passes (.769) for 390 yards, no interceptions, no sacks. (Sorry to hear about his mother, by the way.).
9. Purdue entered the contest averaging 24.8 points per game, and just 22.8 points per game against Power5 opponents. Not once, not twice, not thrice, but four times this year Purdue has been held to 13 points in a game (Notre Dame, Illinois, Minnesota,Wisconsin). There's no way that an offensively-challenged squad should be able to put up 31 points against a serious playoff contender (and it really should've been 38 but for a dropped pass in the end zone). If Purdue can march up and down the field at will against Ohio State, then the Buckeyes are going to have some interesting games to end the season.
10. In a rare occurrence, a cornerback (Denzel Burke) led the team in tackles (11), primarily because he was chasing All American wide receiver David Bell (11 receptions, 103 yards) all around the field. After a couple of strong showings, defensive end Tyreke Smith re-entered the witness protection program, but Zach Harrison had a nice game with 6 tackles and 2 TFLs, and in what proved to be the most critical play of the game (see below), Jerron Cage recovered another fumble. The linebackers and safeties continue to be weaknesses, especially in zone coverage.
11. With about 5:30 left in the first quarter, Purdue had the ball at the Ohio State 38-yard line down 14-7. At that point, the Purdue offense had no problems moving the ball, and the Boilermakers were still very much in the game. Then Purdue head coach Jeff Brohm dialed up some Harbaughesque trickeration, inserting former starter, now back-up QB Jack "Don't Call Me Jake" Plummer for one play. Plummer immediately proceeded to fumble the ball away to Ohio State, and on the very next play TreVeyon Henderson scored on a 57-yard run to give Ohio State a two touchdown lead. Coaches often find themselves in no-win situations, as they get criticized for taking chances and for playing it safe, but in this case Brohm had absolutely no reason for making the QB switch with his base offense performing just fine. Brohm's ill-fated decision probably caused at least a 10-point swing and took his team right out of the game.
12. It is fitting that Ohio State's two toughest conference games come at the end of the season: home against 9-1 Michigan State, the team that killed the Buckeyes' playoff hopes in 2013 and 2015; and away against 9-1 Michigan, the Buckeyes' traditional (as opposed to actual) rival. Beat two top-6 teams in back-to-back weeks, then win the Big Ten Championship Game, and it's off to the playoffs once again. The Ohio State offense (and special teams) can get the job done. But what about that defense?
1. Maybe I'm just getting grumpy in my old age, but I've never been so dissatisfied with 59 points and 624 yards of total offense. Of course, my dissatisfaction comes not from the Buckeye offense, but rather from the Buckeye defense that allowed 31 points ... and 481 total yards ... and 28 first downs ... and 6 for 12 on 3rd and 4th downs ... and generally looked like they'd rather be doing something else - maybe anything else - than playing football on this fine autumn day.
Part of the problem is undoubtedly perception. When Ohio State jumped out to a 35-7 lead in the 2nd quarter, it looked like a MACtion blow out was in the works. After Ohio State maintained that same 28-point margin through to the final gun, it felt like we'd been cheated just a little bit, like our team took it easy the rest of the way instead of going for the overkill style points. 35 to 7 should end up being 77 to 17, not 59 to 31. The final kneel downs at the Purdue 6-yard line, with a full 90 seconds left on the clock, solidified those feelings, the dissatisfaction, the frustration, the cheat. A final sweep of the leg, a prison shank, Miyan Williams trucking chumps on his way to pay dirt, that might've been just enough to let out the primal scream of victory. But no, not to be, nice guys take the knee.
2. I understand that Ohio State wants to play arena-style football - score a touchdown very quickly, let your defense give your offense a few minutes to regroup and catch their collective breathes, then score another touchdown. If the defense can make a stop or two, or force a turnover, or hold the other team to the occasional field goal, then it's a win. And if Ohio State's offense plays like they did tonight, it might even be a championship win. I understand that concept, the logic behind it, the strategy, the metagame. But dammit, my emotional side would really like to see this defense shut someone down once in a while.
3. Now on to the specifics. After a couple of so-so games, C.J. Stroud was back to bustin' suckers in bunches like grapes. Stroud was 31 for 38 (.816) for 361 yards, 5 touchdowns, and nary an interception ... and his numbers would have been even better if the allegedly sure-handed Chris Olave wouldn't have dropped a couple of very catchable balls. And to get the media and the fans off his back, or maybe just for shits and grins, Stroud even kept the ball on a read-option (he lost a yard on the play, but hey, it's not his job to run the ball).
Stroud may or may not be a Heisman contender this year - the Buckeyes' two toughest opponents remain on the schedule, and Sparty and Scummy could be good enough to make Stroud revert to Tulsa/Nebraska form - but if he plays like he did today then he will certainly deserve an invite to NYC. Especially because no one else in FBS has distinguished himself enough to claim the pole position for that media hype award.
4. TreVeyon Henderson had 13 carries for (gasp!) 98 yards (7.5 average) and a pair of touchdowns. Henderson was generally bottled up between the tackles, but he did break off a 57-yard touchdown run that gave the Buckeyes a quick 21 to 7 first quarter lead. At this point, Henderson is a guy who's going to rack up a bunch of 3- to 5-yard carries, then bust one for 20+ (or maybe even 50+). Through just ten games, Henderson already has five touchdowns of 44 yards or more. He's the lightning.
5. And Miyan Williams is the thunder. Williams isn't going to make people miss (at least not for very long), but he will make people pay for getting in his way. Against Purdue, Williams had 14 carries for 117 yards (8.4 average), and it seemed like every one of his rushes went for 5 or 10 yards and caused 5 or 10 bruises.
6. What can I say about the Buckeye wide receivers? That they're pretty good? Well, that's a start at any rate. Garrett Wilson is the best WR on the team, period. He's bigger than Chris Olave, and he has better hands and much better body control (and he doesn't have a history of concussions). If I'm an NFL general manager, I'm taking Wilson over Olave, no doubts in my mind. Against Purdue, Wilson had 10 receptions for 126 yards and 3 touchdowns, and he added a fourth score on a 51-yard jet sweep. He's THE MAN.
All of which isn't at all a knock on Chris Olave, who is a great (if somewhat limited) player in his own right. Olave had 9 receptions for 85 yards and a touchdown (the 33rd of his Buckeye career, one behind David Boston for the Ohio State record), and he was screwed out of a 49-yard touchdown thanks to a phantom holding call on Jeremy Ruckert. As mentioned above, Olave also had a pair of drops, which has been a recurring theme for him this season.
So Wilson is THE MAN and Olave is a man, but the future is definitely Jaxon Smith-Njigba. And the future is most definitely NOW. After a record-setting performance against Nebraska last week (15 receptions, 240 yards, TD), JSN continued to pile up the huge numbers against Purdue with 9 receptions for 139 yards and a touchdown. For the season, JSN leads the Buckeyes in receptions (59), receiving yards (1,027) and average per reception (17.4 yards). He's your odds on favorite for the 2022 Biletnikoff Award.
7. After a rough couple of weeks, the Buckeye offensive looked a lot better against Purdue. Stroud seemingly had all day to throw (0 sacks, 0 hurries) and as noted above he used his clean pocket to excellent advantage. The Buckeyes rushed 29 times for 265 yards (including Stroud's LOL read-option keeper, excluding a pair of kneel downs at the end of the game) for an average of over 9 yards per play. They say you win in the trenches. The Buckeye OL won the trenches against a Purdue defensive line that was supposed to be hot stuff.
8. So now on to the defense.... It's times like these when I really hate this "job" of dissecting the Buckeyes after every game. This week (and most weeks, to be honest), I'd rather just ignore the Buckeye defense, pretend it doesn't exist, the monster under my bed, the voices in my head. But no, it's there, it's real, and it's really bad. The Buckeyes have proven that they can sort of make their defense look respectable if they pressure the opposing quarterback (see Penn State, Nebraska, Indiana, Maryland, etc.), but when they don't you get some guy named Aidan O'Connell connecting on 40 of 52 passes (.769) for 390 yards, no interceptions, no sacks. (Sorry to hear about his mother, by the way.).
9. Purdue entered the contest averaging 24.8 points per game, and just 22.8 points per game against Power5 opponents. Not once, not twice, not thrice, but four times this year Purdue has been held to 13 points in a game (Notre Dame, Illinois, Minnesota,Wisconsin). There's no way that an offensively-challenged squad should be able to put up 31 points against a serious playoff contender (and it really should've been 38 but for a dropped pass in the end zone). If Purdue can march up and down the field at will against Ohio State, then the Buckeyes are going to have some interesting games to end the season.
10. In a rare occurrence, a cornerback (Denzel Burke) led the team in tackles (11), primarily because he was chasing All American wide receiver David Bell (11 receptions, 103 yards) all around the field. After a couple of strong showings, defensive end Tyreke Smith re-entered the witness protection program, but Zach Harrison had a nice game with 6 tackles and 2 TFLs, and in what proved to be the most critical play of the game (see below), Jerron Cage recovered another fumble. The linebackers and safeties continue to be weaknesses, especially in zone coverage.
11. With about 5:30 left in the first quarter, Purdue had the ball at the Ohio State 38-yard line down 14-7. At that point, the Purdue offense had no problems moving the ball, and the Boilermakers were still very much in the game. Then Purdue head coach Jeff Brohm dialed up some Harbaughesque trickeration, inserting former starter, now back-up QB Jack "Don't Call Me Jake" Plummer for one play. Plummer immediately proceeded to fumble the ball away to Ohio State, and on the very next play TreVeyon Henderson scored on a 57-yard run to give Ohio State a two touchdown lead. Coaches often find themselves in no-win situations, as they get criticized for taking chances and for playing it safe, but in this case Brohm had absolutely no reason for making the QB switch with his base offense performing just fine. Brohm's ill-fated decision probably caused at least a 10-point swing and took his team right out of the game.
12. It is fitting that Ohio State's two toughest conference games come at the end of the season: home against 9-1 Michigan State, the team that killed the Buckeyes' playoff hopes in 2013 and 2015; and away against 9-1 Michigan, the Buckeyes' traditional (as opposed to actual) rival. Beat two top-6 teams in back-to-back weeks, then win the Big Ten Championship Game, and it's off to the playoffs once again. The Ohio State offense (and special teams) can get the job done. But what about that defense?
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