Ohio State redshirt junior running back Mike Weber (25) runs the ball in the second quarter of the game against Indiana on Oct. 6. Ohio State won 49-26. Credit: Casey Cascaldo | Photo Editor
All season, it has felt like the same storylines have come out of the majority of the games for Ohio State.
It’s about redshirt sophomore quarterback Dwayne Haskins’ stunning weekly performance. It’s about the lack of a run game Ohio State offenses are built around. It’s about the consistently strong defensive line and about secondary that’s vulnerable to long plays.
In Saturday’s 49-26 win over Indiana, most of these storylines continued, but in more dramatic fashion than any game this season.
On Saturday, Haskins had his strongest statistical game of the season, tying the Ohio State record with six touchdown passes, and coming three yards short of the program record for passing yards with 455, completing 33-of-44 attempts in the process.
On Saturday, sophomore running back J.K. Dobbins found more carries in the running game, but averaged 3.2 yards a rush on 26 attempts, while redshirt junior running back Mike Weber, aside from one 21-yard run, averaged just over four yards per carry on the game.
On Saturday, Indiana redshirt sophomore quarterback Peyton Ramsey threw for 322 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, completing four passes of more than 30 yards, while the Hoosiers’ running game didn’t break 100 yards, even after starting the day with a 45-yard run by freshman running back Stevie Scott.
On Saturday, it was a typical Ohio State game from this season, but one that brought out all the highs and lows the Buckeyes have dealt with in a more exaggerated fashion.
For head coach Urban Meyer, rating a game like this is more complicated than throwing out a grade.
“How would I rate it? If I’m Parris Campbell, it’s a hell of game. Nine catches, 142 yards. Pass defense pass pressure, rush, no it’s not very good,” Meyer said. “Knocking people off the ball and running the ball I don’t think it’s great. I’ve got to watch the videotape. We’re just not consistent in those areas. Those two areas are the problem child right now.”
Those two areas have been the areas of concern for the last few weeks, with the game against Indiana making them larger concerns for the Buckeyes moving forward.
Defensive coordinator Greg Schiano said the pass defense issues has a lot to do with how it is being coached.
“We need to look in the mirror and say, well first is it something we’re teaching, or coaching, and second, can it be improved or do we have to make a change personnel wise,” Schiano said. “We need to coach better and we need to play better.”
The defensive frustration was evident early on, with Ohio State using all three timeouts on the defensive side of the ball in the first nine minutes of the game, something Schiano said he was not very proud of.
On the other side of the field, and other side of the spectrum of success, Haskins impressed in all facets of the game, as he is up to 25 passing touchdowns with only four interceptions, two of which came against the Hoosiers on Saturday.
Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Ryan Day said, while Haskins has looked great, it has been a group effort of strong receiver play and the offensive line giving him time.
“We started off in the game last week against Penn State, you know, a couple of balls weren’t completed in there, but the guys were catching the ball today, the protection was really good, and so it’s everybody,” Day said. “Obviously you can see downfield his accuracy is really special.”
Moving forward, Ohio State continues to be faced with the same things that are working, and the same things that are not.
This is the second week in a row where Meyer has said the first half was “awful” in a postgame press conference, and this is the sixth straight week where big plays have been an issue for a defense that also show flashes of dominance in big moments of the game.
Haskins continues to be the spark plug making the offense work, and Dobbins and Weber continue have yet to show the ability to be, as Day said early in the season, a “two-headed monster” the Buckeyes expected in the backfield.
With Minnesota, Purdue and Nebraska coming on the schedule, Ohio State has time to fix these areas of concern, but it has yet to be seen that anything will be changed about the pros and cons of this football team.
