Wisconsin came into Saturday’s game wounded, but angry. Ohio State knew to expect the Badgers’ best.
That expectation led to a Buckeye blowout, to the tune of a 38-7 victory over the 13th-ranked Wisconsin squad.
This was finally going to be a test for Ohio State, and maybe it was. Maybe this Ohio State squad is the kind that studies every night. They go over notes well in advance of the tests. They remind the teachers to assign homework. They volunteer to monitor the cafeteria rather than engage in lunch-time shenanigans.
This Buckeye team may be the biggest batch of football nerds Ohio State has ever seen, and there’s no bigger Pigskin Poindexter than Chase Freaking Young.
What more could we have possibly learned from another completely dominating effort from the Ohio State Buckeyes.
I’m not even sure at this point, but why stop a good thing?
1. It’s time to make Garrett Wilson the full-time punt returner.
Demario McCall was back for the first three or four punt returns for the Buckeyes, but eventually freshman Garrett Wilson took over and he needs to stay tooken over. No, that’s not great English. In fact, it may not even actually be English. But the point remains — Garrett Wilson is good at returning punts and looks completely safe and comfortable doing it. He now has five punt returns for 80 yards, which is 16 yards per return — and more than double the averages of McCall and KJ Hill.
2. Ryan Day trusts Chris Chugunov.
I mentioned this on the Instant Reaction podcast Saturday, but I loved the play call when Justin Fields left the field of play. Everyone was expecting Chris Chugunov to simply hand the ball off, but instead they called a screen pass. That screen got blown up and Chugunov threw the ball away in a very smart way. Calling this play at this time tells me that Ryan Day not only trusts Chugunov to play, but also trusts him to make the right decisions, which he did on his early opportunity against the Badgers.
3. Chris Olave is letting his personality show.
Sophomore receiver Chris Olave had a career day against Wisconsin, catching seven passes for 93 yards and two scores. It’s his third game — and second in a row — with two touchdown catches this season. That’s all old hat, though. What is a bit new for the relatively quiet receiver is that we are seeing Olave’s personality come out on the field. Whether it’s signaling a first down, pointing into the crowd in the end zone, or a simple shoulder shimmy, Chris Olave’s confidence is coming through in his posture — and posturing. In his last two games — against two of the Big Ten’s best defenses — he has 12 catches for 153 yards and four touchdowns. A shoulder shimmy or three is perfectly acceptable.
4. Ryan Day has this team locked in.
Ohio State knows what it’s like to have to regroup after a loss and they know exactly the stakes that go into that next game. Which means they also knew exactly what to expect from Wisconsin as they entered Ohio Stadium. They were expecting the Badgers’ best. The little errors would have surely been fixed and any glimpses of weaknesses from the Illinois loss would have been addressed days in advance. And you know what, they probably were. But it didn’t matter because the Buckeyes were ready for it. Just like they’re ready for every single week and every single test. The pain of the previous two seasons is an incredible motivator — and so are Ryan Day and his coaching staff.
5. Chase Young is underrated.
Look, all I’m saying is if you want to call Chase Young the best player in college football or rank him No. 1 among all players, that’s great. But we need a number higher than ‘1’ because it doesn’t really do him justice. We need to invent a new number that we put before ‘1’ only when it is warranted. And yeah, “Chase Young is the best player in America” is a fine sentiment, but it still falls short because it foolishly and inadequately compares him to humans.
6. Justin Hilliard is not out of place on this defense.
As Ohio State’s defense was taking the field for the first time, I saw No. 47 running onto the field and said to nobody in particular, “Whoa, Justin Hilliard is out there.” The Buckeyes went with a 4-4-3 alignment at the beginning of the game, starting four linebackers against the Wisconsin rushing attack. With a defense that routinely plays four linebackers, it was interesting to see them incorporate a fifth in Hilliard. The Buckeyes didn’t go with the 4-4-3 all game long, so Hilliard only finished with one tackle, but it was a huge stop as he dragged down running back Jonathan Taylor for a loss of six on second-and-10. Chase Young would then sack Badger quarterback Jack Coan on the next play, forcing a Wisconsin punt. Hilliard has been a bit of a forgotten man on this defense, but on Saturday he showed that you better keep his name in mind for the second half of the season. And it’s clear that the Buckeye coaches will be doing just that.
7. The OSU offense stops itself more than opposing defenses.
A quick snap, a dropped snap, several drops. On Saturday, Wisconsin’s best defense was Ohio State’s offense. That’s been the case for most opponents this season. That’s not to say that the Buckeye offense is sabotaging itself, just that they seemingly stop themselves as much or more than the opposing defense does (and it’s still not all that often). After the game, quarterback Justin Fields said he thinks the Buckeyes would have put 50 points on the Badgers if not for the rain. I’m not doubting it.
8. The Buckeyes need this off week.
I’m going to chalk up some of the pass protection issues to Thayer Munford not being as healthy as he will be with a week off. He wasn’t the only issue, but it was clear he was struggling a bit out there. Justin Fields could also use a week off to heal up from his various bumps and bruises. The same can be said for Austin Mack, Jonathon Cooper, Teradja Mitchell, and — for this team — hopefully Josh Alabi. There are some key contributors out right now who will put this week off to very good use. If the Buckeyes can be as healthy as possible in November, that would make them very different from most college football teams down the stretch.
9. The versatility of this team is a killer.
Ohio State is the best Power 5 rushing team in the nation, averaging 284.3 yards on the ground per game. They are a running team and can destroy and wear down very good defenses with the running game. But they can also go five wide and Justin Fields can spread defenses and shred defenses. They were able to move the ball downfield at the end of the first half against Wisconsin. Eight plays, 85 yards, in 1:54. Six passes were called on that drive. I still say this offense can throw the ball on anyone, they just haven’t had to do it yet. And then you look at the Ohio State defense. They play a base defense with three lockdown corners and one deep safety. They can match up against spread looks without blinking. Against Wisconsin, however, they went with four linebackers and shut down the Badger running game. This defense is just as capable of handling a dynamic passing attack as it is a dynamic running attack. And the more important thing is that they look like they can handle a perfectly balanced attack as well.
10. The Ohio State Buckeyes respond well.
Early in the week I asked Ryan Day what the most adversity his team has had to overcome this season. He talked about the difficulties of practice, which gives you an idea of just how lopsided the games have been this season. In this one, however, there was some actual adversity, even though if you blinked, you missed it. The Buckeyes went three-and-out to start the third quarter, then had a punt blocked, then gave up a quick touchdown to the Badgers to make it 10-7 with 12:08 left in the third quarter. Nerves began to appear — at least in the stands. But the Buckeyes kept doing what they do and scored touchdowns on their next four drives. Generally, you just hope your team can respond to a touchdown with a touchdown of their own. Scoring four in a row might be considered overkill, but this year that’s just what we call playing football the Ryan Day way.