Ohio State, fresh off a demoralizing 24-6 loss to Miami (FL) last week that saw them drop out of the Top 25, faced off yesterday against visiting Colorado in the Horseshoe, and were able to come out on top to the tune of 37-17. It was actually 37-10, but Colorado got a late score, and OSU let the clock run out on Colorado's 1 yard line instead of punching it in for another score, a classy move by Luke Fickell indeed.
Offense
- Braxton had a pretty good debut. He showed off his amazing athleticism and agility, and ran for 83 yards on 17 carries. He also took a bunch of hits in the process, he needs to learn to slide lest he end up like Denard Robinson and spend half the game on the sideline with the trainers. In the passing game, he looked raw. You can really tell he has great potential to be an outstanding passer, but he's still just so young and inexperienced. The fade pass to Devin Smith (More on him later) was beautifully thrown and perfectly placed, something you would expect out of a 4th year starter and not a true freshman making his first start. He missed some open guys, but a lot of times when he had an open man, the offensive line would break down and he would have to scramble for his life, or it would get batted down by a defensive lineman. Overall, he has a lot of learning to do, but a very positive debut.
- Jordan Hall. What more can you say? He was dynamite on the ground, in addition to his work in the return game (More on that later). He's the best playmaker on this team right now, and when Boom Herron returns for Nebraska I would not be surprised to see Jordan comprising some sort of Percy Harvin-like role as a slot back.
- Devin Smith is going to be a special player. He just has a knack for getting open and making the big play, and his TD catch on the fade route was fantastic: high pointed it, got the foot down, and came down in bounds. Just a special, special player.
- Offensive line was excellent in the interior ground game, but struggled a bit more than usual with pass protection. Norwell looked overwhelmed at times and I question whether or not he has the feet to play outside at tackle, but Michael Brewster, Jack Mewhort, and Corey Linsley dominated inside and helped pave the way for the 226 yards rushing. Miller ran behind Brewster all game on several occasions, as did Hall and Hyde. Great game on the ground by the offensive line.
- Very disappointed with a lot of the drops at WR and TE. Was also frustrating to see guys just not getting open, and also concerned about Stoneburner's lack of use in the passing game. Was very frustrating at one point to not see Chris Fields understand the hot read check on a blitzing DB, and Braxton threw it where it it needed to be and Fields wasn't looking.
- Brilliant play-call by Jim Bollman on the 35 yard TD from Braxton to Smith. Caught the defense in their overpursuit with the roll to the right, and then hit Smith on the deep post behind the cheating safeties.
Defense
- Again, tackling and pursuit struggles were prominent. I just don't think these linebackers have the speed that we've seen in the past, and that's why Ryan Shazier is getting so much PT as a true freshman because he brings that to the table.
- John Simon is a man-child. He just bullied whoever tried to block him yesterday. Dude is a special football player.
- Jonathan Hankins has freakish agility for a man of 330 pounds. The way he ran down Rodney Stewart and tripped him up on an early screen pass was just amazing.
- Travis Howard has struggled since his return. He got beat for one TD, and then nearly gave up a second one if the WR would've not dropped it.
- Christian Bryant is flat-out, a baller. Kid just makes plays and loves to hit people.
- Ohrian Johnson has really regressed this year, he just has not played well as of late.
- Sweat needs to get more depth in his drops. He was a little too lackadaisical as the game went on, and Colorado's QB dropped the ball in right over him to the TE for a couple of nice gains.
- I was really glad to see that in obvious running situations we did away with running 2 3-tech's on the defensive lines. Got burned by it against Toledo and Miami, and glad to see Heacock adjust and go with the nose/3tech combo or a 1tech/3tech combo.
Special Teams
- Ben Buchanon has had a fantastic season, and that didn't stop on Saturday. 3 punts inside the 20, and he was a key component of helping OSU dominate the field position battle.
- Drew Basil was excellent as well. His kickoffs were deep and high, and that enabled the coverage units to pin them inside the 20 several times, and he also converted all 3 FG's including a 47 yarder. Great progress from where he was at the beginning of the year.
- Jordan Hall. Wow, just wow. Nearly had 2 KR's for TD's on the day, should have had at least one but he got brought down inside the 5 yard line. This kid is just a flat-out playmaker.
Overall, it was a good game from the Bucks and an encouraging one as we head into the tough part of the schedule with Michigan State, Nebraska, Illinois, and Wisconsin comprising our next 4 games. We'll know how good of a team we have when we finish this stretch.
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