Junior quarterback Justin Fields prepares to throw a pass in the second quarter against Nebraska Oct. 24. Ohio State won the game 52-17. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Photo Editor
Justin Fields’ career has been defined by efficiency and that didn’t change in the 2020 season opener against Nebraska.
Junior quarterback Fields was able to deliver on over 95 percent of his passes Saturday. While the defense and running game were looking to settle into the game, Fields was able to deliver on his first 11 throws and would finish with 276 passing yards and two passing touchdowns.
Head coach Ryan Day was pleased with Fields’ accuracy and footwork, but said it is only a beginning and that the passing attack has many components to its success.
“It’s a good start certainly, but it’s everybody involved, it’s the protection, it’s the routes — all that stuff,” Day said Saturday. “There’s so much that goes into a passing game — the timing, the pacing, the spacing, the protection, execution.”
In his Ohio State debut a season ago, Fields threw for four touchdowns and rushed for another in the Buckeyes’ 45-21 win over Florida Atlantic. Fields would complete 72 percent of his passes against the Owls — a mark he would beat a week later when he completed a season-best 80 percent of his throws.
Fields, who threw for 41 touchdowns in 2019, said he hopes he is a better player now but that he has not realized his full potential yet.
“I think I’m better from last year to this year, that’s what the offseason is for, that’s what practicing is for,” Fields said Saturday. “But I think I’m better in all aspects — throwing the ball, running the ball and just knowing the offense and kinda knowing what the defense is doing. But I still have room to improve and that’s what I’m going to do from week to week.”
The Georgia native completed all six passes in the opening quarter, accumulating 117 yards through the air.
Fields also gave Ohio State its first lead of the game when he found sophomore wide receiver Garrett Wilson on a 42-yard pass to take a 14-7 lead.
The passing attack, which received a lot of attention with the addition of four highly-touted freshman wide receivers along with the return of wide receivers Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson, has room to improve, Fields said.
“I think we can be really good, and of course I’ve said earlier we have a lot of stuff to work on so we’re just going to go look at the film and see what we have to fix out there,” Fields said.
For Ohio State’s running game, the running backs struggled to obtain yards early in the game.
Fields was able to alleviate some of the pressure on running backs Master Teague and Trey Sermon, who combined for 14 yards on seven carries in the first quarter, by rushing for 38 yards in the first 15 minutes of the game.
He would finish with 15 carries for 54 yards — losing 21 yards due to three sacks taken.
The high volume of carries, which ranks second most in his career behind 21 against Penn State in 2019, was a product of the gameflow and not a concerted effort, Fields said.
“I just get the calls and run the plays,” Fields said. “I wasn’t thinking about running, I was just trying to go out there and compete.”
In terms of the unusual atmosphere, Fields said the lack of fans provided a sense of calmness that helped the communication between the offense.
Although the crowd of around 1 percent capacity had a bright side for the Ohio State offense, Fields said he did catch himself looking for a crowd that was not there from time to time.
“I was looking up to the stands to celebrate with some fans, but nobody was really out there, so of course it was a little bit different but we just tried to bring our own energy to the game so I mean it was definitely different but I think we handled it well,” Fields said.
