What a weekend.
Saturday afternoon, Ohio State captured the Big Ten championship by topping Northwestern, and less than 24 hours later it earned a spot in the College Football Playoff. On Jan. 1, the Buckeyes will get another shot at Clemson.
With all of that happening, let's get into this week's Stock Report.
Stock Up
Trey Sermon
Sometimes when a player breaks out, there are a few people who jump out and ask, “What do you have to say for yourselves?” to those who didn't believe in the guy earlier in a given season. You see it all the time in sports, and it happened again on Saturday when Sermon went nuts for a single-game Ohio State record of 331 rushing yards.
If you heard somebody say that, though, just know they're addressing Ryan Day, too. Because even the second-year head coach admitted after the Big Ten title game that he didn't know what to think about Sermon's performance in the first two or three weeks of the season, saying “we really weren’t sure what’s going on.” He was exceedingly average through five games. Even his 10-carry, 112-yard game versus Michigan State seemed to be a bit of a mirage seeing as how 89 of those yards came on two runs.
What Sermon did on Saturday was exceptional, unconscionable and unexpectedly necessary. It was the real deal. Exactly what Ohio State had wanted from him and much, much more when it brought him from Oklahoma to Columbus. And if he didn't come through, the Buckeyes legitimately would've been in danger of losing.
Trey Sermon with the record breaker. What a game. pic.twitter.com/2zLHXHktQl
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) December 19, 2020
Here's how the top of the new single-game Ohio State rushing record book looks:
1. Trey Sermon: 331 yards vs. Northwestern in 2020
2. Eddie George: 314 yards vs. Illinois in 1995
3 (tied). Ezekiel Elliott: 274 yards vs. Indiana in 2015
3 (tied). Keith Byars: 274 yards vs. Illinois in 1984
What a day. What a game.
The Offensive Line Plowing Holes
Sermon deserves a lot of the credit for his 331 yards. The guys up front – including the tight ends – should get their due, too. Northwestern sat back to prevent Justin Fields from going crazy through the air, and the offensive line punished the Wildcats for that.
They're not perfect, but they're seemingly getting better with time.
Those January-March Vibes
Do you remember a pre-COVID-19 world? Oh, how naïve we all were...
For about three months, all anybody in Columbus talked about was Clemson. Clemson, Clemson, Clemson. Initially, I thought that storyline would get played out by the end of spring camp and everybody would get tired of talking about it by the time the start of the season rolled around. I, um, didn't see a pandemic coming.
Between mid-March and the football season actually getting underway, talk of Clemson and Dabo Swinney died down considerably. There were far more important and pertinent things to discuss.
But now that the College Football Playoff has arrived on the doorsteps of the state of Ohio, the hatred for Clemson that once bubbled earlier this year has again come to the forefront. The lead-up to Jan. 1 will, if nothing else, be entertaining, and the game could be even better.
Justin Hilliard
The defensive player of the game this weekend was a sixth-year senior backup linebacker who'd dealt with myriad of injuries in a longer-than-expected career who wasn't supposed to start but did so because Baron Browning sat out. Nine tackles, two tackles for loss, a fumble recovery and an interception. That's absurd.
What a massive, massive play by the sixth-year player. pic.twitter.com/lpgCilTHTq
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) December 19, 2020
The story of what Hilliard has overcome get wilder by the week, it seems. He'll have a real chance to make himself some money in the NFL after this ends if he can find a team willing to take a shot on him despite his injury history.
Julian Fleming
Ohio State did not have Chris Olave available, so...it turned to the No. 1-rated wide receiver prospect in the 2020 recruiting cycle. A nice luxury to have.
Fleming brought in four passes for a team-high 53 yards. Next year once Olave's in the NFL, one would imagine he'll have the inside track to become a starter.
Chris Olave
I'm someone who viewed Garrett Wilson as Ohio State's most important wide receiver due to his versatility, playmaking ability and ball skills. Brian Hartline can – and does – use him everybody. But not having Olave available over the weekend made me reassess my thoughts.
The Buckeyes really could've used him. Both Ryan Day and Justin Fields clearly wanted to attack Northwestern down the field yet couldn't connect with receivers or failed to find openings when they tried that. One of Fields' interceptions was due to Jameson Williams turning upfield on a route Olave has run approximately 4,496 times. That pick just wouldn't have happened if the junior was on the field.
Yes, everybody already should've known Olave is important to this team. But Saturday, it became clearer than ever before.
Zach Hoover
A walk-on from Toledo, Hoover had never punted in a game as a Buckeye. Not until Saturday.
Then, the senior taking the place of Drue Chrisman – who missed the game after testing positive for COVID-19 – took three snaps from Bradley Robinson and made it look easy. He averaged 39.3 yards per boot, pinning Northwestern inside the 20-yard line twice.
Chrisman, in a tweet, made it sound like he'll be back for the playoff. But if not, the Buckeyes have themselves a nice backup option. Or maybe Chris Holtmann will give him a call.
VIDEO: Zach Hoover dunk. Oh my lord. pic.twitter.com/jIronrbD4p
— Jordan Strack (@JordanStrack) December 19, 2015
Stock Down
Justin Fields
Well, that was weird, right?
On Saturday, Fields went 12-for-27 for a career-low completion percentage of 44.4 percent, managing only 114 yards through the air. It was his first game as a Buckeye without a touchdown pass, and to make matters worse he threw two picks. Too often, Fields held the ball to seemingly seek out downfield options instead of taking the yards Northwestern was giving to him underneath. His 12 rushes for 35 yards helped but didn't come close to making up for the lackluster performance as a passer.
To get past Clemson, Ohio State needs a much improved version of Fields.
Offensive Play-Calling
There have been two near-certainties ever since the beginning of Ryan Day's first full season as Ohio State's head coach: Justin Fields would be outstanding and Day's play-calling would set the offense up for success.
For the first time ever in the Day era, neither of those happened.
Fields, as mentioned above, struggled mightily, and Day's calls didn't help him or the Buckeye offense out for the first three quarters. He got cute, relied far too heavily on long-developing passes and took longer than he should have to turn to the run. Sermon gashed Northwestern all day long, yet the Buckeyes trailed until the late third quarter. This was unequivocally Day's worst game as a play-caller.
Harry Miller's Poorly Timed Holding Penalties
While Harry Miller graded out as a champion, he took a touchdown off the board for the second time this season with a holding penalty. And he easily could've been called for a second one later in the game on a Sermon score but the referees didn't blow their whistles.
In the long term, Miller should figure it out. He became a high school valedictorian, five-star recruit and first-time starter as a second-year sophomore for a reason. But this season has had its rough spots. Given the fact that the line of scrimmage is an area the Buckeyes will have a chance to win in the Sugar Bowl, Miller's play in a week and a half will be under the microscope.
Mick Cronin
The man cannot escape the Buckeyes. He's 0-4 all-time versus them and winless against Chris Holtmann.
Photo of Julian Fleming: Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch via Imagn Content Services, LLC
