As we all expected, the only thing able to slow down the Buckeyes this week was Mother Nature (I am sure that is the first time anyone used that joke, so please bow down to my comedy greatness). Oregon State put up less of a fight than some Group of Five schools have recently against the Buckeyes, as Ohio State put the beat down on the fifth-best OSU (behind Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Ohio State -Lima, and Ohio State ATI in Wooster) 77-31.
This week, the semi-Urban Meyer-led Buckeyes face off with The State University of New Jersey. Since joining the Big Ten, Rutgers has established itself as the new Indiana in football (read: doormat). Their biggest accomplishments have been:
1) Hiring former OSU Defensive Coordinator Chris Ash as their head coach in December of 2015.
2) Somehow becoming an in-conference bye week in the toughest division in college football.
But let’s get to the good and the bad of the Beaver pounding on Saturday.
Hayes Gaze
While I know you are expecting me to say something about Urban being back in practice this week or how Nick Bosa showed that he is the best defensive end in college football, this week’s Hayes Gaze shines its mighty light upon running back J.K. Weber.
That’s right, JK.. Weber. The most beautiful running back tandem in college football this season has become one person since the end of fall camp. Combined, Weber and Dobbins had 35 carries for 260 yards and 3 touchdowns, along with Weber’s 3-yard touchdown reception. This was good enough for 7.4 yards per carry.
But more importantly, they were able to handle the rushing duties while the first-team offense was on the field. I pointed out on twitter that, at one point, Ohio State had scored 3 times and Haskins had not recorded a single rush. Seriously, when was the last time Ohio State quarterbacks ended a game with 4 total carries like they did on Saturday?
That is going to be critical for the remainder of the year. These two will need to continue to be the rock that the offensive staff can lean on when needing to get a tough yard or two. Haskins throws a beautiful ball and he’s clearly a strong man, but he’s not J.T. Barrett in the pocket. He’s not that kind of runner. But you could see him and the coaching staff trusted the running backs when they needed to, and that kept Haskins from needing to run. This keeps him healthy, obviously, but it also keeps future defenses on their toes because they don’t expect him to run. So, when he does keep the occasional read option, no one will be expecting him to tuck it and take off.
Plus, as I have said many times since he signed with Ohio State, I have a serious man-crush on Mike Weber and love seeing him bowling-ball over defenders as he plows into the end zone. Everyone is all on the J.K. Train, and rightfully so, but sleeping on Weber is going to be a painful and costly mistake for Big Ten defenses this season.
Cannon Fodder
When you play a team without being in the same time zone talent-wise as you, it can be hard to pick out the “bad plays”. But as anyone who has ever played competitive sport can tell you, in these games, you still have to execute your game plan without mistakes. Looking at the box score or scoreboard, it can be hard to imagine there was Cannon Fodder this week, but there clearly was.
The starting defense looked like they wanted to lay claim to this spot during their first drive, but a solid Beaver punch in the mouth woke the beast that is The Silver Bullets, and that went away.
The biggest issue I saw with our Buckeyes this week was special teams play, particularly the punt return team. I was disappointed not seeing Demario McCall on the field early to return punts or kicks, and I was not impressed with CJ Saunders’ play in the first half.
The muffed punt was as much on Damon Arnette as anyone, but I would lay blame on Saunders also for not clearing the area. As a returner, you have to be yelling where the ball is so your blockers are out of the way. Later, Dante Booker tackled the Oregon State punter and nearly got a roughing the punter penalty. That was too close to be hitting the punter inside the tackle box. Granted, the penalty was not enforced, but you could see on the replay how close it was to being a flag. And I for one, think the officials actually missed that penalty.
With Urban back on the practice field this week, I expect a lot of these things to be cleared up. But nonetheless, they should not be happening on a team this talented.
Looking Ahead
This week, Ohio State welcomes Rutgers to Columbus, fresh off their 35-7 win over the Everett Withers-led Texas State Bobcats. As is always the case, any time you play an in-conference opponent early in the season, you have to be prepared for the worst. And Rutgers? Well, they are the worst.
The Scarlet Knights offense had 205 yards passing (1 TD/3 INTs) and 218 yards rushing on 46 attempts (3 Tds) vs. the Bobcats. Not exactly something that strikes fear in the hearts of the Silver Bullets. But Coach Ash knows what to expect in Columbus on Game Day, and will try his best to have the Knights ready for this game.
It will be interesting to at least some Buckeye faithful to see what changes are made this week. How obvious of a change, if any, will Urban’s input into the depth chart and game plan be now that he can return to the WHAC? Will we see more carries from the quarterback position? What will the linebacker group look like now that we know Tuf Borland can play at game speed? And most importantly to me, how do the special teams respond to Urban’s return?
I wouldn’t expect too much of a change yet. But I would fully expect Urban to clean this up. I also wouldn’t expect Ohio State to nearly hang 80 on a conference opponent coached by a friend of the program. Final score? Ohio State 55, Rutgers 10.
“Hayes Gaze and Cannon Fodder” is the weekly look at the good and bad for Ohio State football from Mike Meals. Each week, Mike will look at the good of the week with a loving Hayes Gaze, and at what was the Cannon Fodder at best. You can also catch Mike along with Hayes & Cannon Content Manager/Writer Brandon Zimmerman on the weekly episodes of “The Sons of Schmidt” podcast on the Ozone Radio Network. Follow Mike on twitter (@mmeals)