Ohio State came running out of the tunnel in Happy Valley and never looked back. The first play from scrimmage was a 62-yard run by Garrett Wilson, and from there Penn State had no answer for the Buckeye offense despite trying to stay in arms reach throughout the game.
In the end, it was a rather comfortable 38-25 victory on the road for this Ohio State squad, and now it must find a way to continue to be motivated as it goes through a stretch of games that it should be able to handle pretty easily.
As we do each week, here are five things we learned from what we saw this weekend, this time after what could up being the best team on the Buckeyes’ schedule. Time will tell.
NEXT … Ryan Day is the anti-Jim Tressel
Ryan Day is an aggressive play-caller
Watching this game, I couldn’t help but wonder what former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel was thinking every time Ryan Day went for it on fourth down. Day not only dialed up a fourth-down call in his own territory, but he eschewed a field goal attempt already up by two scores on fourth and goal from the one-yard line.
Those both worked out, but there’s no way in any kind of an alternate reality that Tressel would have given it any thought on what conservative approach he would take. It would have been a punt in one instance, and a field goal in another.
Fans love it, and frankly, so do I. More often than not in almost any sport, the aggressor tends to win most matchups, and to say Day is aggressive in his play-calling would be like calling Muhammad Ali a great boxer.
NEXT … Justin Fields did Justin Fields things again
Justin Fields is closing the Heisman gap
You had to wonder what getting a late start to the season would mean for Justin Fields in the Heisman race. There’s no doubt that he fell behind guys like Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence and Alabama quarterback Mac Jones because of the tape they put together while Fields and his teammates waited in the wings for the Big Ten season to begin.
However, he’s quickly making up the difference in just two games. He threw for over 300 yards tonight and is completing passes at an otherworldly rate. Through two games he has completed 48 of 55 passes (.873) for 594 yards. He has six touchdowns to zero interceptions and a QB rating of this stratosphere.
With Lawrence unfortunately out because of a positive COVID-19 diagnosis and the run of games Fields is about to enjoy, this thing is about to get tight.
NEXT … Running game not quite running
There’s work to be done in the running game
Yeah, we’re nitpicking here but the traditional rushing game with the tailbacks has yet to get on track. Master Teague went for over 100 yards today, Sermon rolled up 56 yards on the ground, but the per carry average for both was under 5.0. We’re probably a little spoiled with what J.K. Dobbins did over the last three years, but at some point, Ohio State is going to need more back there.
There’s enough to get some power running and straight-line yards when there’s running room, but there just isn’t a game-breaker that has emerged yet. Can Sermon or Teague still turn into that? We shall see.
NEXT … Defense is still growing
The young defense is still working it out
The Ohio State defense was pretty good Saturday, but there’s still some growing to do. OSU jumped out to a 14-0 lead and Penn State outscored OSU 25-24 from there.
The offense never really let its foot off the gas, but the Nittany Lions were able to have success moving the ball on short and quick play-action passes out of the read-option. Shaun Wade is obviously otherworldly but he gave up a couple of big plays while Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford was able to pick on some mismatches with some of the other defensive backs.
We knew that part of the defense would be the big question mark, and so far that’s held to be true. The good news is that there’s still time to figure things out back there, and Ohio State won’t face that kind of personnel again until maybe the Michigan game.
NEXT … Yeah but, Ohio State is pretty good
Ohio State is still Ohio State
We’ve picked on a couple of warts we’ve seen so far in 2020, but the reality is that this team is a balanced monster that still came out on Halloween night. It has a Heisman front-runner slinging the ball around, an elite offensive line, an embarrassment of riches when it comes to playmakers on the outside, and a defensive line that looks to be great once again.
This game felt like it was more of a mismatch than what the score indicated, and that’s a testament to how dominant Ohio State is, even when it doesn’t put a full game together. And yeah, despite two multiple score wins so far on the year, this team can definitely play better.
But the bottom line is that the Buckeyes could be rolling along to another run to a Big Ten championship and College Football Playoff appearance. Right now, it sure looks like this team is ready to contend for a national title if everyone stays healthy.
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