MY THOUGHTS.....Oregon

 

Ohio State suffered their first home defeat since September 9, 2017, a span of 23 consecutive home games.  The defensive issues I saw the first game were magnified in this game.  But instead of the secondary that was vulnerable, it was the front seven.  While cornerbacks Denzel Burke and Cameron Brown tallied four of Ohio State nine pass breakups and kept up with Oregon’s wideouts deep down field, the defensive line and linebackers were run around and through time and again, giving up 269 yards on the ground and three touchdowns.  Contain around the defensive right side failed miserably several times, including on two of Oregon’s touchdown runs, which came off the same play.  The Buckeyes have now given up an average of 39.3 points per game in their last three games with an average of 511.3 total yards against in those games.  On the ground, the 2021 defense has been gashed to the tune of 236 yards per game.  Lost contain and linebackers out of position cannot be completely chalked up to lack of experience.  Rather, I believe Coach Ryan Day needs to seriously consider replacing defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs, especially if the defensive performance doesn’t see a significant turnaround as the season wears on.

                The abominable defensive performance overshadowed a gutty performance by quarterback C.J. Stroud.  Despite making several inaccurate deep throws, Stroud managed 484 yards through the air, the second-most in a game in Ohio State history, only eleven yards short of Dwayne Haskins OSU single-game record of 495 yards against Northwestern in the 2018 B1G Championship game.  His three touchdown passes gives him seven for the two games thus far.  Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba all got over 100 yards receiving; the first time ever the Buckeyes haver had three 100-yard receivers in a single game.  As well as they did in the air, the ground game was lagging.  The offensive line just couldn’t seem to get a consistent push against an Oregon defensive line who was without their best player. 

                There were many opportunities for Ohio State to pull off a win here and there are many question marks going forward.  How can the front seven improve, how can they boost the almost non-existent pass rush and how to get more production out of the run game.  Fortunately, Ohio State now runs into the easiest part of their schedule, not having to face a significant challenge until the October 23 trip to Indiana, so there is some time to fix these issues.