Circling the wagons following a disappointing loss to Oklahoma, Urban Meyer's squad had little trouble in dispatching the Army Black Knights, 38-7, yesterday in a sun-splashed Ohio Stadium.
Able to play despite a blitzkrieg of body shots throughout the week from arm-chair quarterbacks, J.T. Barrett piled up 302 total yards and three touchdowns, breaking Drew Brees' Big Ten touchdown record in the process.
An inferior opponent to be sure, Army's one-dimensional offense moved the ball a few times but mustered only one scoring drive in nine possessions against a Buckeye defense still looking for consistency in the back seven.
The win moves Ohio State to 2-1 on the young season and sets up a date with UNLV next Saturday at high noon in the Shoe.
Before we pretend to be excited about taking on the Rebels, here are Five Things from Ohio State's rout of the Black Knights.
BARRETT FINDS FLOW THANKS TO R-P-O
Kevin Wilson fell on the sword last Wednesday saying he was to blame for Ohio State's offensive woes against Indiana and Oklahoma, basically noting he failed to establish a rhythm and put his players, Barrett specifically, in the best position to succeed.
Obviously realizing one of Barrett's biggest strengths is making the correct read on run-pass option plays, Wilson relied heavily on such calls and Barrett responded in spades.
Barrett repeatedly made the right decision on run calls helping both he and Dobbins find space and was also excellent in leading receivers on the quick, wide throws off run fakes, helping spring decent yards after catch.
With Barrett showing improved confidence – and again, yes this was Army – he hit on 85% of the short throws, with a high percentage of those coming on RPOs.
The deeper stuff was a different story – more on that in a bit – but with Barrett at the controls the offense scored on six of eight possessions with five touchdowns, chewing up 586 yards.
THE ALBINO RHINO
Affectionately known to his teammates (or at least one) as the Albino Rhino, reserve middle linebacker Tuf Borland came off the bench in place of an injured Chris Worley and led the Buckeyes with 12 tackles while adding a TFL and a quarterback hurry.
Naturally, playing the mike spot against a run heavy team, opportunities were endless but to his credit, Borland consistently carried out his assignment as Worley looked on with a sprained foot.
Who knows if Borland can defend the pass but considering what we've seen from the starting linebackers in coverage, the fact I don't think Dante Booker played a snap today and Worley is dinged, the redshirt freshman likely earned himself some playing time next weekend.
Even if he fades back into the sidelines, hats off to the Albino Rhino for making the most of his opportunity in a spirited effort.
DEUCE IS LOOSE
As a guy in the preseason who felt like Mike Weber could make a run at 1,400 yards, I was hesitant to put the injured back with a 1,000-yard season under his belt out to pasture.
I took that stance because (1) I felt like people were falling in love with something they hadn't even seen with their own eyes yet, (2) it's not always wise to heap a ton of praise and therefore pressure on a true freshman, and (3) I hate to see any athlete lose a starting spot due to injury.
That said, as it turns out, Weber didn't lose his starting spot due to injury. He lost it because J.K. Dobbins is far and away the best running back on the team.
Dobbins added to his freshman resume yesterday with 172 rushing yards on 13.2 yards per carry, while scoring two touchdowns and playing a crucial role in another scoring drive.
Opening the game with possession, Ohio State marched 75 yards in eight plays to take a quick 7-0 lead. Dobbins tallied 45 of those yards including a 36-yard jaunt putting OSU in the red zone.
Dobbins would cap the following possession with a 2-yard plunge to make it 14-0 but saved his best work for Ohio State's first possession of the second half. Leading 17-7, Dobbins took a 1st down carry 22 yards and followed that up with a 52-yard sprint to paydirt (I see you with that seal, Jamarco) making it 24-7, good guys.
Through three games, Dobbins is averaging 141.7 rush yards per game on 7.7 per carry. Looking at the raw totals, he's gained 426 yards and lost one, for a net of 425.
SAFETY IN NUMBERS
How about senior safety Erick Smith yesterday?
Having battled injuries for most of his career only to battle Jordan Fuller for snaps at safety this season, Smith turned in a career-high nine stops with two pass breakups including two notable plays in which he saved touchdowns.
The fist instance came as fellow safety Damon Webb bit hard on a run fake and was therefore scorched in coverage as Army attempted a rare pass. The pass was even more shocking as it came on 1st down with Kell Walker getting at least three yards past Webb. Just in time, Smith raced over from the opposite side of the field to break up and nearly pick off the Ahmad Bradshaw throw. It should be noted Army went on to score a touchdown but Smith made a hell of an effort.
Later, following a Dobbins touchdown that put the Buckeyes in front 24-7, Smith saved a touchdown on the ensuing kickoff. Initially, things were looking up as the kick landed in the corner at the 1-yard line but quickly went south as Walker sprinted to the opposite side of the field and broke contain. Darting upfield, it looked like Walker would be long gone before Smith fought off a block and had just enough to knock Walker off his balance, stopping what was likely to be a 99-yard kickoff return for six.
On the ensuing drive, Smith nearly picked off Bradshaw on a 1st-and-10 play as he rotated over to help Denzel Ward in coverage.
Overall, it was an outstanding day for a guy who is easy to root for, and looked to have his fair share of struggles against Indiana and Oklahoma.
deep troubles
Though J.T. Barrett and his receivers amassed 270 passing yards and two touchdowns, effectiveness throwing down the field remained an issue.
With the Buckeyes having so much success in the short, quick passing game off RPOs, I counted only six attempts to throw the ball more than 20 yards down the field. The results were, at best, mixed:
- 1H, Poss 2: Barrett badly overshot Parris Campbell who had a couple steps on his defender as he streaked down the field on a deep post route. The play wasn't helped by Isaiah Prince's only major turnstile of the day but the pass was not good.
- 1H, Poss 3: Barrett hit Terry McLaurin in the hands on a go route down the right sideline but solid coverage ensured the pass fell incomplete. In my estimation, Barrett threw a good ball.
- 1H, Poss 3: Three plays later, Barrett threw well over the head of Austin Mack as Mack was leveled by a defensive back. Pass Interference looked to be in play but most likely wasn't called because Barrett's pass was far too high to be caught.
- 1H, Poss 3: On the next snap, Barrett missed badly as he again attempted to connect with Mack on about a 20-yard curl. The pass was thrown far too inside and it didn't appear as though Mack did anything incorrect with his route.
- 2H, Poss 2: Wide open in the middle of the field, Barrett found tight end Marcus Baugh for a 31-yard gain. The pass was thrown behind Baugh who made a solid but not spectacular catch.
- 2H, Poss 2: On the next snap, Barrett hit McLaurin in stride for a 20-yard touchdown down the right side of the field. McLaurin was wide open and Barrett hit him right in the numbers with a crisp and decisive toss.
Overall, Barrett was 2 of 6 on those deeper throws for 51 yards with one of the incompletions still looking like a pretty good throw.
