MY THOUGHTS.....UCLA

 

The Ohio State Buckeyes came out and from the start, dominated an overmatched UCLA squad without their starting quarterback, in posting a dominant 47-10 win. 

The Bruins figured to struggle on offense without dual-threat quarterback Nico Iamaleava and Ohio State’s defense held them to eight first downs and a little over 200 yards of total offense.  Sonny Styles led the way with seven tackles, while Lorenzo Styles Jr. and Caden Curry had five.  Despite not getting any sacks, the defense held UCLA substitute quarterback Like Duncan to 154 yards passing and stopped UCLA twice on fourth down.  They forced six UCLA punts and allowed only two trips into the red zone.

Lorenzo Styles Jr. not only starred on defense, but he also electrified the crowd with a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, the first for Ohio State since Jordan Hall did it against Michigan on November 24, 2010.  Jayden Fielding hit on both his field goal attempts and Joe McGuire boomed a 51-yard punt, the only time he was called upon to punt. 

The Ohio State offense wanted to work on the ground game, and they got one of the best efforts of the season, albeit against a bad UCLA run defense.  For some reason, C.J. Donaldson didn’t see the field, but Bo Jackson led the way with 112 yards, averaging over seven yards per carry.  Without Donaldson, Isaiah West and James Peoples got more opportunities and they didn’t disappoint, with West averaging nearly eight yards per carry and a touchdown and Peoples scoring twice, including a 19-yard TD run in which he hurdled a UCLA defender.  Carnell Tate was out for the second straight game, but Brandon Innis had his best day receiving with six receptions for  30 yards, while Max Klare turned in five catches for 26 yards.  Jeremiah Smith had four catches including a one-hander on the first drive, before sitting out the second half, so Mylan Graham got more opportunities, and he responded with three receptions for 40 yards.  Julian Sayin threw more incompletions than he is sued to, but he still completed almost 75 percent of his throws for 184 yards, and a touchdown toss to Bryson Rodgers.  Backup Lincoln Keinholz saw some action, going three-for-three for 34 yards. 

Next up is the final home game against Rutgers in what should be another opportunity to empty the bench in the second half.