Buckeye Watch: JK and the Bullets Go RV’ing All Over the Hoosiers

For a second week in a row, the Ohio State Buckeyes faced an opponent capable of not being run over and ran them right over.

Ohio State wandered into Indiana and left the highways teeming with roadkill.

The Buckeyes opened up a 30-3 first half lead and closed out just as devastatingly, driving away with a 51-10 win over the Hoosiers. I wouldn’t call it a vacation because it was most definitely a business trip, but it sure looked like the Ohio State football team was having a good time.

JK Dobbins has returned to form after a year away pretending to be a normal running back, and the Buckeye defense continues to grow into its true form as a big bunch of a bad asses.

This is a very fun team to watch right now and it’s perfectly fine to get your hopes up. At least for one more week.

10:03 I’m just going to say this as nicely as possible, but I-70 between Columbus and Indianapolis is the worst thing America has ever produced. Or failed to produce, considering only around 13% of the road is usable and not under construction.

11:15 Indiana starting quarterback Michael Penix is out today, which means Ohio State killer Peyton Ramsey is back on the mound for the Hoosiers. I’m not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. Maybe the OSU defense is so good that it won’t actually matter.

11:30 It is very bright here. The problem with sitting in the front row of a press box for a noon kick is that you can feel your blood cooking and your skin leathering.

11:49 Here is a stat I looked up earlier that you can use at work on Monday — but make sure you update the numbers.

Average score between Ohio State and Indiana the last five years: OSU 42.4 – IU 23.6

Average score between Ohio State and Michigan the last five years: OSU 41.4 – UM 25.4

11:57 Indiana has fire during their introduction. It’s a bit much. But I guess even the gladiators most likely to die deserve some pomp and circumstance.

11:58 Indiana’s honorary captain had some role in both Hoosiers and Rudy, so I don’t know what to expect here. Either they are going to pull off the upset of the century or they’re going to get destroyed badly and then in 30 years there will be a movie about how they actually won this game.

11:59 Ohio State wins the toss and defers. Let’s see this defense.

12:00 Big hit by Justin Hilliard or Teradja Mitchell? Can’t tell with this brightness. All Big Ten games should be played indoors. I’m tired of seeing the sun everywhere I go.

12:01 Davon Hamilton with a tackle for loss on a Stevie Scott run. Indiana isn’t going to be able to run the ball on Ohio State today. Tevin Coleman isn’t coming through that door. Also, Davon Hamilton has been awesome this season.

12:02 Okay. Peyton Ramsey just scrambled, then threw the ball backwards to a receiver and Shaun Wade brings him down for a loss. If this is an opening script, you might want to spend the next few minutes on some rewrites.

12:04 Screen to JK Dobbins for about 10 yards. Somebody over my shoulder says, “That would have been a touchdown against Ohio State last year.” And they would be right.

12:10 Blake Haubeil misses a 32-yard field goal attempt. Place-kicker might be the only concern on this team right now. The Hoosiers are super-excited about the miss. I haven’t seen people in Indiana this happy since yesterday when we stopped for dinner at a dairy bar and we were all super happy about it.

12:12 Chase Young picks up a tackle for loss on a screen play. That’s three plays for negative yardage in two possessions. It’s a good thing this game is being played on a Saturday because I bet Chase Young would be illegal in this state on Sundays.

12:21 The Ohio State offensive line is mauling Indiana right now. Fields has time to throw, Dobbins has room to run. Maybe these guys can fix I-70 on the way back home.

12:23 Play-action bootleg to Dobbins and it goes right through his hands. The play-action is so effective for this team right now. Fields keeps it on the next play and scores for the easy touchdown to make it 7-0. Fields doesn’t have to run it much, but when he pulls it he can be incredibly effective.

12:28 Jeff Okudah just whopped Whop Philyor. Actually, let’s say Whop got Jeffed.

12:32 The short stuff isn’t working, so Indiana has gone downfield a little bit and let their big guys work. So far so good, but can they finish?

12:37 With Okudah out for a few plays after Jeffing somebody else, Indiana is able to move the ball a bit and kick a field goal to make it 7-3. Told you guys they wouldn’t shut them out.

12:40 Third and three. Dobbins gets the ball, Jeffs a guy to the ground, and gets the first down.

12:41 Master Teague is now in. Ryan Day said he would play more this week. His first carry goes for three yards.

12:43 Third and seven. Trips bunched to the left. Fields drops back and throws it high to Chris Olave for the incompletion. Fields has been a little high on his throws today. I don’t know if it’s concerning, but it’s not not concerning.

12:44 Drue Chrisman’s punt pins the Hoosiers are the 8-yard line. The last three times they’ve pinned an opponent inside the 10-yard line, Ohio State has scored a touchdown on the ensuing drive.

12:51 Third and one. Peyton Ramsey keeps it with a misdirection and Pete Werner stops him for no gain. That’s one for the haters.

12:57 Third and four. Dobbins is out and Teague is in. Teague gets the ball and goes wide left for the first down. He almost turned the corner. May as well let him stay out there for a few plays.

12:58 Or just one play as Justin Fields goes with the play-action deep to Chris Olave for a 37-yard touchdown. He had Olave for about 25 yards. A little late on the throw. But it still counts. Let’s critique perfection, right?

12:59 And now you see why Ryan Day wanted to take some snaps from under center this season. That play-action is serious trouble.

1:02 Chase Young throws Peyton Ramsey down like a sack of radishes after he was just told that he didn’t need to bring any radishes home in the first place.

1:05 Punt blocked! Olave! Safety. Chris Olave, Eater of Punts. Most people have no knacks. Some have one. Chris Olave is one of those rare people with two knacks. And who knows, he’s just a sophomore, so he may have more knacks to be discovered yet. I wonder what the record for knacks is. Buckeyes lead it 16-3.

1:09 Delay of game after a free kick. Ryan Day was clearly expecting one of those famous FOX four-minute television timeouts.

1:10 Four wide. Dobbins goes left, finds some room and bursts through a hole and could be gone. He cuts it back inside and tries to ride a block, but settles for a 56-yard run. It’s good to have JK Dobbins back.

1:11 Second and 16 from the 29-yard line. Justin Fields drops back, scrambles, and then fires a pass to Binjimen Victor on the sideline. Wow, that was a laser. Victor came back to the ball. There is improvement each week with the scrambling and the receivers making themselves available. Austin Mack said earlier in the week that it has taken them some time to get used to it again because they didn’t have to do it last year with Dwayne Haskins.

1:14 Touchdown to KJ Hill on the long out route. Easy throw for Fields to make it 23-3 with 8:30 remaining in the half.

1:19 The Silver Bullets continue to force fumbles, but they cannot recover them. The Buckeyes need to take the Jugs machine and point it right into the ground and work on recovering loose balls. Ryan Day has a pretty good coaching staff right now, but just imagine how much better they would be with graduate assistant Aaron Craft? They’d start landing on some of those fumbles with him around, I guarantee it.

1:23 Indiana brings in mass substitutions on the defensive line. That’s one thing this no-huddle offense does. Even if Indiana can’t really go eight deep on the defensive line, they’re going to have to in this one, and it will cost them throughout the game.

1:24 Justin Fields throws the ball away rather than taking a sack and I can see Ryan Day clapping his hands happily and saying, “Hercules! Hercules! Hercules!”

1:26 Third and six. Dobbins gets the ball and bounces off of tackles and Jeffs a couple of them away with a stiff arm and somehow maintains his balance long enough to score from 26 yards out. That’s one of his best runs ever. That makes it 30-3 Buckeyes. He now has 17 carries for 149 yards and a touchdown. Acceptable.

1:34 Hoosiers are motioning around and so is the Ohio State secondary. It’s a double pass and every Buckeye on the left side of the field bit on it, leaving Peyton Hendershot running free for the 49-yard touchdown. It’s 30-10 and now is a good opportunity for Ohio State to see what they can do with a little over one minute to play.

1:37 Or not. The Buckeyes are running out the clock, but at least on third and seven everyone in the entire press box whooped at the ref that just got run over. He got Jeffed and wasn’t even trying. Buckeyes go to the half up by 20 points.

1:40 Chase Young has two sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss and I’m worried that football is becoming too easy for him.

1:43 Ohio State has 343 yards of total offense and the Buckeye defense has held Indiana to just nine yards rushing. About the worst thing you can say about OSU at this point is that they haven’t yet picked up any fourth downs yet. Of course, when you average over eight yards per play, you probably shouldn’t expect too many fourth downs anyway.

2:00 Justin Fields drops back and finds Binjimen Victor for 15 yards on a deep out. The cornerbacks are terrified right now, but the routes are even scarier. The Buckeye wideouts are precise.

2:03 First and goal. Fields under center. Play-action bootleg to Dobbins for the touchdown. He makes up for his earlier drop. Rashod Berry was open too, but there was more traffic in his zone. This was the safest throw and Fields threw it hard enough to keep Dobbins from dropping it. Buckeyes lead it 37-10. They went up-tempo on that drive and the Hoosiers couldn’t do anything about it.

2:11 Third and 10. Indiana throws a slant and Damon Arnette is there to stop it for a 3-yard gain. He flexes. Go ahead, you are playing like an All-Ameican.

2:12 Indiana’s punt dies at the 3-yard line. Demario McCall let it go when he could have caught it around the 12. Ryan Day has had some issues with that already this season. He’s probably not going to be happy about that one. Now Ohio State is going to have to go 97 yards if they want a touchdown. (If I had some Buckeyes on a fantasy team, I’d be okay with what McCall just did.)

2:18 Master Teague disregards arm tackles like they are well-dressed panhandlers.

2:20 Master Teague picks up 12 yards on third and 11. He Jeffed guys all over the place.

2:23 Master Teague gets the ball and squeezes through the line of scrimmage before planting a dude and scooting in for a 40-yard touchdown run. Wow. Have you told your children about Master Teague? Buckeyes lead it 44-10. Teague has 92 yards rushing on eight carries.

2:33 Damon Arnette breaks up a pass. On the next play, Pete Werner drops a throw-back screen for a loss of three. Any other 2018 scapegoats want to get in on some of this action?

2:40 Third and goal from the 8-yard line. Play-action bootleg. Damon Arnette read it the whole way and jumped in front of the pass and now he is headed back the other way. Ninety-six yards for the interception return. Just one play earlier there were some Buckeye fans complaining about Arnette’s celebration after his breakup. Now he just went 96 yards. Let Damon be Damon because right now it’s working really damn well. Buckeyes lead it 51-10 and they might just be on the verge of putting the Hoosiers away in this one.

2:48 Tyler Friday throws Peyton Ramsey down like a great hand of poker. Or a bad hand of poker. It’s really just dependent upon your mindset and quickness to anger. Regardless, Ramsey was thrown down for a sack on third down.

2:51 Chris Chugunov comes in. He hands it off to Master Teague, who runs through arm tackles for nine yards. He now has his first 100-yard rushing day.

2:52 Master Teague is where arm tackles go to die.

2:53 Chugunov throws one to the sideline and it’s caught one-handed by offensive lineman Kevin Woidke. He snatched it like OBJ and then held the ball up high, proud of his impressive catch. Nice job, WoidBJ.

2:55 The Buckeyes are punting. I think I’ll use this opportunity to start heading down to the field. The sooner we get down there, the sooner we’ll get back up here for postgame pizza. That’s not really how it works, but we all have to lie to ourselves now and again.