Going to try to keep this one short & sweet. There really isn't a lot to write home about... It pretty much went as expected - total domination by the Buckeyes. Couple interesting points:
- I was really surprised Curtis Samuel received the starting nod at tailback. I looked around feverishly to try to find out why, and so far I haven't had much luck coming up with any plausible explanations as to why. The speculation floating around the Twitterverse & Message Boards was that obviously Ezekiel Elliott must have done something the coaches didn't like, and this was his 'punishment'.
- OSU's 1st drive lasted 3 plays; there was only 1 run - Curtis Samuel on a 23 yd rush for a TD.
- OSU's 2nd drive saw 9 plays; 3 of them were runs - Curtis Samuel 2 runs for 6 yds, J.T. Barrett 1 run for 14 yds
- The closest thing I could find was Meyer said RB coach Stan Drayton went to Meyer in the middle of the week and said he wanted to start Curtis Samuel because "he's doing everything right, and practices at an extremely high level."
- Ezekiel Elliott didn't see his 1st action until the start of OSU's 3rd drive (which started with just over 5 minutes remaining in the 1st Q).
- This is very alarming to me. Had Elliott started and saw the few attempts he had (9 car, 1 rec) I would have said 'Oh, this was just OSU resting Elliott & trying to make sure he doesn't get dinged up before arguably their most important game of the season - Michigan State.' But because Elliott didn't start, this leads me to believe there was some 'punishment' going on and that is NOT a good thing. If OSU is going to stand any chance of knocking off the Spartans, they're going to need their full compliment of weapons, and that BEGINS with Elliott.
- I thought Barrett took another step backwards on Saturday. Time & time again we saw him missing wide open receivers (the most glaring one was when he had Heuerman wide open for a touchdown but overthrew him). It was so bad/obvious that even the announcers chimed in and noted how Barrett's passes were not on point and how he looked uncomfortable. Now, the obvious speculation is that his knee was bothering him, due to the MCL sprain he suffered last on his left knee week, but I would expect that to effect his running / mobility in the pocket; not his touch on passes. And it looked like Barrett was able to scramble fairly well on Saturday, but he was not able to hit wide open targets. This is VERY alarming, because Barrett can't hit his targets this upcoming Saturday, then the Buckeyes will be in for a looong night.
- I thought Cardale Jones looked very solid, and I almost even wish he started (not to stir up a QB controversy, but rather to protect/rest-up Barrett and make sure he's good for East Lansing). Jones ran the ball for 47 yds (6.7 avg) and passed for 82 yds (9.1 avg, QBR 94.6). I'm not sure Jones is a guy that's capable of defeating the likes of Nebraska, Wisconsin, Maryland or Minnesota this season... but Illinois is absolutely AWFUL and Jones could have beaten then with one arm tied behind his back. I was very pleased to see the staff pull Barrett at the beginning of the 2nd Half and let Jones handle the rest.
- Which brings me to my next point... Jones isn't a "freak athlete", but he is somewhat of a 'freak' athlete. I would love to see the staff move Jones to TE; especially with all the noise about how depleted we supposedly are at TE are and all the recent struggles at recruiting a solid TE. In no way are they even remotely close, but Jones reminds me a bit of Michigan's Devin Funchess. Yes, Funchcess is more of a pure receiver than Jones is, but Jones has the size (like Funchess) and the speed to be a nice TE I believe. I'd like to see Funchess make the switch next season (not this season, because we need a viable QB backup should something happen to Barrett).
- Also... how bout that hit stick Jones put on his fellow Glenville Tarblooder V'Angelo Bentley... #Wrecked
- The guy who is really starting to come along & impress is #17 Jalin Marshall. Marshall is slowly starting to warrant more & more touches. I love the kid's versatility - you can line him up in the slot, at H-back, or even a direct-snap. I didn't think I would end up saying this... but Marshall might be a better H-back than Dontre Wilson. Let that sink in for a moment...
- Don't be surprised if we see Marshall airing it out a time or 2 vs. Sparty; and if not Sparty, then I'll guarantee it against either Indiana or Michigan.
- Devin Smith had a nice night... connecting on 2 bombs (both ending in touchdowns -- tying him for 3rd-most in Ohio State history with Santonio Holmes) for a total of 3 rec for 72 yds.
- I didn't get to catch who it was, but on OSU's 1st scoring play, there was a massive crack-back block by an OSU wide receiver. I rewound it several times, but unfortunately I was never able to quite make out who it was. I even tried searching the Message Boards and Twitter, but no one else seemed to be talking about it. I really wanted to give props to this unsung hero, but unfortunately it apepars he'll have to remain nameless unless someone else can chime in & help me. [Edit: per Jason White, it was Noah Brown on the crack-back block]
- I thought the Buckeye defense looked great. They held the Fighting Illini offense to a measly 243 total yards (Illinois had been averaging 390.5 yards/game), netted 11 tackles for loss & 3 sacks, and forced 4 turnovers that ultimately let to 17 points.
- Ohio State has now scored 50-plus points 5x this season... Most among FBS teams.
- True freshmen making impacts... Jalyn Holmes netted 4 tackles, Raekwon McMillan netted 4 tackles, and Erick Smith netted 3 tackles.
- Was I the only one who noticed/caught James Crawford Jr taking a leak on the sideline?!
- It's becoming glaringly obvious [to me at least] as as each week passes, that Buckeye fans were widely mistaken. This was NEVER going to be "our year"; "our year" HAS ALWAYS BEEN meant to be next season. You look at this team across the board, and all you see is youth. I know it's going to sound absolutely crazy, but the best thing that could have ever happened to this team, happened... and that was Braxton Miller going down. If Braxton didn't go down, we'd likely be breaking in a new QB next season, and there would be a TON of question marks. But now... having a year of experience under Barrett's belt, the Buckeyes know what they have at QB (with or without Miller). Barrett will have the year of experience... there won't be a "Virginia Tech" game next season (largely because we won't have an inexperienced QB making his 1st big collegiate start). Next year should have always been 'the year'.
- On Offense...
- OL = This year you have a Jr, Fr, Jr, So, Sr. (i.e., the OL will likely return 4 starters next season, as opposed to breaking in 4 new starts this season) Next year you'll have Sr, So, Sr, Jr, ??.
- WR = we lose our 'not-that-productive' guys like Evan Spencer and Devin Smith, and gain another year of experience for our playmakers like Michael Thomas (will be a Jr), Jalin Marshall (will be a So), & Dontre Wilson (will be a Jr).
- RB = after breaking in a brand new starter after arguably our greatest RB since Eddie George (i.e., Mr. El Guapo himself), next season we'll have a JR Eze Elliott and SO Curtis Samuel / JR Dontre Wilson.
- MOST IMPORTANTLY... QB = instead of breaking in a brand new QB next season, we'll either have a SO J.T. Barrett (now with a full year of experience under his belt) or the return of our Heisman Hopefully XBrax360 (aka Braxton Miller).
- On Defense...
- We'll still have our monster Joey Bosa (as he'll only be a Jr & therefore unable to enter the Draft), and hopefully Adolphus Washington (and maybe even Noah Spence back, tho I HIGHLY doubt it).
- Our LB core (i.e., Jr Darron Lee, So Raekwon mcMillan, Sr Joshua Perry) will easily be the strongest it's been since 2008 (i.e., Laurinaitis, Freeman, Terry, Homan/Rolle/Hines), maybe even the best since 2005 (i.e., Hawk, Carpenter, Schlegel).
- Next season, our secondary should be the only question mark, and technically it should only be 2 of the 4 positions (as we know guys like Jr Tyvis Powell, Jr Vonn Bell will lock down the safety positions; so really the only question is who will man the corner positions, and it's starting to shape up like Eli Apple and Conley/Reeves).
- Special Teams...
- K = SO Sean Nuernberger
- P = JR Cameron Johnston
- Oh the future is bright...
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