I'm watching Ohio State's 33-24 win against Penn State for the second time, separating my thoughts by quarters and how it applies to the Buckeyes' game against Nebraska this Saturday.
First quarter
From his very first throw Saturday night, something was off with redshirt freshman quarterback C.J. Stroud. He took the snap, surveyed his receivers and hit Garrett Wilson on what should have been an easy slant, but hit him way too far right, forcing the receiver to reach back for the ball and stopping his momentum immediately.
The second play wasn't much better: handing the ball off to freshman running back TreVeyon Henderson up the middle for a minimal gain.
The fourth play was the kicker though: the roll out to tight end Jeremy Ruckert, who basically could only grab the pass with one hand, tucking and running before Ji'Ayir Brown ripped the ball loose and Ohio State lost possession.
But momentum immediately swung back to Ohio State, as Marcus Williamson, on the first defensive play, jarred the ball loose from running back Noah Cain and retaining possession after Haskell Garrett recovered the fumble.
What was Stroud's response? Overshooting sophomore Jaxon Smith-Njigba on a middle post, leading to a five-play, 19-yard drive and Jesse Mirco's first punt of the game. There's not a better drive to indicate how this game's going to go for the Ohio State offense.
Defensively, Sean Clifford made it clear what works against the Ohio State defense in his first touchdown drive.
Whether it was to tight end Brenton Strange in the middle of the field for two receptions, including the 5-yard touchdown to give the Nittany Lions the lead, or the deep cross by Parker Washington in the slot, making defenders miss horizontally to continue to move the ball downfield or, most impactful, the 16-yard curl in the middle of soft zone coverage to wide receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith, where linebacker Cody Simon and safety Ronnie Hickman had to run to stop him after sitting wide open for the first down.
Each of these plays originated from the middle of the field and not the sideline boundary, matching up Ohio State CB Denzel Burke and Penn State WR Jahan Dotson.
One more thing about the offense: The play that head coach Ryan Day called on 1st-and-10 at the Penn State 34-yard line during the Buckeyes' second drive was really cool. Wilson almost lined up at the full-back/tight end spot behind the line of scrimmage but standing over the left tackle. Stroud ran a play-action bootleg to the right with Wilson in motion as the check-down option. If you can get Wilson in the open field with a head start, good luck catching him, taking it 19 yards for another first down. That's a perfect play call in a drive that dies because of a mental mistake — a false start — by Chris Olave.
How does this quarter apply to Nebraska?
Well first it gives Adrian Martinez and the Nebraska offense a lesson on how to beat the Ohio State pass defense: focusing on the middle of the field between the slot cornerback, safeties and linebackers, finding holes in the zone and converting when it can.
For the Ohio State offense, I'm not sure how much this carries over. This was the look of a rattled quarterback, one that's out of rhythm, one that didn't adjust well to the spotlight that was this Penn State game. That's something that's likely not going to carry over into the midday matchup with the Cornhuskers. But it's what happens when Ohio State can't run the ball, forcing Stroud to make a play against one of the better secondaries in the country with his arm only.
First quarter
From his very first throw Saturday night, something was off with redshirt freshman quarterback C.J. Stroud. He took the snap, surveyed his receivers and hit Garrett Wilson on what should have been an easy slant, but hit him way too far right, forcing the receiver to reach back for the ball and stopping his momentum immediately.
The second play wasn't much better: handing the ball off to freshman running back TreVeyon Henderson up the middle for a minimal gain.
The fourth play was the kicker though: the roll out to tight end Jeremy Ruckert, who basically could only grab the pass with one hand, tucking and running before Ji'Ayir Brown ripped the ball loose and Ohio State lost possession.
But momentum immediately swung back to Ohio State, as Marcus Williamson, on the first defensive play, jarred the ball loose from running back Noah Cain and retaining possession after Haskell Garrett recovered the fumble.
What was Stroud's response? Overshooting sophomore Jaxon Smith-Njigba on a middle post, leading to a five-play, 19-yard drive and Jesse Mirco's first punt of the game. There's not a better drive to indicate how this game's going to go for the Ohio State offense.
Defensively, Sean Clifford made it clear what works against the Ohio State defense in his first touchdown drive.
Whether it was to tight end Brenton Strange in the middle of the field for two receptions, including the 5-yard touchdown to give the Nittany Lions the lead, or the deep cross by Parker Washington in the slot, making defenders miss horizontally to continue to move the ball downfield or, most impactful, the 16-yard curl in the middle of soft zone coverage to wide receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith, where linebacker Cody Simon and safety Ronnie Hickman had to run to stop him after sitting wide open for the first down.
Each of these plays originated from the middle of the field and not the sideline boundary, matching up Ohio State CB Denzel Burke and Penn State WR Jahan Dotson.
One more thing about the offense: The play that head coach Ryan Day called on 1st-and-10 at the Penn State 34-yard line during the Buckeyes' second drive was really cool. Wilson almost lined up at the full-back/tight end spot behind the line of scrimmage but standing over the left tackle. Stroud ran a play-action bootleg to the right with Wilson in motion as the check-down option. If you can get Wilson in the open field with a head start, good luck catching him, taking it 19 yards for another first down. That's a perfect play call in a drive that dies because of a mental mistake — a false start — by Chris Olave.
How does this quarter apply to Nebraska?
Well first it gives Adrian Martinez and the Nebraska offense a lesson on how to beat the Ohio State pass defense: focusing on the middle of the field between the slot cornerback, safeties and linebackers, finding holes in the zone and converting when it can.
For the Ohio State offense, I'm not sure how much this carries over. This was the look of a rattled quarterback, one that's out of rhythm, one that didn't adjust well to the spotlight that was this Penn State game. That's something that's likely not going to carry over into the midday matchup with the Cornhuskers. But it's what happens when Ohio State can't run the ball, forcing Stroud to make a play against one of the better secondaries in the country with his arm only.
