Junior quarterback Kyle McCord (6) reading the defense in Ohio State’s 23-3 win over Indiana Saturday. Photo Credit: Caleb Blake | Lantern Photo Editor
To sum up head coach Ryan Day’s thoughts following Ohio State’s 23-3 game one victory over Indiana Saturday, the team needs to “execute better” across the board.
“It’s just the bottom line,” Day said. “When you get into preseason camp and you’re running plays, it goes onto the next period and the next drill — you don’t quite feel the consequences of not executing at a high level. And that’s what happened on Saturday.”
Most notably, the offensive line and quarterback play was not where he would have liked.
However, Day said — based on the film — all issues are able to be corrected. He said he just hoped to see better execution in the first game.
The front five allowed no sacks on either junior quarterback Kyle McCord or sophomore Devin Brown, but the Hoosiers still executed five tackles-for-loss resulting in minus 13 yards for the Buckeyes.
For Day, ensuring the running backs have opportunities to make plays in space was a big concern.
“They needed to play better in the run game, we were only 50 percent efficient overall on first down and second down, running the ball. That’s not good enough,” Day said. “Getting back to work on that this week.”
Ohio State’s combination of backs — junior TreVeyon Henderson and seniors Miyan Williams and Chip Trayanum — combined for 129 total yards on 27 attempts, averaging 4.78 yards per carry.
This could have been due to a combination of things, mainly offensive line experience.
The starting center, Carson Hinzman is a redshirt freshman, and the offensive line had to replace two NFL draftees at left and right tackle.
Secondly, Day played freshman Tegra Tshabola at right tackle instead of junior San Diego State transfer Josh Simmons, who he named earlier in the week as the week-one starter.
Day said Simmons didn’t show the dependability he was looking for.
“The word is consistency,” Day said. “He did some good things, you can see it, you can see the athleticism, but just not consistent enough for what we need.”
Execution fell short for the quarterbacks, too.
Day followed the game plan by starting McCord but also deviated as he only allowed Brown to see the field for six plays.
Brown’s time at the helm came in the second and fourth quarters — one drive apiece — and resulted in negative 2 passing yards, negative 1 rushing yard and two three-and-outs, respectively.
“I would have liked, again, to get Devin in the game, but like I mentioned after the game, I wanted to do what was best to win the game with the time,” Day said. “That was the first goal. I felt like that was the right thing to do.”
McCord began in the pocket for eight out of Ohio State’s 10 drives.
He completed 20-of-33 pass attempts, tallied 239 total yards and hit senior tight end Cade Stover down the middle for his longest pass of 49 yards.
“It was good enough to win, in this game, which is the most important thing,” Day said. “It won’t be good enough moving forward to reach our goals.”
Together, the two quarterbacks led the Buckeyes to convert two of 12 first downs and went two-for-three on fourth downs.
Because neither quarterback had elite play, Day said both McCord and Brown will play against Youngstown State Saturday — McCord with the start.
Day said he intends on Brown getting many more snaps in search of reaching a “really good quarterback room.”
“It all goes together with the execution, and I think the more our guys work and the more we play, certainly the more aggressive we’ll be,” Day said.
Day said the focus this week will be evaluating and improving. In terms of quarterback play, the team still has to find the “right formula” with 11 games left in the regular season.
“The more we can execute, the better we can see the things and make sure our eyes are right and deliver the ball and execute the plays, then the more we can build on it,” Day said. “We want to make sure that we’re doing the right things for our guys, and that’s up front and in the passing game.”
