At The Men of the Scarlet and Gray, we were due to get into the Podcast scene and due to technical issues–we will hold off for about a week until we prepare for it. For now, I am doing it old-school and just bear with me.
As you know, our team has a ton of rising stars and I haven’t been writing that much, but I make it up by upping the tweeting to ensure you are all entertained. Today, it is a post game reaction and I am going to do my best to follow in the Stat Masters step (looking at you Jeremiah!). Here we go.
Saturday night, in the Prime Time TV slot #3 ranked Ohio State faced the #18 team in the land Penn State in a COVID styled White Out minus the mass amount of fans in the stands. Due to the state of the nation and how they are combating the global pandemic–the fans have been narrowed down to family members and cardboard cutouts were in the seats. An odd environment indeed in a collision between two teams with a ton of history.
The past three or four contests have been fire and this one went in the Buckeyes’ favor early and then the Nittany Lions offense showed up to make it interesting despite eventually losing by double-digits. This game always was exciting for both sides and they have been so close over the past couple of seasons. In a game that is not considered a real rivalry game–these games always have a lot on the line.
For perspective, Ohio State and Penn State, although deemed a “Rivalry Game” have played a total of 34 times. The inaugural game was played in 1913 and they began the rivalry by winning the first four meet with the Buckeyes with a margin of 81-13. The early years of this rivalry saw Penn State take win after win, but as of late–the Buckeyes overtook them for the overall lead in the series. Ohio State leads the series 20-14 and the Buckeyes just won their fourth straight. Fun fact: The Buckeyes have also tied Notre Dame’s 10 road game win streak against ranked teams. If Michigan State continues their upward trend–they could break that in East Lansing, but this season has been difficult to get a beat on.
Now back to the game itself, the Buckeyes started fast and with urgency as they quickly shot up to a 14-0. They looked calm and poised, but after a Penn State Field Goal–they kind of took their foot off of the pedal and went into the half with what looked like a 14-3 lead. Not so fast my friend (Lee Corso voice) on a fourth and short, Fields took a knee to drain the clock, but left a second that led to another kick for three. The Buckeyes were already in the locker room before being returned to the field and you could hear and see the frustration by a late start of the play clock.
In the second half, the Nittany Lions turned it up and Jahan Dotson had a game against Shaun Wade. He finished with 8 catches, 144 yards and 3 scores in what was a highlight reel type of performance for him against a likely 1st Round talent in Wade. The Buckeyes definitely attacked the secondary in the second half and they rattled off 24 more points in the second half.
Buckeye Stickers
Justin Fields continues to tear it up as he finished 28 for 34, for 318 yards and 4 scores. Although he took a huge hit from his blindside–he quickly popped up but we all took a collective exhale. In the Big 10, Fields is 3rd in passing yards and is tied for 1st with 6 TD’s. He will face a renewed Rutgers team with a familiar face, which would make things interesting to say the least.
Master Teague and Trey Sermon haven’t been playing well, but they are starting to put things together. Together, they combined for 166 total yards and a score, much improved from 89 from last week. They are finding holes and it is only up from here. Things obviously need to improve, but for now give them their sticker!
The Olave and Wilson connection is still going strong and they went off again in week 2. Both receivers went over 100 yards receiving and now they are 4th and 2nd in the Big 10. This connection between both of these studs and Fields is crazy and it is looking like Wilson is having his breakout season while teams focus on Olave. This duo is so valuable and they take the attention off of the other pass catchers so they could make plays. They deserve the recognition so far!
The Slobs also did well cutting their total sacks surrendered in half to two this game. A brutal blindside sack and a coverage sack is better than the four from two weeks ago. The O-Line showed up and contained the Parsons-less defense that usually gives teams fits. They looked strong and mauled the D-Line and pushed them back. They is more room for improvement, but the increase in yardage is a good sign of things to come.
Lastly, the Buckeye front seven showed you why they are one of the best groups of unheralded players in the nation. A bunch of forgotten players that were buried in the depth chart, the Rushmen were disruptive and played well racking up the sacks and spooking Clifford. 5 sacks with 3 going to Tommy Togiai. Cooper and Harrison combined for a sack and Jean-Baptiste gathered the last sack.
Room For Improvement
The Special Teams unit could improve. With two missed Field Goals inside of the 20, they need to be better. Haubeil and DiMaccio combined for 1 of 3 with Haubeil leaving with a groin injury on his only attempt. Punting was also an issue. Two punts with two touchbacks with one that should have been downed in the 5. Robinson bounced it off of his knee with Olave around and they gave up valuable field position. These things need to be cleaned up if they truly want to control every phase of the game.
The secondary looked bad and they were exposed by Jahan Dotson. He made them look some type of way with the cushion they gave them. Slants and streaks worked for a bit and they need to improve because that will be on film for other teams to try to do the same. They didn’t do terrible, but they didn’t do well either. The upside is Hooker (Malik’s little brother) had a key takeaway that swung the door closed on Penn State’s comeback hopes. That is encouraging to say the least.
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