For a second consecutive week, Ohio State was able to efficiently use the air attack to put up points.
Chris Olave (2) hauls in one of his seven catches against Penn State Oct. 31. Ohio State would win the game 38-25. Credit: Noah Riffe | The Daily Collegian
Junior quarterback Justin Fields had more than one incompletion this week, but his completion percentage of more than 82 percent allowed him to accumulate 318 passing yards and four touchdowns without committing a turnover. Fields’ 28 completions were spread across eight receivers, with familiar receivers eclipsing 100 receiving yards.
“I’m not blind to the fact that quarterbacks are going to have incompletions during games, but when I do have an incompletion, it’s important to move onto the next play and I just try to take one play at a time and just do my best to execute that one play that we just called,” Fields said Saturday.
Despite Fields connecting on over 87 percent of his passes this season, Day said he is not shocked by what Fields has been able to do on the field so far.
Working with Fields throughout the offseason, Day said Fields has focused on the preparation he puts into his game.
“When you can start to take the meeting room to the field quickly, that’s when you really become special, and I think that’s what separates young players from really good veteran players and he’s starting to do that,” Day said Saturday.
Fields’ success in part is due to the weapons he has at his disposal on the outside.
Junior wide receiver Chris Olave edged out sophomore wide receiver Garrett Wilson for the most receiving yards against Penn State. Olave finished with 120 receiving yards while Wilson accumulated 111.
Following a performance against Nebraska in which Olave and Wilson combined for 233 yards, it was the first time in Ohio State history that two wide receivers eclipsed 100 receiving yards in consecutive games.
Day said the duo along with other Ohio State skill players have made the Buckeyes hard to defend.
“We’ve got a lot of weapons,” Day said. “The good thing is when you just have one guy sometimes they kinda just take that away, but when you have several guys like that, then you have the offensive line like we have and the running game, now that really makes them play honest.”
Wilson would not find the endzone against the Nittany Lions but Olave would haul in two deep strikes from Fields — each resulting in six points for the Buckeyes.
Day said taking the deep shots was not easy against a team like Penn State, but they spent a lot of time on a double move to find an opening.
“The combination of our receivers tracking deep balls and Justin’s ability to throw the ball down the field with accuracy is tremendous and you saw that tonight,” Day said.
Although the pass game was largely run through expected contributors in Olave and Wilson, the air attack found some unlikely targets, as well.
After being held to one catch against Nebraska, junior tight end Jeremy Ruckert hauled in four receptions for 25 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Ruckert was joined by fifth-year senior tight ends Luke Farrell and Jake Hausmann who each caught a pass to add another 29 yards to the passing game.
“That just goes with execution of our whole team,” Ruckert said Saturday. “We ran the ball really well today so it opened up things out wide, especially in the play action play.”
Although the passing game found the hands of different players against Penn State, it still came from the arm of Fields.
With the offense humming to 594 yards through the air for the first two weeks, Ruckert said that the team has rallied around Fields.
“We all rally behind him. We know he’s got 100 percent effort on every single play, in the weight room, in the meeting rooms and everything,” Ruckert said. “I think you can see how much love we’ve got for each other on that field and how we’d do anything for each other.”
