Unsatisfied yet undefeated, Ohio State moves on.
The Buckeyes rolled over Rutgers on Saturday in the first half, heading into the locker room with a 35-3 lead behind four second-quarter touchdowns, but they couldn’t fully put Greg Schiano’s squad away. The starters unexpectedly played the vast majority of the snaps in order for Ohio State to secure a 49-27 win, improving its record to 3-0.
Let’s jump in and begin this week’s stock report.
Stock Up
Justin Fields’ Heisman Trophy Candidacy
As long as he can stay healthy and Ohio State plays all its remaining games, the Heisman Trophy should be Justin Fields’ to lose. He's playing at an obscene level that, quite frankly, has never seen before from a quarterback in his team's uniform. If he can somehow stay at this level, the "best Ohio State quarterback of all-time" conversation will be replaced by the "best Ohio State player of all-time" conversation at some point in the next few months.
So far, Fields has completed 86.7 percent of his passes for 908 yards with 11 touchdowns and zero turnovers. He's averaging 10.9 yards per passing attempt and has thrown only 11 incompletions. Twice, including on Saturday, he has scored rushing touchdowns.
Much of the offseason was spent wondering whether Fields would actually be a better player given his 41-to-3 touchdown-to-interception ratio as a first-time starter in 2019. It took less than three games for him to answer that question.
The Linebackers
For as many questions as people have about Ohio State's defense, not many are asking about the linebackers, and for good reason. Al Washington's veteran trio of starters – Pete Werner, Tuf Borland and Baron Browning – has played at a consistently high level, and Justin Hilliard returned with a forced fumble and recovery this weekend.
Ahead of the season, Ryan Day said he thought the linebackers would be the defense's strength, and so far they've proven him correct.
Trick Plays
At what point did you realize, “Wait a second: Greg Schiano’s entire strategy revolves around calling as many trick plays as humanly possible?” That revelation probably came around the time when you lost track of how many he had dialed up.
Yet, for all the absurdity, it worked.
RUTGERS IS PULLING OUT ALL THE STOPS.
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) November 8, 2020
Trick play punt return TD pic.twitter.com/OvMALS4zx7
BIG MAN TD FOR RUTGERS pic.twitter.com/8ogcCz1oKh
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) November 8, 2020
In a lifeless stadium on an otherwise quiet Columbus night, Rutgers provided all the energy it needed to outscore the Buckeyes, 24-14, in the second half. No, the Scarlet Knights never actually seemed to put Ohio State in danger of completing a come-from-behind victory after facing a 32-point halftime deficit. But behind more than a little trickery, they did what they could to stay within shouting distance, and that’s more than Rutgers could have said in years past.
Nicholas Petit-Frere and Thayer Munford
Is three games still a small sample size or can we start calling them studs yet? It's probably too early, but offensive tackles Nicholas Petit-Frere and Thayer Munford are trending in that direction.
While the interior of the offensive line has had its struggles, they've each put forth three outstanding performances in a row.
Petit-Frere, a first-year starter, has looked like the player who once committed to Ohio State as the top offensive lineman in his class. He has showcased feet that Branden Bowen once said were the best he's ever seen, along with more power than expected as a run blocker – as evidenced by him throwing somebody to the ground out of bounds on Saturday. Munford, in his third year as the starting left tackle, is quietly performing at a level higher than ever before. As the blind-side protector, he has given Fields plenty of time to work in the pocket.
Superstardom for Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave
We've gotten to the point where there's not much left to say about this duo.
Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave? Still really good. Still making plays. Still catching touchdowns.
Wilson now has three 100-yard receiving games in a row, and Olave has brought in four touchdowns through three games.
Justin Fields to Chris Olave is a cheat code. pic.twitter.com/5AZGEool9D
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) November 8, 2020
Stock Down
Josh Myers and Harry Miller
The expectations, admittedly, were sky-high. Unfairly high.
Center Josh Myers, in his second year as a starter, was thought of as a Rimington Trophy candidate who might prove himself as the nation's best center. Left guard Harry Miller, a former five-star recruit who'd been praised constantly by teammates and coaches, was viewed by many as close to a sure thing. So far, neither has performed at the level expected of them and their communication – especially in pass protection – has led to several breakdowns, including a couple of sacks. Myers hasn't been the dominant force some imagined in the middle, and Miller's trio of penalties in the first half on Saturday showed how far he has to go.
Ohio State needs better play out of them going forward, especially when factoring in a running game not hitting on all cylinders.
Trey Sermon
Day has built this Ohio State team around Fields, Olave and Wilson. They're the core of what the Buckeyes do.
But they also need a good enough rushing attack to keep defenses at bay. Trey Sermon, along with Master Teague, was supposed to be someone Ohio State could count on to do just that. Instead, he's averaging 4.8 yards per carry through three games and has appeared tentative and indecisive with the ball in his hands.
It wouldn't be a surprise to see Teague get an even larger share of touches out of the backfield soon.
The Secondary
Marcus Hooker has missed too many tackles. Shaun Wade got beat for a touchdown. Tyreke Johnson looked out of sorts.
The defensive backfield hasn't been tested by any big-time quarterback yet, so it's hard to get a handle on how it'll look when facing a top-line pass game. But it has already shown signs that its tackling generally needs improvement. Does that stem from a weird offseason due to COVID-19? Perhaps. Either way, it needs to get fixed.
Jim Harbaugh
It’s over. Right? It has to be over.
Michigan moved to 1-2 this season with a 38-21 loss to Indiana, and its schedule doesn't exactly get a whole lot easier. Here's what it looks like.
- Nov. 14: No. 13 Wisconsin
- Nov. 21: at Rutgers
- Nov. 28: Penn State
- Dec. 5: Maryland
- Dec. 12: at No. 3 Ohio State
If things spiral, the Wolverines could be looking at a .500 record – or worse. To the disappointment of many in Columbus, the end of the Jim Harbaugh era nears.
"The feeling among the fan base is, 'If [he] can't do it, then who can?'"
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) November 7, 2020
Jim Harbaugh was hailed to be the savior of Michigan football, and while they've improved in some areas, they're still not where they want to be. pic.twitter.com/DTXj2N7QBI
The Second-Best Team In The Big Ten
Nothing in this conference makes sense. Don't even try to understand what's happening. The transitive property is useless. The teams expected to compete at the top of the Big Ten – other than Ohio State – have faltered. Indiana, Northwestern, Purdue and Wisconsin are the only three other unbeaten teams.
Ahead of this season, most people thought Big Ten's second-best team would be Penn State or Michigan, per usual. Some pointed to Wisconsin or Minnesota out of the West Division. Now, after seeing three weeks of games, who's the answer? Wisconsin? Indiana? Northwestern? In recent years, that answer has never been less clear.
Penn State
The last time Penn State started a season with a 0-3 record, Justin Fields was 2 years old. About a decade and a half later, he committed to play for James Franklin in Happy Valley, but a flip to Georgia and subsequent transfer to Ohio State means he instead accounted for one of the Nittany Lions' three losses.
For the majority of Franklin's tenure, Penn State has been the Big Ten team that's given Ohio State the most trouble. Going forward, will the Nittany Lions still hold that title?
