Sunday, September 15, 2019

Buckeyes take the bloom off Hoosiers 51-10

The Ohio State ground game chewed up and spit out the Indian Hoosiers to the tune of 306 yards, 190 of them by J.K. Dobbins as the Buckeyes grabbed their Big Ten opener 51-10 in front of Hep's Rock in Bloomington.

Justin Fields threw for three touchdowns with J.K. Dobbins running for one and catching a Fields pass for another for Ohio State.
The Buckeyes improve to 3-0 overall and 1-0 in the Big Ten.
Ohio State will host Miami, Ohio next Saturday.

Olentangy Offerings

1) The Buckeye ground game never allowed the Hoosiers a chance to settle in and make this one close.
J.K. Dobbins showed some of the running ability that made him such an impact back as a freshman,
averaging almost nine yards a carry with a touchdown run of 26 yards.
Against this level of competition this season, Dobbins is breaking tackles as he runs between the tackles and seems a cut above his sophomore season.

2) However, the back that I really like is sophomore Master Teague, who isn't afraid to put his shoulder down and run over someone and yet his speed is more than enough to avoid tacklers as well.
Teague ran ten times over one hundred yards and ripped off a forty-yard touchdown run.
If Dobbins goes pro next season, Teague is going to be more than replacement level at running back.

3) Justin Fields impresses me more each week as he shows the discipline to not run.
Fields has seen many opportunities to put the ball down and run and yet he doesn't, which makes me think that he's been coached well enough and is smart enough to not take chances of injury in games that are decided.

4) Ohio State locked everything down in the final quarter, being happy to just run the clock out and avoid injury which is why they didn't score any added points.
Content to allow things to play out can be the smart decision over the long season.

5) Of all the plays in the victory, the play of the day was the final touchdown as Damon Arnette grabbed a Peyton Ramsey pass and took it 96 yards for the score.
Arnette broke up passes earlier in the drive and showed the ability to be a high draft pick next season.
Consistency has always been the issue with Arnette, never his talent.

6) Chris Olave continues to be a breakout level player on several levels.
Olave caught a 37-yard pass from Justin Fields for a score and blocked a punt that bounced through the end zone for a safety,
Combine that with Olave's return ability and you have someone with the skills to influence the game in several manners.

7) The Buckeyes did receive some bad news when Tyreke Smith left the game after the first half.
Smith was getting his first career start after a terrific game against Cincinnati and spent the second half in street clothes.
No word on how much time Smith could miss.

8) One takeaway from the defense was this- when teams can only score using gimmick plays, you could have a very good defense.
The only Indiana touchdown was scored on a 49-yard option pass from Donovan Hale to Peyton Hendershot and the other threats were snuffed out.
When teams have to go to that measure to be able to score, that shows that opponents have begun to believe that they are going to have severe issues scoring straight up.

9) One mild surprise to me has been the naming of Chris Chugunov over Gunnar Hoak.
I would have figured the depth chart would be the other way around, but Chugunov's system familiarity is the likely edge for him over Hoak.
I still think in the event of a Justin Fields injury, it would be Hoak getting the nod.

10)  When the worst thing that you can say about a game is that you got caught by an option pass once and your kicker (Blake Haubeil) missed a field goal, it is a solid outing.
Granted it's Indiana, who has defeated Ohio State twice in MY lifetime, but still, it's the type of performance that you like to see against teams like this for the future, but the competition will be tougher as we progress- but I'm hopeful.

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