Ohio State came into Saturday’s game against Minnesota favored by 29.5 points, which means they would have needed to shut out the Gophers just to cover.
As we know, that didn’t happen.
Fourteen points given up is pretty good, but it’s a little bit like putting deodorant on gangrene to cover up the smell.
Only scoring three touchdowns with over 500 yards of total offense is not very efficient, and neither is scoring zero touchdowns on three trips into the red zone.
But we can get into that more below.
What have we learned this week?
1. Things are not trending well.
Let’s go ahead and couch this statement by reminding you that this is just October and October frequently has its share of stinkers. September is for pretenders, November is for contenders, and October is just a means to an end. That being said, the Buckeyes are not getting better, and if you’re not getting better, then by football definition you are getting worse.
2. This is probably K.J. Hill’s last season as a Buckeye.
K.J. Hill told me either at the Cotton Bowl last year or the preseason this winter that he was treating this season as his last. As a fourth-year junior, he has another year of eligibility available to him, but as we know, fifth years are fairly rare at the Ohio State skill positions. Plus, it will be difficult for him to stick around with Parris Campbell, Terry McLaurin, and Johnnie Dixon all leaving. Right now, Hill and Campbell are both on pace for 1,000-yard seasons, which would give the Buckeyes a 1,000-yard receiver for the first time since 2002. If they both get there, it would be the first time in school history that Ohio State had two 1,000-yard pass catchers. With his nine catches for 187 yards and two scores on Saturday, Hill showed that he can do more than move the chains over the middle.
3. The defense looks outnumbered badly at times.
I tweeted this during the game, but so often Ohio State’s defense looks like it’s playing at least a man-and-a-half down. Like it’s 11 guys on offense against 9.5 on defense. There are entire segments of the field completely empty, which makes it look like the guy who was supposed to be there was still on the sideline. This may simply be a matter of unfortunate play calling, but then the question becomes why offenses continue to have success when they do. Other defenses — like Michigan — look like they have 13 defenders out there. That’s rarely been the case for OSU this season.
4. It’s not just Bill Davis’ fault.
Linebackers coach Bill Davis has been a popular punching bag among the fans and media, but you cannot have gigantic voids in the defense as mentioned above and blame it on a position coach. That’s a defensive system or call that is rendering linebackers moot, not coaching or playing. That’s not meant to dismiss the times when the players and coach deserve criticism, but it’s not just the linebackers or their coach’s fault that the defense isn’t right.
5. Sustained drives are worse than big hits.
When a guy goes 93 yards, you can chalk it up to one guy not doing his part. When a team goes 75 yards on 11 plays and then another 75 yards on nine plays, that’s not because of one guy — it’s because of 11. That’s what Minnesota did on their two touchdown drives. Fortunately for the Buckeyes, those were the only two touchdown drives of the game. There used to be a gigantic percentage of OSU’s yards allowed coming via big plays. Against Minnesota, they did a lot more consistent moving of the ball than other teams have done. That’s not a great sign.
6. The Buckeyes found another kicker.
Due to a “minor strain” of some part of his body, starting kicker Sean Nuernberger was out for the Minnesota game. In his place, Blake Haubeil hit three PATs, three field goals, and only allowed one return on his seven kickoffs. The biggest moment of his game, however, came when he hit a 47-yarder straight and true midway through the third quarter to extend Ohio State’s lead to 20-14. With questions about Sean Nuernberger’s accuracy on longer field goals, this has to be good for Urban Meyer to see.
7. The secondary can make plays.
Both Kendall Sheffield and Isaiah Pryor covered a ton of ground to make red-zone interceptions against Minnesota quarterback Zach Annexstad. The throws weren’t necessary, but the Buckeyes were happy to have them. Those two interceptions basically kept this from being a much closer game than it could have been. The interception by Pryor was what he needs to be able to do as the post safety. That’s two weeks in a row he has shown good range in defending a pass.
8. It might be time to move Michael Jordan back to left guard.
Fifth-year senior center Brady Taylor has been hurt and didn’t dress again last week, and there is certainly some trepidation about switching to redshirt freshman Josh Myers at center, but I can’t help but wonder if the running game is missing Michael Jordan at left guard. We talked in the preseason about OSU’s desire to put the best five offensive linemen on the field and weighed that against a lineup that maybe keeps its best players where they can be most effective. I asked offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson after the game if there were possible personnel changes coming, but he said no.
9. There are too many injuries not to be noticeable.
Nick Bosa went down early in the third quarter of the TCU game, but the entire defensive line responded well and won that game for the Buckeyes. At the time it was a great story, but also one that we knew couldn’t be sustained. Eventually, the bills are going to come due. Then defensive tackles Dre’Mont Jones and Robert Landers got hurt. Landers missed a game, but Jones has played hurt for weeks now. Last week, starting defensive end Jonathon Cooper missed the game due to a concussion he suffered the week before. Middle linebacker Tuf Borland said he’s good to go, but we’ve seen that he wasn’t 100% just a couple of weeks ago. Starting Will linebacker Malik Harrison missed the Minnesota game with a concussion as well. Cornerback Damon Arnette went down early in the game. Basically, this is a depleted Ohio State defense right now, so difficulties should expect to be occurring. That being said, there were also difficulties when all of those players were healthy. Can everyone get healthy in time to also fix those problems that were occurring before they all got hurt? Maybe.
10. The offensive line needs a change in attitude.
I’ll write about this a bit more after this, but Kevin Wilson said after the game that when it comes to the running game, the offense needs something to hang its hat on. They can do so many different things with formations and play calling, but when we’re talking about running the ball, the offensive line simply has to have the mentality that it doesn’t matter how many defenders are lined up on the other side of the ball, they are going to move them backwards. I asked him if it was about mentality rather than physicality and he told me, “No doubt.” So he believes this group is capable, they just now to need to turn on whichever switch engages the proper determined mindset. If they can’t find that switch, good luck finding a running game.