MY THOUGHTS…..OKLAHOMA
For the
fourth time in a row, the Ohio State Buckeyes laid an egg in a prime-time
non-conference home matchup against a major opponent. Since a 2003 victory against Washington, the
Buckeyes have been outscored 109-74 in those matchups.
The numbers and effort looked ugly on both sides of the ball. The Ohio State passing offense looked the
most hideous, as J.T. Barrett completed only 19 of 35 passes for 183 yards with
no touchdowns and one interception. At the time of his interception, with the
Buckeyes already trailing 24-13, Barrett was just 10 of 21 for 84 yards, before
padding his stats on the final two drives with the game's outcome already well
in hand. With no change at quarterback,
how does Ohio State’s passing offense get better? A lot of defenses over the past year have
been dropping eight players back in coverage on passing downs, and Oklahoma did
the same. It looks like Barrett is
forced to make an extra read and look for additional receivers, which has
caused him problems, particularly against defenses like Oklahoma’s, which
played a lot of tight zone coverages.
Another glaring deficiency that stood out is the failure to capitalize
on opportunities. While winning the
turnover battle often leads to winning the game, winning the turnover battle
doesn't matter much if the team who gains those turnovers fails to take
advantage. Ohio State won the turnover battle in Saturday night's game, two to
one, but only scored three points combined off of those turnovers. Oklahoma,
meanwhile, scored a touchdown after its only takeaway. The Buckeyes recovered fumbles on
back-to-back possessions in the first quarter. The first fumble recovery came
at their own 25-yard line, and they were only able to move the ball 26 yards in
eight plays, resulting in a punt. The Buckeyes recovered a fumble at Oklahoma's
49-yard line on their next defensive series, but the Buckeyes were forced to
settle a field goal inside the 10-yard line.
That’s not going to get it done against an opponent like Oklahoma. Had the Buckeyes managed touchdowns off of
those turnovers, the game would’ve unfolded differently. Ohio State’s offense only allotted 16 carries
to running backs J.K. Dobbins and the now healthy Mike Weber, while Barrett had
18 carries. After being stuffed in the
first half, Dobbins was starting gain traction, gaining 67 yards on six carries
on Ohio State’s first two possessions of the second half, but had only four
more carries the rest of the game. The
same with Mike Weber, who was perfectly healthy, but only had three carries,
while Antonio Williams didn’t carry at all.
It is a big mystery why Dobbins and Weber were not called upon more.
After giving up 420 passing yards to Indiana in the season opener, the Buckeyes gave up 386 passing yards to Baker Mayfield and the Sooners on Saturday night. Coming into the season, Ohio State had not allowed 386 or more passing yards in a game since 2013 against Michigan. The Buckeyes have now allowed that to happen two games in a row. Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield toasted Ohio State’s pass defense often, using a myriad of receivers. The Buckeyes' rushing defense was solid again, allowing only 104 yards on 37 carries (an average of 2.8 yards per carry), but their inability to limit big plays in the passing game proved costly in the 15-point loss. While players like Denzel Ward and Damon Arnette were caught out of position quite often, they were not getting any help from the line backers. I noticed how Chris Worley and Jerome Baker were repeatedly out of position and bit play action and misdirection from the Sooners, leaving Mayfield with easy completions across the middle to tight ends and wide outs.
Although there may be other issues affecting this team at this time, the most glaring issue is obviously the deep passing game and the inability to defend against it.
Fortunately, next week, the Buckeyes get Army, a team with 10 passing attempts in two games.
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