When the Buckeyes scored on their opening drive of the second half, you might’ve thought they were on the way toward running away from Indiana. Ryan Day admitted as such afterward, too.
That, quite obviously, did not happen. The Hoosiers made it a certified ballgame though they couldn’t overcome the 28-point third-quarter deficit, falling 42-35 and leaving the Buckeyes unbeaten.
To recap the weekend, let’s get into this week’s stock report.
Stock Up
Master Teague
Take your hand away from the panic button. Ohio State officially has a running game.
While Justin Fields struggled to deal with a relentless blitzing attack from the Hoosiers, Teague found his footing. The redshirt sophomore tailback had 26 rushes for a career-high 169 yards and two touchdowns. Perhaps more importantly, he passed the eye test. Yes, of course the offensive line and tight ends helped him out. But he made more people miss and ran through more arm tackles than in the first three games, leading to his best performance as a Buckeye. Teague recorded runs of 10, 19, 32 and 41 yards and only had one carry for negative yardage.
41 yards to the house. Buckeyes needed that. pic.twitter.com/94Z69mDhB6
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) November 21, 2020
Trey Sermon had one of his better games, too, taking nine carries for 60 yards.
The success of Teague – and, to a lesser extent, Sermon – should help open this offense up and take some pressure off of Fields going forward. This was a long-awaited positive for the Buckeyes.
Garrett Wilson
Hey, guess whose stock keeps rising: The same guy who appears in this article every single week.
Wilson continues to make the case to analysts all over the country that he’s one of the best wide receivers in the country and deserves consideration later this year when All-American ballots get casted. The sophomore standout registered his fourth 100-receiving-yard game in a row, which no Buckeye except Cris Carter has ever done before. He had seven receptions for a career-best 169 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
The Buckeyes couldn't have drawn up a better start to the game than a 65-yard pass from Fields to Wilson followed up by the same two players connecting for a 10-yard touchdown the next play. It was a massive deal when they landed Wilson as a five-star wide receiver from Austin, Texas, in the 2019 class, and he’s continually proving why he earned that status.
Jonathon Cooper
Who predicted Cooper would be Ohio State’s most productive defensive end this season? Not too many people.
But so far, the fifth-year senior has been the most reliable defensive end for the Buckeyes, both pressuring quarterbacks and shutting down runs. He earned co-Defensive Player of the Game honors for his performance on Saturday which featured a sack and five hurries.
This is the latest lesson that if somebody’s playing a lot early in their career but maybe not meeting expectations, people shouldn’t give up on that player. There might be a good reason why they’re getting so much playing time. Late-career breakouts are fairly common at Ohio State, and they typically happen with somebody who’s been around and played a lot of snaps before finding their footing as a fourth-year or fifth-year senior. Last year, it was DaVon Hamilton and Damon Arnette, and this year it’s Cooper.
These Veteran Linebackers
Ryan Day’s preseason thought that the strength of the defense would be the linebackers continues to look correct.
Huge stop. pic.twitter.com/D5g2pI17oU
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) November 21, 2020
Pete Werner joined Cooper as the co-Defensive Player of the Game with his eight tackles and forced fumble in the red zone. Baron Browning tied with Werner for the team lead in tackles with eight. Tuf Borland and Justin Hilliard had quiet yet quality performances, combining for four tackles and a pass breakup.
These four are nothing if not reliable.
Tom Allen
This man has something going in Bloomington.
Proud of our fight!! I love this team. pic.twitter.com/K4PHDkPnmv
— Coach Tom Allen (@CoachAllenIU) November 21, 2020
Indiana, based on recruiting rankings, has the second-least-talented roster in the Big Ten yet it might be the second-best team in the conference. How does that happen? By killing it as both a talent evaluator who finds diamonds in the rough and a top-flight developer. Allen has proven himself to have both capabilities, which is what helped Mark Dantonio get Michigan State rolling last decade.
Over the next couple of years, Tier 2 of the Big Ten East might open up for somebody else with Penn State and Michigan both struggling. Can Indiana fill the void? Allen certainly believes that to be the case.
The Basketball Season
Barring any sudden COVID-19 positives, the season starts on Wednesday at an empty Schottenstein Center. Ohio State will play host to Illinois State, kicking off a quartet of games against overmatched non-conference opponents before heading to South Bend, Indiana, to take on Notre Dame.
It’s gone under the radar in Columbus where football is king, but the basketball season is just about back.
Stock Down
Literally The Entire Secondary
Indiana accumulated 490 total yards. Indiana threw for 491 yards. Not great!
Entering the weekend, Ohio State’s secondary was an area to watch closely given the inexperience, utter lack of depth and inability of the first three opponents to attack the Buckeyes through the air. By the end of Saturday’s game, it was a full-blown concern.
Our own Kyle Jones put together a highly recommended film study on what in the world went wrong against Penix and the Hoosiers that Kerry Coombs and his players have to correct. It should help explain some of the issues.
One thing’s clear: Things have to get corrected or else the path to beating the best of the best teams across the country becomes notably more challenging. Ohio State has a great quarterback-centric offense, but it’s not alone.
Options in the defensive backfield
One of the issues in the back end of Ohio State’s defense: Who can Coombs turn to?
He’s relying heavily on four starters – Shaun Wade, Sevyn Banks, Marcus Williamson and Marcus Hooker – and Josh Proctor. The rest of the secondary features redshirt sophomore cornerback Tyreke Johnson and a bevy of redshirt freshmen and true freshmen.
This isn’t a particularly comfortable place for Coombs and Matt Barnes.
PENIX JR UNLOADS
— PFF College (@PFF_College) November 21, 2020
pic.twitter.com/jVnWGZSbUd
Justin Fields’ Perfection
I guess he’s mortal after all.
Fields threw more incompletions on Saturday (12) than he did in the prior three games combined (11). He tossed as many interceptions this weekend (3) as he had thrown in all prior Ohio State games combined.
He’ll have a shot to get back on track in five days when the Buckeyes travel to Illinois. Two things that’ll be interesting to watch: 1) How he bounces back from his worst game as a Buckeye and 2) How the Illini attack him after watching the constant blitzes get to him.
Penn State
Between the Big Ten, SEC, ACC and Big 12, three teams remain winless: Kansas, Vanderbilt and...Penn State.
Oof.
