Sorry for the delay in getting this posted, but it turns out that Nebraska is a really long drive.
Of course, the term long drive is pretty fitting considering Ohio State’s success on offense Saturday night. They had long drive after long drive, scoring on six drives of at least 70 yards.
What did we learn from the Buckeyes’ 56-14 win at Nebraska? Mainly that the Huskers have a long way to go to compete with the Big Ten’s best.
In fact, there is no drive longer than that which Nebraska is going to have to undergo to finally reach the point where they can contend in the West each and every year. There is no direction within the program, and without direction they’re never really getting anywhere, they’re just wearing out their cleats.
But we don’t have nearly enough time to talk about Nebraska’s problems right now. Not even with a bye week. Instead, let’s look at the many (10) things we learned from Ohio State this past weekend.
1. Nebraska has a long way to go.
I already touched on it, but it bears repeating — Nebraska was not competitive. I didn’t expect the Buckeyes to lose, but we saw all weekend long how ranked teams went on the road and had trouble against teams that they shouldn’t have had trouble with. At least be competitive, and the Huskers couldn’t be. I’m not even sure if they tried, and that’s a terrible thing to say. What are the coaches in Lincoln doing if they’re not preparing their players for a game where they have to be at their absolute best? Nebraska head coach Mike Riley may be a nice person, but he just seems like a guy whose response to tough circumstances is to smile and shake his head, maybe shrug his shoulders a bit, and then go back to his sweet tea. That’s fine in the Pac 12, but it doesn’t play so well in a place where football matters.
2. The Buckeyes got lucky.
After the game, Urban Meyer said none of the injuries seemed to be serious. Parris Campbell, Jamarco Jones, Jalyn Holmes, and Haskell Garrett all went down in this game — some of them when they probably didn’t need to be in there. We will talk to Meyer on Tuesday for an update on injuries, but if they got out of this one with none of those four players missing time, then yes, the Buckeyes were very lucky against Nebraska on Saturday.
3. J.K. Dobbins is fresher than fresh.
There is always a concern about a running back wearing down over the second half of the season. The Buckeyes won’t have to worry about that this year, at least not for a while. With the off week here, J.K. Dobbins will be able to recover from his rigorous last three games where he carried the ball a whopping 31 times total. Gosh, how will he ever be able to get his legs back? Last week Urban Meyer was asked if he was worried about Dobbins hitting the wall, to which Meyer basically said he wishes he could run him enough to hit a wall. Since his 29-carry debut against Indiana, Dobbins has carried the ball 13, 13, 14, 6, 13, and 12 times. Nearly a third of his carries came in his first game. This is a guy who has carried the ball just 101 times over the last 22 months or so of high school and college. He should be good to go for a while, and that is a very good thing for the Buckeyes.
4. Having six starters at receiver is actually a good thing.
The idea of having six starters at receiver was viewed with disdain by many people as recently as a few weeks ago. After the Oklahoma game, I had people pointing to the 2014 season as proof that having a rotation was silly and this team was missing a trio like Mike Thomas, Devin Smith, and Evan Spencer. While any team would miss that trio, I had to point out that the Buckeyes had a six-man rotation in 2014 as well. With the early-season struggles on offense, every aspect of Ohio State’s offense was seen as a viable reason for the problems, and there was probably truth to all of it. Now, however, you have to be feeling better about the Buckeye receiver rotation. All six of them have at least two touchdown receptions this season and they each bring something unique to the offense. What happened on Saturday after leading receiver Parris Campbell went down? K.J. Hill stepped right in and led the team with seven receptions for 80 yards because he’s an experienced veteran. These guys know what has been said about them. They see the tweets that they are tagged in. There may be nothing as dangerous in the Big Ten as Buckeyes who are doubted, and this group should start turning doubters into believers.
5. I like to watch Rashod Berry do things.
Granted, this is more along the lines of Things That Tony Learned, but I believe you and I are pretty much on the same wavelength generally. I bet you agree with me here. Rashod Berry is playing more and more and is showing his prowess as a pass catcher, a blocker, a rumbler, and a debacler. Wherever he is on the football field, he is fun to watch. And if you noticed when Jalyn Holmes went down with an injury on Saturday, Berry was out there with his former defensive line teammates. That Rushmen mentality is still there and he brings it to the tight end position. At some point I’d like to see him in the wildcat. They could name it after my favorite Kool-Aid: Wild Berry Punch.
6. This was a good test in terms of accuracy for J.T. Barrett.
Remember when the best way to defend J.T. Barrett was to drop into a zone and make him beat you with accuracy? Well, Nebraska tried that on Saturday night and Barrett had his best passing game as a Buckeye. He completed 27-of-33 passes (81.8%) for 325 yards and five touchdowns. It was the first time he completed 80% of his passes (at least five attempts) since his first ever start, when he went 12-of-15 for 226 yards against Navy in 2014. These were not ideal conditions Saturday night, but they didn’t shy away from the wind or Nebraska’s zone. They attacked both because they had a quarterback who could. While Nebraska’s talent leaves plenty to be desired, Barrett did exactly what the Buckeyes needed him to do. He was accurate and definitive with the ball. This is a good sign for what is coming down the road.
7. J.T. Barrett is in complete control.
The next time someone asks if this is Urban Meyer’s offense or Kevin Wilson’s offense or Ryan Day’s offense, stop them and tell them that it is J.T. Barrett’s offense because Barrett is in complete control of everything going on. As Meyer has said repeatedly over these last five games, the opponents need to be kept in perspective, but don’t ignore what you have seen. The confidence that Barrett has in himself and his receivers right now is blatant. The questions have gone away. Can they come back against a better defense? Probably. That’s why great defenses are so tough to beat. Even though it hasn’t looked like it of late, winning is hard. So what Barrett has been able to do — even against lesser opponents — is impressive because it’s a stretch that he’s never been able to manage before. Shoes may eventually drop, but this is pretty much the best quarterbacking stretch in Ohio State history, so don’t forget to appreciate it along the way.
8. The defensive line is really coming together.
Saturday was the seventh game of the season for the Buckeyes and they just welcomed back last year’s starting nose tackle Mike Hill and fellow starting defensive tackle Dre’Mont Jones after he missed the past two games with a leg injury. Add to that the growing contributions from young ends Chase Young and Jonathon Cooper, as well as the continued depth from tackles Davon Hamilton and Jashon Cornell, and this defensive line is legitimately 12 deep, and that’s not even counting freshman tackle Haskell Garrett. And they are all coming together at exactly the right time. There is so little wear and tear on these guys this season that there shouldn’t be any dip due to fatigue. Roles have been ironed out. Responsibilities are not in question. Everybody knows what they are good at and Larry Johnson understands the best situations to pull the trigger on guys. This is a group that has always been talented, but now they are understanding their various specializations, which gives Johnson an enormous amount of options.
9. The safeties are still a concern.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think the safeties are a huge concern, but Damon Webb did have some issues in man coverage this weekend. If the cornerbacks continue to improve, opposing offenses may start looking at Webb and Jordan Fuller — and Erick Smith — as potential weak spots. Smith returned to the lineup this week, playing with Fuller at the same time during several snaps. I’m not sure if they are trying a true safety rotation now or what. Before the season, Greg Schiano said he didn’t want to take Damon Webb off of the field because of what he does for the defense as a leader and play caller. Are Fuller and Smith now more comfortable with increased responsibilities? Rotation or not, the safeties gave up some yards in this one. The game was never in doubt, so things like that can happen, but that doesn’t excuse them when they do happen.
10. This team is ready for Penn State.
Everything from the Oklahoma game until now has been done in preparation for the Penn State game. Most of it was done under the guise of simply improving, but it’s not like the schedule was a secret. There has been a plan in place to put as much as they could into this offense and defense before Penn State comes to town. You’ve seen most of it over the last month, but you haven’t seen all of it. The Buckeyes will hold back a few secrets, but it won’t be the hushed voices that will win this game. Ohio State isn’t going to hide what they are, and they shouldn’t have to. It will be the declarative statements that write the story of this game, and I fully expect the Buckeyes to add some exclamation points along the way.