MY THOUGHTS.....Toledo

 

The Ohio State Buckeyes scored on every one of their possessions in the first half and only had to punt once in a 77-21 drubbing of the Toledo Rockets. It was hard to find fault with anything on the offensive side of the ball. Only one penalty was called for five yards and some newcomers made their mark, especially RB Dallan Hayden, who turned out to be the leading rusher. Hayden turned in his first 100-yard game of his career in getting 108 yards and a touchdown. Even Mitch Rossi got on the action, lining up at a fullback position and scoring a touchdown. It’s probably been ten years since somebody from a fullback position scored an Ohio State touchdown. Of course, C.J. Stroud was his usual self, completing 81 percent of his passes for 367 yards and five touchdowns before giving way to backup Kyle McCord, who promptly shredded the Toledo defense for 115 yards and a touchdown. Freshman T.C. Caffey made his first appearance and ripped off a 49-yard TD run, and third stringer Devin Brown even got in for a few plays at QB.

            Defensively, I thought Toledo quarterback Dequan Finn could give some trouble and he was able to scramble loose on several plays as Ohio State’s defense found it difficult, at times, to play effective contain. I was also puzzled by their apparent reluctance to assign someone to “spy” on Finn. Nevertheless, Finn was contained more often than not as the defensive front seven did a better job on Finn in the second half. Javontae Jean-Baptise sacked Finn twice and Jack Sawyer was frequently in the backfield, also getting a sack. Lathan Ransom played a solid game, leading the way with six tackles and Ronnie Hickman came up with the defense’s first turnover of the season, an interception. The adjustments made at halftime were apparent, as they held Toledo to seven points and a mere 4 of 13 on third downs.

            Next up for the Buckeyes is the start of B1G play as the always tough Wisconsin Badgers come to town.