Forty-two completions.
Sixty-eight attempts.
That was Indiana’s passing game against the Ohio State defense last Thursday. If you think about it, that’s basically two games of work in one evening for a brand new Buckeye secondary.
Not every member of the secondary is new, of course, as cornerback Denzel Ward and Damon Webb were starters a year ago. For cornerbacks Damon Arnette and Kendall Sheffield, and strong safety Jordan Fuller, however, this was their first real stretch of action, and they got their money’s worth.
Because of the way the Hoosiers attacked the Ohio State corners, Sheffield and Arnette led the Buckeyes in tackles with seven and six, respectively. They gave up some catches, but they were right there to make the tackle when they did. Indiana quarterback Richard Lagow was almost flawless in the first half, fitting footballs into windows that cat burglars wouldn’t even try.
Lagow attacked Ward as well, and he bested him a couple of times, but Ward still knocked five passes down and intercepted a sixth. His six passes defended is two more than anybody else in the country, and more than about 70 other entire teams.
Lagow also found Simmie Cobbs in the end zone for a touchdown with Ward defending him.
“When you play corner, it’s not the five plays you make, it’s the two you don’t make,” said defensive coordinator Greg Schiano. “That’s the position. (Denzel Ward) made a couple great plays, but he has a couple he wished he could have back.”
The Buckeye cornerbacks gave up a large number of receptions against Indiana. They weren’t necessarily out of place, they just weren’t doing enough to dislodge the football from the receiver. Perhaps that is why none of Ohio State’s corners graded out as champions.
Give credit to Lagow for placing the ball well, but the defense still has a job to do.
“The obvious is we have to knock some balls down,” Urban Meyer said. “The one thing about IU, that quarterback is extremely accurate. I said after the game, that’s one of the most accurate games I’ve ever seen a quarterback play. The receivers made a bunch of great catches. We’ve got to knock some more balls away.”
Facing 68 passes in 60 minutes was a crash course in pass defense. It has done nothing but help the Ohio State defense get ready for the best quarterback they will face during the regular season.
Three Oklahoma quarterbacks combined to complete 32-of-36 passes for 496 yards and four touchdowns last week against UTEP. Starter Baker Mayfield went 19-for-20 for 329 yards and three touchdowns. Fourteen different players caught a pass in OU’s 56-7 win.
Even though the Buckeyes faced a gauntlet against Indiana, the quality of business should pick up a bit this week. The good news is that they received a ton of work last week to help get them ready. They also received a little something else, too.
“I mean, it gives our corners some humbling,” Meyer said. “Players, you come here to be great. Our coaches coach here to be great. In some areas we did not play great. To answer your question, I think to beat a team 70-0 right now is not what we need. A lot of guys played 90-plus plays. I’m glad we played them on a Thursday now because now they gave us a couple extra days to get healed up.”
The untested Ohio State secondary got enough work against Indiana that walking into a game against Oklahoma’s passing attack won’t be foreign to them. They have already faced adversity. Things will not go perfectly and they will see some things that the Sooners haven’t yet shown. That’s just the way things go.
Fortunately for the Buckeyes, they have the talent to compete, and now they know they have the mentality to overcome as well.
This game is going to be very tough on our defense. I don’t think they are ready for the TEs, WRs, RBs, and a shifty and very accurate QB. Oh and he will have time because of the OL. On the other hand, JT has plateaued for a couple of years now and the youth will hurt. I expect us to lose by double digits and it will be one of 3 losses.
A lot can be said for reps where you don’t have time to think, but all else being equal, Oklahoma’s relatively slower pace will help the Buckeye secondary.
I rewatched the Indiana game 3 times. Th first time was the regular TV version. The next 2 times were via ESPN skycan. The Hoosiers rarely had anyone open by more than a yard. Lagow and the Hoosier receivers just made some damned amazing plays I know that Coombs teaches the DB’s NOT to look back for the football but to play the receivers eyes. Almost always the DB’s guessed right. Laser accuracy and tremendous hands in the first half was off the charts good for the Hoosiers. On the completions we’re talking about a matter of a couple inches between a catch or deflection.
Had Lagow gotten the kind of separation the Buckeye receivers were getting he likely would have completed 55 – 60 of his passes with the way he was throwing the ball..
Whether by skill or luck, the Hoosier passing game in the first half was as good as anything I’ve seen in a very long time. It had to be because the coverages by the Buckeye secondary was just tight throughout the game. One of the things that helped the Hoosier passing game was Lagows height and 1 read and pass game. Defensive linemen come out low to get underneath the power of the offensive linemen. That allowed all 6’6 inches of Lagows height to give him nice clean delivery paths. When Lagow had to hold the ball more than 2 seconds his accuracy and ball placement changed because the defensive line was now upright. Jayln Holmes is a really smart defensive lineman. Any time he didn’t get a push to collapse the pocket his arms were up and it caused problems for Indiana.
Baker Mayfield isn’t as tall (5 – 6 inches shorter than Lagow) and it will change the dynamics of the Buckeye pass rush. The windows Lagow had open because of his height aren’t going to be there in the same way for Mayfield. That will only help the Buckeye secondary because it will force Mayfield to put more arc on his delivery. The velocity of ball to receiver should be enough to make similar coverages the Buckeyes had against Indiana that were complete, turn into deflections and maybe ints.
It was a great learning experience for the Buckeye DB’s. On paper it looked like the secondary struggled but, they were actually playing good defense. Hats off and thanks TO Indiana for exceptional execution in the first half last Thursday night. It should serve the secondary well going against Oklahoma.
Yep. Gonna be an awfully tough ask to have anybody be as accurate as Lagow was, and then to do it for 4 quarters just isn’t going to happen. Unless it’s 2003 Phillip Rivers.
I remember that game. Rivers did well but he and McClendon, Cotchery and Williams came up short. If I remember right Rivers threw the ball more than 50 times in that game. It was a lot back then. What he had Lagow doesn’t have. He’s hard nosed in the face of pressure and just made plays even with Will Smith constantly breathing down his neck.
Good analysis, James, even with the veiled swipe at J.T.! 😉 I’m in total agreement that Indiana’s 1st-half passing was out of the mind good. I don’t remember seeing a Buckeye corner really beaten but perhaps once or twice and yet the completions kept coming because of great placement and just as often the placement WASN’T perfect but those receivers fought it off like desperate men. Hard to keep that up for 4 quarters and add in some good halftime adjustments and the Buckeyes did a great job.
Hats off to Indiana, who WILL surprise some B1G teams this year.
I didn’t take a swipe at JT??? JT is a fine RO quarterback. I saw a post from a guy who thinks he’s the best option QB in the country. He’s right in my way of thinking. Another thing he pointed out was JT is good in the short passing game, just not a top notch intermediate and deep passer. MY opinion is that he lacks good vision down the field and pass velocity. Both of those things limit the offense. Just because I have some negative things I think I see in JT’s quarterbacking skills doesn’t mean that I don’t like him under the center for the Buckeyes. I do. There’s no one better on the roster for delivering what Coach Meyer wants out of the offense. I still think at some point a good defense is going to take away the short game and much of the option runs. I think the Buckeyes struggle to come away from those games with a win. That still doesn’t say that I don’t appreciate JT Barrett. I do. He’s just got kinks in his armor that are going to hinder his options for the next level.
The point of my reference to more space for the Buckeye receivers wasn’t dinging JT. It was saying that with the way Lagow was passing last Thursday he would have shredded the Buckeyes defense. The flip of that is that the Buckeye defenders were lock step almost always with the Indiana receivers. They played better than the stat sheet says.
You’re correct where I thought you were dissing J.T. – the receivers and space note.
fwiw I don’t think he’s “top notch” at intermediate to long either – but I don’t think he’s anywhere near so bad as his critics do in those phases of the passing game. But by the end of this year we’ll all know.
I think he’s better than his passes against Indiana in the intermediate and deep game. Stats can lie but, they do say something.
Drops unfortunately count as incompletions, which hurts a quarterbacks numbers so there’s that. Still, at some point a quarterback has to complete better than 5 of 18 passes beyond 10 yards (27.7%). Factor in the drops and JT is still only at 38.8%. Urban Meyer is on record as saying that their goal is 60% on deep passes. Goals aren’t mandates but 27.7% or 38.8% are abysmal stats whether in or out of context.
It was just the first game and a team grows a lot between games 1 and 2. I just hope that against Oklahoma Meyer turns him loose with aggressive play calling. If he does IMHO the Buckeyes will trounce the Sooners. JT seems to play better with a wider open game plan. He’ll have a lot of opportunities against a less experienced secondary this week if the staff opens up the route tree.