The score was 28-0 with 6:50 to play in the first quarter and everybody was having a real good time.
It’s hard to score like this on video games, and yet there the Buckeyes were. Towering over Florida Atlantic like they were playing on Rookie level.
From that point on, however, the Owls outscored Ohio State 21-17.
Mathematically, it wasn’t enough to get the job done, but it certainly sent a message to OSU head coach Ryan Day.
“Looking at it here, it was 28-0 and there was 6:50 to go in the first quarter,” Day said after the game. “I don’t know if I’ve ever been part of a game like that. It was kind of strange that we came out to such a quick lead and maybe we took a deep breath there, I’m not sure. But we can’t let that happen. We’ve got to keep the pedal to the metal and keep going.”
After the game, Ohio State sophomore tight end Jeremy Ruckert said games are easier than practices, but nobody could have anticipated this kind of ease.
Florida Atlantic’s secondary was having mix ups in coverage, or just completely failing to stay with a simple post route to sophomore receiver Chris Olave.
Things were just so easy.
You know why “don’t let your guard down” is a thing people say? Because it’s good advice that has been ignored throughout history. Because there is something tangible about what happens when somebody does let their guard down, and also something tangible about the difficulty of getting that guard back up.
Even against the likes of Florida Atlantic.
Learning lessons like this in a win is a whole lot better than learning them in a loss.
“I thought we came out to a great start early on,” Day said. “We were clicking on both sides of the ball. Hit a bit of a lull there. But overall a great start. We wanted to play clean. Watched a lot of football the last week. And there’s been a lot of teams out there who haven’t played as clean as they like.
“A couple things here and there we have to fix, but I thought tackling was good. The ball security, other than one play, the fumble by JK [Dobbins] we gotta fix. The bubble screen, it was kind of a freak play, we’ll get that fixed fast. But other than that and a couple of penalties, I thought it was pretty clean and a good start.
“And on defense, again, I thought we ran to the ball early on. And then our second team came in a little bit and let them come down the field and we can’t let that happen. We’ve got to play with depth this season. So a lot to learn from. First step. But we’re 1-0. Good start. But first step in a long journey.”
The players themselves don’t necessarily know if they let up, and neither did the coaches after the game. What they do know, however, is that the next time this arises, the best course of action is to remain full speed ahead.
“We jumped on them early but we just gotta keep that tempo up and just be able to score all game long,” quarterback Justin Fields said.
It was impossible not to be impressed by the 28-0 start, which created expectations from the players just as it did from those who were watching. And when they failed to keep up anything close to that kind of pressure over the next three quarters, it is noticeable.
First games are notorious for less than perfection. The NFL gets four preseason games to figure things out. There is no such soft opening for college teams.
“When you’re coming out of preseason, one of the things is you spend so much time going against your defense,” Day said. “Whether it’s bowl practice, spring ball, preseason, you’re going at the same looks over and over again. And in first games you’re getting something that’s different. So it’s new and I think that’s why you see a lot of teams play sloppy in that first game. But I thought we adjusted as the game went on and, again, it’s a start.”
With the level of talent we have, the best motivating factor should be exactly what Day did. Put Master in and show Dobbins that he is not the only option. Dobbins did run better after Master played (well). The team on the other side of the field did not just lay down like some of our players may have thought they would. I’ve been a BUCKEYE fan since 1970 and we have always been a great running team. Olave and Benjimin are deep options. Fields could also make quicker decision to run as well. Go Bucks!
Everyone let down after the fast start. Coaches substituted too freely too early, reinforcing players’ mindset that the game was well in hand and a cakewalk Whatever happened to 4-6 seconds relentless effort A to B, then go again? After seeing the results of zone coverage in he second half, maybe man defense wasn’t the problem last year. Everything is correctable. A sloppy easy win provides opportunity to coach hard.
There’s another disturbing tidbit in Coach Days comments when he mentions that the team is tired of going against each other and want to get out there and play against another opponent. So for 1 quarter of a game is all the Buckeye players and staff are excited to play? How would they feel if the fans only showed for 1 quarter of a game? AWFUL citation that the millions the school pays out for its football staff can only prepare a team for 15 – 30 minutes a week. Or that the culture is so pathetic that the players just want to play for that same 15 – 30 minute period.
Adversity will come on its own, there’s simply no plausible excuse to create it. That’s the opponents job. They have 60 minutes of playing time to make adversity come of not. It’s not up to the home team to do their job for them.
If a team lets off……it’s a preparation problem. Wholesale substitutions just because you jump to an early lead is an even bigger problem.
The defense played outstanding football for half a game before turning into an absolute clown show. The offense? What a train wreck after the first 8 minutes or so. The offensive line looked like crap for 3 quarters and got their asses kicked for 3 quarters. FAU isn’t the little sisters of the poor. They haven’t graduated UP to that level yet, and yet? They pushed the Buckeyes all over the field for the entire second half. Stunned watching one of the very worst defensive fronts in ALL (including every division of football) of College football beat the crap out of the Ohio State offensive line. That’s not alarming. It’s unfathomable. Just as disappointing was watching JK Dobbins and the receivers. They weren’t mediocre, they were atrocious.
I heard a group of people saying that “maybe Coach Day just didn’t want to embarrass a weaker opponent.” First of all. That weaker opponent was well paid to come and get the hell beat out of them. Next, if that’s Coach Days mindset, he should quit this program before the end of the season. That trickles down to the players, and once the cancer of “being a nice guy” becomes saturated into the culture you have lost control of the roster and wind up with shitty performances, or Purdue’s or Iowa’s. To hell with that other teams delicate little emotions.
on paper a “good start” but once we dive in the details and observe the performance of th e team, it was quite an alarming performance:
1- close to mediocre run game..starting to think it’s a combination of JK dobbins and the OL..not the OL alobe..teague looked better.
2- Fields touchdowns were for busted coverage and rarely dared to throw guys open..people noticed him holding the ball longer once FAU improved their coverage… better teams will have better atheletes and coverage…People were also praising him for not forcing it..but it’s quite hard to assume that even the crossing routes or checkdowns were also covered.
3- FAU figured out the defense schematically, stop with the 2nd team excuses..remeber that hald of these starters are listed with an ‘OR” anyways..
any honest buckeye fan cannot be very optimistoc with this performance ..esp with the lack of dominant running game…hoping we see a championship caliber team next week
tons of spelling mistakes..i apologize for the spelling checkers/police:) sent from phone
There are a few assbags who cry with typo’s. But that’s not really what they’ll be assbags about with your post. They’ll be mad because you told the truth. They don’t like that around here.
Day: “…And then our second team came in a little bit and let them come down the field and we can’t let that happen…”
Ok, easy fix. Don’t sub out most of the team at once. You want back ups getting quality time? Learning? Put a few in beside starters.
I realize OSU coaches already do this. Still bugs me when they do otherwise and switch out >50% of a unit, or even the whole D.
Not the best way to learn or teach.
THE OFFENSIVE FELL APART AFTER FIRST PERIOD. QB PRESSURE AND SACKS ARE A BIG PROBLEM EARLY. WHERE IS THE RUNNING GAME, THERE WAS NONE. QB BLOCKING WAS GOOD IN FIRST .PERIOD. THE REST OF THE GAME FIELDS WAS RUNNING FOR HIS LIFE. NEED TO WORK ON THE RPO. LACK OF A SOLID RUNNING GAME AND QB PRESSURE AGAINST THIS TEAM WILL NOT WORK NEXT WEEK WITH CINCY. THEY WILL GOBBLE FIELDS UP. NEED TO STRETCH THE FIELD, DOWN THE FIELD PASSING AND NOT JUST SHORT OUTSIDE OR ACROSS THE MIDDLE. SURELY THERE A DEEP THREAT AMONG ALL THOSE TALENTED RECEIVERS. GO BUCKS-WIN’EM ALL.
Why are you yelling?
Actually, caps are not yelling unless someone states that he/she is using caps to yell. This is a common misunderstanding. A string of exclamation marks is yelling. Having said that, a valid question is why he used all caps, which is uneasy on the eyes.
The all caps hurts my eyes so I’m not going to bother reading your posts any more. Don’t know what your problem is but it takes away from your message. Nut jobs tend to use all caps.