Another week, another win for Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes, and this past week that came to the defeat of the Fighting Illini, who fought valiantly but came up just a bit short – 25 points short.
Despite the 28-3 victory, the same old frustrating offensive questions remain. JT Barrett reclaimed the starting role from Cardale Jones after serving his one-week suspension, but Barrett churned out a pretty average performance for his standards, but thanks to Heisman candidate Ezekiel Elliott, the Bucks rolled to another sloppy looking win.
The hero in a half shirt bulldozed his way for 181 yards and two touchdowns while recording his 15th straight game with 100 or more yards as well as passing Tim Spencer for third place on the all-time rushing leaders list in Ohio State history. Who are numbers one and two on that list? None other than Heisman winners Archie Griffin and Eddie George. That’s pretty good company to be in.
Urban said – “We’re certainly not in this situation without Zeke. There is some issues, back-and-forth at quarterback, then we had another issue, and he’s the one constant. Zeke will be the first one to tell you he can’t do it by himself. The offensive line is nailing them pretty good so that’s our strength, that’s our most consistent. But we also know that to win the big, big one you need to be balanced and we’re not quite there yet.â€
- The Fans – Just feed Zeke, and forget the rest.
- The Media – Could we possibly be seeing another switch at quarterback against Michigan State, given Barrett’s average performance?
- The Opponent – You guys probably wouldn’t be anything at all without him. Rely on him while it lasts.
As strange as it is, former Buckeye quarterback and now ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit had a different take from Meyer’s on Ohio State’s offensive line performance against Illinois:
Is it my imagination or did Ohio a State return 4 OL from a National Championship team?!? Wouldn't have any idea watching them block.
— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) November 14, 2015
Despite the differing perspectives here, we’ll see how the offensive line plays against arguably the best defensive line and best team they’ve faced all year in *ichigan State.
Even though the Buckeyes won their game by the largest margin of any of the other ranked teams in the top ten this past weekend, the scarlet and gray continue to be pounded by the media for their lackluster offensive performances.
Meyer says he was watching TV and heard discussion that Ohio State was just getting by: "My goodness, we won 28-3 on the road." #Buckeyes
— Ryan Donnelly (@RDonnellyBG) November 16, 2015
Urban said – “My goodness.”
- The Fans – My goodness is right. We’re the only team that could post the highest winning margin of the week and still get knocked for it.
- The Media – Are we not being fair? No, you’re right – we aren’t. We hate cause we ain’t you.
- The Opponent – You sure got by us. Hopefully you can get by Sparty next week. Good luck!
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