Gene Ross
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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Ohio State’s 35-16 win over Rutgers
Gene Ross 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 Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The Buckeyes trailed at the half, but pulled away from the Scarlet Knights to move to 9-0.
Ohio State played an ugly first half of football, trailing at halftime 9-7, but made up for it with a strong second half as they defeated Rutgers, 35-16. The Buckeyes outscored the Scarlet Knights 28-7 in the final two quarters, including a long defensive touchdown and two receiving TDs by Marvin Harrison Jr. to put the game away. TreVeyon Henderson was excellent once again, while the defense continued its bend-don’t-break style despite letting up more on the ground that Jim Knowles probably would like. At the end of the day, Ohio State is 9-0, and simply in the ‘survive and advance’ portion of the schedule as it prepares for Nov. 25.
Here is the good, the bad and the ugly from Ohio State’s win over Rutgers.
TreVeyon Henderson
After missing three games with an injury, TreVeyon Henderson has spent the last two weeks making up for lost time. Recording 207 yards of total offense against Wisconsin last week, Henderson matched it against Rutgers with 208 total yards on 128 yards rushing and 80 yards receiving. The talented dual-threat back put Ohio State up two scores late in the third quarter with a nine-yard TD run, and made a huge play on third-and-9 to start the fourth quarter when he turned a short route over the middle into 65 yards to move the chains and set up a Marvin Harrison Jr. touchdown shortly thereafter. Henderson has been the straw that stirs the drink for the Ohio State offense over the past two games.
Second-Half Kyle McCord
We’ll get to his first half in a bit, but as has been the case basically all year for Kyle McCord, he was excellent in the second half. McCord completed seven of his 10 pass attempts in the latter two quarters for 109 yards and two touchdowns. Ryan Day’s offense did not require him to do a bunch with Henderson cooking on the ground, but McCord hit on all the throws he needed to and kept the ball out of harms way for the entirety of the half. With help from improved quarterback play, the Buckeyes converted 6-of-7 third down attempts in the third and fourth quarters while outscoring the Scarlet Knights 28-7 in the process.
First-Half Kyle McCord
The numbers for McCord in the first half don’t jump off the page as being all that bad: 12-of-16 passing for 80 yards with a touchdown and a interception. However, it has become an all-too-common theme that Ohio State’s starting quarterback has a tough time getting it going through the game’s first two quarters. Many of the yards McCord picked up in the first half came on short check downs, as five yards per attempt isn’t exactly what you want to see. He seems to miss on too many open receivers early in games, and the interception was a bad decision on top of an underthrown ball. McCord has made up for it with big second halves, but Ohio State cannot afford to put themselves too far behind the eight ball early against better teams — namely Michigan.
Run Defense
Jim Knowles’ defense has been lights out this season. Through nine games, the Silver Bullets are still yet to allow more than 17 points in a game. Even with multiple starting players out in the secondary, the Buckeyes were largely strong through the air, holding Rutgers QB Gavin Wimsatt to just 10-of-25 passing for 129 yards and a TD while also recording a pick-six. However, they were uncharacteristically poor in defending the run, allowing Kyle Monangai was able to go off for 159 yards rushing on 24 carries — 6.6 yards per carry. Rutgers ran for 232 yards on Saturday, which is the most the Buckeyes have allowed on the ground in a game this year.
The silver lining here is that even though Ohio State bent more than they usually do, they still did not break for the vast majority of the contest. Despite Rutgers having six trips to the red zone, they only came away with 16 points total on those trips — one touchdown, three field goals, and two turnovers. You’ll take holding a team to 2.67 points per red zone trip any day, even if you’d like them to get less opportunities overall.
Parker Fleming
Every week I think it can’t possibly get worse for the $500K albatross currently coaching Ohio State’s special teams, but Parker Fleming continues to outdo himself. The waste of a full-time coaching spot once again saw his unit have a massive blunder, this time a botched fake punt that resulted in Rutgers taking over at the Buckeyes’ 32-yard line. Luckily Jim Knowles’ defense made a goal line stand at the 4-yard line to hold the Scarlet Knights to a field goal, but the longer Fleming’s reign of terror is allowed to continue the more and more likely it becomes that a special teams mistake will cost Ohio State a game.
Injuries
Injuries are really starting to pile up for Ohio State, especially on defense. The Buckeyes came into the day without Lathan Ransom, and surprisingly without Denzel Burke, who returned from injury last game against Wisconsin but was once again out on Saturday. They then went on to lose Josh Proctor, who left the game after a hard hit in the second half, and Tommy Eichenberg went to the locker room late in the contest. With Ransom, Burke and Proctor all on the shelf, the Buckeyes were without two starting safeties and their top cover corner. It is unclear how much time, if any, those guys will miss moving forward, but these are players you cannot afford to be missing come Nov. 25.
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Gene Ross 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 Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The Buckeyes trailed at the half, but pulled away from the Scarlet Knights to move to 9-0.
Ohio State played an ugly first half of football, trailing at halftime 9-7, but made up for it with a strong second half as they defeated Rutgers, 35-16. The Buckeyes outscored the Scarlet Knights 28-7 in the final two quarters, including a long defensive touchdown and two receiving TDs by Marvin Harrison Jr. to put the game away. TreVeyon Henderson was excellent once again, while the defense continued its bend-don’t-break style despite letting up more on the ground that Jim Knowles probably would like. At the end of the day, Ohio State is 9-0, and simply in the ‘survive and advance’ portion of the schedule as it prepares for Nov. 25.
Here is the good, the bad and the ugly from Ohio State’s win over Rutgers.
The Good
TreVeyon Henderson
After missing three games with an injury, TreVeyon Henderson has spent the last two weeks making up for lost time. Recording 207 yards of total offense against Wisconsin last week, Henderson matched it against Rutgers with 208 total yards on 128 yards rushing and 80 yards receiving. The talented dual-threat back put Ohio State up two scores late in the third quarter with a nine-yard TD run, and made a huge play on third-and-9 to start the fourth quarter when he turned a short route over the middle into 65 yards to move the chains and set up a Marvin Harrison Jr. touchdown shortly thereafter. Henderson has been the straw that stirs the drink for the Ohio State offense over the past two games.
Second-Half Kyle McCord
We’ll get to his first half in a bit, but as has been the case basically all year for Kyle McCord, he was excellent in the second half. McCord completed seven of his 10 pass attempts in the latter two quarters for 109 yards and two touchdowns. Ryan Day’s offense did not require him to do a bunch with Henderson cooking on the ground, but McCord hit on all the throws he needed to and kept the ball out of harms way for the entirety of the half. With help from improved quarterback play, the Buckeyes converted 6-of-7 third down attempts in the third and fourth quarters while outscoring the Scarlet Knights 28-7 in the process.
The Bad
First-Half Kyle McCord
The numbers for McCord in the first half don’t jump off the page as being all that bad: 12-of-16 passing for 80 yards with a touchdown and a interception. However, it has become an all-too-common theme that Ohio State’s starting quarterback has a tough time getting it going through the game’s first two quarters. Many of the yards McCord picked up in the first half came on short check downs, as five yards per attempt isn’t exactly what you want to see. He seems to miss on too many open receivers early in games, and the interception was a bad decision on top of an underthrown ball. McCord has made up for it with big second halves, but Ohio State cannot afford to put themselves too far behind the eight ball early against better teams — namely Michigan.
Run Defense
Jim Knowles’ defense has been lights out this season. Through nine games, the Silver Bullets are still yet to allow more than 17 points in a game. Even with multiple starting players out in the secondary, the Buckeyes were largely strong through the air, holding Rutgers QB Gavin Wimsatt to just 10-of-25 passing for 129 yards and a TD while also recording a pick-six. However, they were uncharacteristically poor in defending the run, allowing Kyle Monangai was able to go off for 159 yards rushing on 24 carries — 6.6 yards per carry. Rutgers ran for 232 yards on Saturday, which is the most the Buckeyes have allowed on the ground in a game this year.
The silver lining here is that even though Ohio State bent more than they usually do, they still did not break for the vast majority of the contest. Despite Rutgers having six trips to the red zone, they only came away with 16 points total on those trips — one touchdown, three field goals, and two turnovers. You’ll take holding a team to 2.67 points per red zone trip any day, even if you’d like them to get less opportunities overall.
The Ugly
Parker Fleming
Every week I think it can’t possibly get worse for the $500K albatross currently coaching Ohio State’s special teams, but Parker Fleming continues to outdo himself. The waste of a full-time coaching spot once again saw his unit have a massive blunder, this time a botched fake punt that resulted in Rutgers taking over at the Buckeyes’ 32-yard line. Luckily Jim Knowles’ defense made a goal line stand at the 4-yard line to hold the Scarlet Knights to a field goal, but the longer Fleming’s reign of terror is allowed to continue the more and more likely it becomes that a special teams mistake will cost Ohio State a game.
Injuries
Injuries are really starting to pile up for Ohio State, especially on defense. The Buckeyes came into the day without Lathan Ransom, and surprisingly without Denzel Burke, who returned from injury last game against Wisconsin but was once again out on Saturday. They then went on to lose Josh Proctor, who left the game after a hard hit in the second half, and Tommy Eichenberg went to the locker room late in the contest. With Ransom, Burke and Proctor all on the shelf, the Buckeyes were without two starting safeties and their top cover corner. It is unclear how much time, if any, those guys will miss moving forward, but these are players you cannot afford to be missing come Nov. 25.
Continue reading...