Ohio State slowed down after that and instead settled for an easy 45-21 win over the Florida Atlantic Owls.
Justin Fields threw for four touchdowns and ran for another score and Jeremy Ruckert caught two of Fields' passes for scores.
The now 1-0 Buckeyes will face a far sterner test next Saturday against the Cincinnati Bearcats.
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1) It's going to be a learning process for both Ryan Day and Justin Fields and both will grow from the experience.
Day's mistake in this one was starting to slow things down and not continuing to hit the gas pedal at 28-0.
The offense seemed slower and out of sync and never resembled the machine that rolled up for the first eight minutes.
2) I don't want to say that was completely on Day, but the playcalling did become more conservative and attempted to establish the run with J.K. Dobbins.
28-0 is usually more than enough to win these types of games, but you want to establish that the game is over and even though the game was over, the Owls kept scrapping.
I'd rather see teams get crushed and demoralized with more aggressive shots.
3) Justin Fields would profit from that aggressiveness too as he can take more snaps intended to throw the football.
I liked what I saw from Fields throwing the football and despite the (ugh) Fox announcers that continued to dwell on Fields being a combination of J.T.Barrett and Dwayne Haskins, Fields reminds me more of Terrelle Pryor's days at quarterback with more passing touch.
4) Fields showed his speed on his 51-yard touchdown run.
There weren't any Owls gaining on him and Fields was pulling away from them at the end.
5) I mentioned in the preview that I was hoping to see more passes thrown to tight end Jeremy Ruckert this season and Ruckert caught two touchdown passes along with two other passes in the victory.
Ruckert has the capability of being a tight end that can really open things up over the middle and create space for the other receivers and hopefully this is just the beginning of the return of the tight end as more than just a short-yardage receiver to the OSU offense.
6) As for the defense, the starters didn't allow a touchdown, only two field goals and I thought they played well for the most part.
It's only one game, but Ohio State didn't allow the huge yardage plays that they did last season and that's a start to fixing what was a very leaky defense last season.
7) The pass rush was thought to be a strength entering the season and even though the Buckeyes finished with four sacks, I would have expected a few more.
The rush could have been better against a Group of Five team, but don't forget that the Buckeyes are missing three linemen from the rotation including starter Jonathan Cooper.
Chase Young finished with a sack and a half and that was mostly out of the base defense, so I think it will improve as the season goes forward.
8) Pros and cons with Justin Fields running with the football.
I thought Fields was better running than expected with a bit more wiggle than expected and he managed to be smart and seemed to know when to slide down and step out of bounds.
With the quarterback situation behind Fields, keeping his health is paramount and knowing when to hold them and fold them is a great way to keep the starter intact.
9) The con? It seemed that there were too many called runs with the large lead.
This isn't J.T.Barrett with the run being the biggest part of his game, it's Justin Fields with the run being an accessory, not the predominant portion of that he does best.
And keep him in the lineup!!
10) Fields took a few too many shots in the pocket too.
I wouldn't say I am worried about the studs up front protecting Fields, but it's not unfair to say that I'm comfortable with their play either.
The season is young and hopefully, the group will jell, but any players season can end on one play- and that can come early in the year as well as late!
11) Next week will be interesting against Cincinnati.
The Bearcats are a G-5 contender for the top bowl bid from the group, Luke Fickell won't be intimidated and they are coming off a victory over UCLA.
I don't expect that game to be easy and I wouldn't be surprised to see the Buckeyes pushed to the end.
Hopefully, that experience will be helpful as the season progresses.
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